major props to Jando and Yelp for letting us know about this great little event! back in November I went to the "Taste of Sheepshead Bay" event thanks to Peter D, and this was very similar: a community event to highlight some great local eateries.
a sad reality is that for the majority of Yelpers, the only places in the outer boroughs that they will ever know are Astoria, Flushing, Williamsburg, and Park Slope. rent a Zipcar, take a bus, hop in a cab, or something like that and venture further, you lazy bums!
...ahem...
so this event was pretty sweet. a bunch of restaurants and catering companies from Bayside were on hand to give everyone a little sample. Cajun food, Italian food, BBQ, burgers, ice cream, Italian pastries, and...White Castle? sure thing, boss.
sausage crostini, chicken in mushroom sauce, gigantic rice balls, mixed veggie orzo, crab cake sliders, honey garlic wings, bourbon chicken, meatloaf sliders (with mashed potatoes and corn on top), cannoli...oh man! my stomach is gonna explode, and I didn't even get to stop by all the stands!
beer, wine, juice, water, and soda were on hand. I had some delicious Boylan's orange soda since I had to drive, and there were other flavored sodas.
the crowd was a good mix, mostly an older crowd of couples and families from Eastern Queens and the closer parts of Long Island. I actually sat at a table with people I didn't even know and just started chatting away. lots of nice people, and when I explained what Yelp was, a lot of them said it sounded really useful. if even one person signs up and becomes active, that's good!
Jando was at the Yelp table, plugging our favorite website and enlisting new recruits.
it was definitely a fun event and I'm glad to see these neighborhood-specific events which cater to a different crowd than most Yelp events.
I'm excited to see the apparently-bigger-in-scope Taste of Queens event that they will be doing later this year! read more