Eating My Way down the 7 Line

Where I eat when I wander.. I take a long walk home from work often. That is the great part about being semi-retired and done at noon. And I eliminate any weight loss benefit by testing out eateries along the way. There are so many wonderful places to eat along the #7 subway line, that even I can’t possible attempt to try all of them. Here is the shortest of lists of a variety of places I love.
1.Stop Inn 
60-22 Roosevelt Ave
Woodside, NY 11377 Woodside
 Subway Stop: 61street Woodside

 I am including this restaurant because from time to time someone asks me to recommend a traditional American restaurant. I am not sure I know what exactly is a traditional American restaurant, but I bring those requesting one, here. It’s a diner like I remember diners- booths, eggs and hamburgers, friendly staff and checkered curtains hanging in the window. The reviews complain that the menu is pricey and they are a bit pricier than the ethnic restaurants but the portions are huge. Often you can order Yankee Pot Roast- so if you are looking for an example of traditional American food-that's about as traditional as I can think of.

2.Three Aunties Thai Market
64-04 39th Ave
Woodside, NY 11377 Woodside
Subway Stop: 61 Street Woodside

SriPraPha is a well-known, well reviewed Thai Restaurant. I haven't eaten there in years. No fault of theirs- just so many more Thai restaurants opened close to home. But across the street is a little Thai grocery with a small eating counter next to its front window. I ordered two chicken curry puffs. Each cost $1.50. Really, really delicious and there were all sorts of Muay Thai Boxing supplies to look at while I ate.

3.Rajbhog- Indian 
72-27 37th Avenue
Jackson Heights, NY 11372
Subway stop- 74th Street Broadway on the 7 –the same station is called Roosevelt on the E,F and M,R trains

The door has a poster that states that the food available is vegetarian, vegan, Jain and kosher The small store has all sorts of interesting and eye catching sweets. I ordered Samosa Chaat-Chickpea curry with yogurt onions and tangy sauces for $6.99. It was really good and way too much for just me. Next time I will definitely try one of the sweets 

4. Lhasa Fast Food Tibetan 
37-50 74th St Ste 3750
Jackson Heights, NY 11372
Subway Stop: 74 Street

I did not stumble onto this place. That would have been impossible. I went looking for it one day based on an article I read somewhere. Now it has some fame and even Anthony Bourdain featured it on a May 2017, Parts Unknown program. It is always described as being in back of a cell phone store. Though that is only partially correct, Queens is filled with store fronts that have mini-malls, a succession of counters selling electronics, jewelry and the likes, things that don’t require racks and racks of space so several enterprises can share one location. So look for the address then walk in and wander around. If you look non-Tibetan and lost- someone will immediately direct you to the restaurant. What I like best is the hot buttered tea—but check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efeZYOLu1TY for more information.

5. Arepa Lady Colombian 

77-17 37th Ave
Jackson Heights, NY 11372

Jackson Heights  (They moved.  This is the current location)

It seems like everyone knows the story of Arepa Lady. Maria Cano, a Colombian immigrant was an attorney in Colombia, but unable to practice in the US she opened a food truck that sold Arepas, a Colombian pancake made with corn flour and stuffed with all kinds of things. The business became very successful and currently has a location in Brooklyn as well.  Besides ordering Arepas, I like the appetizer variety plate, make sure to have one of the fruit drinks as well.

6. 969 NYC Coffee Japanese 
37-65 80th Street
Jackson Heights,, NY 11372
 Subway Stop: 82 Street

 One of the reviews in Yelp said something like “Holy moly, a real Japanese Restaurant run by a real Japanese person.” Again this is a really small shop with limited seating. I stopped in one cold day in February and the owner/ counterman had just returned from vacation in Japan, which he was really happy to tell me about. I ordered Onigiri- white rice- usually stuffed with fish. Maybe an authentic foodie would know that. I am not an authentic foody. The owner very carefully explained it to me. Because it was February, the Onigiri’s were shaped as hearts. I brought one home for my valentine. It was great.

7. La Nueva Bakery- Uruguayan
86-10 37th Avenue
Jackson Heights NY
Subway stop: 90th Street Elmhurst Ave
 I read about this one in a New York Times article about Latin, New York. I mentioned wanting to look for it to a co-worker who waxed poetic about the pastries there for the next ten minutes. It must have many different types of wonderful pastries, I insist on purchasing the alfijores, the caramel filled shortbread cookies I developed a passion for on vacation in Argentina. The bakery is Uruguayan but close enough.

 8. Rincon Criollo Cuban 
40-09 Junction Blvd Corona,
 NY 11368 North Corona
Subway Stop: Junction Boulevard
I went to Cuba on a cruise ship. It is an easy way to get a very shallow taste of Cuba. However, I spent more time eating Cuban Food in Corona than I did in Havana. If I didn’t enjoy the food, which I very much do, I would still go to look at the photos of old Cuba that line the walls. If it looks like those photos are from the family albums of the staff and customers – it’s because they are. Also, the walls are decorated with the wood map shaped cutouts of the countries from where the customers originated, Queens and the world in a storefront. 

Things to do in Queens- Especially along the #7 train-

Things to do in Queens-

Especially along the #7 train- all blue print should be clickable links for more information

I admit it.  I have a love hate relationship with the #7 train.  I have been stuck between stations- standing squished in crowded car with a heavy bag listening to the same We'll be moving in shortly, announcement over and over.  But I also have had a bird's eye (okay a low flying bird) of the changing landscape of Queens. Here is a list of things you can see from the train, and interesting stops along the way. I am not including the Manhattan Stops, 34th Hudson(the
Highline), 42 St Times Square, 5 Avenue (Bryant Park), Grand Central- all interesting but not Queens.

Things to see from the train

• The Manhattan skyline - multiple views from multiple spots
• The train itself - right after it comes above ground it makes a sharp curve and you can see the tail of the train chasing itself.
• The Courthouse - from the Court Street Station- the green colored roof covers one of the oldest continuously operating courts in the country
• The Hell Gate Bridge -on the northside- two bridges come into view.   The Hell Gate Railroad  Bridge built between 1912-1916, designed by Gustav Lindenthal, any resemblance in appearance to the Sydney Harbor Bridge is not coincidental. Next to it is the RFK Bridge (used to be called the Triboro) it connects three boroughs, Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx and is used for motor vehicles.
• The smoke stacks of the Ravenswood Power Station-
• The stained glass windows between Courts Street and Woodside Stations
• The new towers being built around Long Island City at Queensboro Plaza
• Pass the Jackson Heights stations and LaGuardia comes into view-the blue control tower
• In the far distance over the relatively flat low rise section of Queens you can see the Bronx and in the bridges that connect Queens to the mainland
• After 103 Street on the Southside -the sites of Flushing Meadow Park, 2 rocket ships in front of the science museum, the round towers of NYS Pavilion, the T shaped Terrace of the Park,and of course the various tennis stadiums and the Unisphere.
• On the northside- Citifield home of the New York Mets

Subway Station:  Vernon Jackson- First stop in Queens

• Gantry State Park- best view of the skyline
• Corner of Vernon and 50th Avenue -traditional Police Station, 9/11 memorial on a light post 
• Changing Long Island City Neighbor- the mixed old frame wooden homes that once housed the blue collared factory and dock workers are now scattered among the high rise luxury towers
• New Long Island City Library- not open yet, but see what  the city builds when the luxury towers bring in the city's highest income earners.

Subway Stop:  Court Square

• Court Square Diner-right beneath the subway station- a real traditional looking American Diner
• Historic District- 21 Street and 45 Avenue.  - Brownstone Townhouses from the 1800's.  The guide books will tell you they filmed Carries's house from Sex In The City n Greenwich Village, but that was only the first season.  They used several locations and this was the most common
• PS 1- What has more recent- modern art than MOMA?- PS 1

Subway Stop: 61 and Woodside

• The Irish Bars-  Donovan's,  Saints and Sinners
• The Doughboy World War I Memorial - not a major- not miss attraction, but an interesting memorial-honoring the wounded rather than the victorious hero- and a destination for  anyone wandering around the neighborhood off the the main roads.

Stops: 74 and Roosevelt to 82 and Roosevelt

           Jackson Heights  enough to see here for its own page, but some highlights

• Historic District- apartment buildings built when the subway arrived - 
• Multi-Culture at its best- restaurants and stores from the Indian/Pakistani Community, the Nepal/Tibetan Community and the all parts of the Latin Community
• The Post Office - Federal Style Architecture with WPA murals inside
• The Public School- a 5 story example of NYC school architecture

Stop:  111 Street 

           Corona

Louis Armstrong House-  When Louis was among the highest paid musicians in the World he chose to buy a house in one of the most humble neighborhoods in Queens.  The house is preserved as a museum and open to the public.  Listen to the song Its a Wonderful World , and hear Louis himself describe the neighborhood.

Subway Stop:  Mets Willets Point

Flushing Meadows Corona Park

The Unisphere

At the Mets Game- Citifield

• The Queens Museum- especially for the Panorama- a scale model of the whole city!
• The Tennis Center
• Citi Field- its not Yankee Stadium- it is the other MLB home in NYC-
• The Hall of Science (even if you don't go in check out the real Rockets)
• The Queens Night Market- On a summer Saturday night -the equivalent of the Brooklyn Smorgasboard
• New York State Pavilion- where the aliens landed according to Men In Black

Subway Stop:  Main Street

Flushing

• Chinatown-maybe the largest Chinatown in the country(Sunset Park and Lower Manhattan would dispute it) Click the link for some interesting eating places
• Historic Flushing(all addresses are in the clickable link for Flushing)
• John Bowne House
• Quaker Meeting Hall
• St. George Episcopal Church
• Post Office- WPA Murals
• Free Synagogue of Flushing
• Lots more in link

Hungry?
The first link is from Vogue Magazine- I do not look like I read Vogue.  I would look a lot less like a Vogue person if I tried all the eateries (or even a tiny fraction of them) along the way.  But here are various suggestions:

from Vogue
from NYCGO
from Tripsavvy