R.I.Piu Bello
Piu Bello is gone. At least the American one. The Forest Hills one.
I, for one, will miss it. It was a nice go-to place for ice cream and outside lounging in the summer. While the rest of the neighborhood was shuttered like a ghost town at midnight, Piu Bello still had a crowd.
THEN
Of course, it had its detractors. The food was admittedly mediocre diner stuff. The service was somewhat lazy. But it was a relaxing place to be and it was the only place in the vicinity that had lots of outdoor seating where you could just hang out for hours without spending money on more than a coffee. Try doing that at any of the 70th restaurant row places. And enjoy your forty minute hike to Metropolitan to sit at Theater Cafe.
NOW
Ooh, maybe L'arte de Gelato will open there and carry on the tradition of summer ice creamerying? Nah, who am I kidding? Remind me to get an unlimited MetroCard. I have a feeling that I'll spending a lot of time this summer in Manhattan and Brooklyn again.
NOW
Ooh, maybe L'arte de Gelato will open there and carry on the tradition of summer ice creamerying? Nah, who am I kidding? Remind me to get an unlimited MetroCard. I have a feeling that I'll spending a lot of time this summer in Manhattan and Brooklyn again.
Ciao Bello.
UPDATE: 6/12/10
According to the Queens Central Forums rumor mill, Piu Bello will be co-running Positano. Positano, the Italian restaurant on Queens Boulevard that sticks bikini-girl flyers under your windshield wiper blades, will apparently not keep the Piu Bello name and there are even questions about whether or not the Piu Bello gelato will even be served there.
I guess we'll see in a few months, but as for now, it would seem that reports of Piu Bello's death are not quite yet greatly exaggerated.
That place was kinda gross in terms of food and cleanliness. Somebody told me the owners of marthas will be opening a seafood restaurant there. U hear anything jon?
ReplyDeleteAs I said, I didn't think the food was any different than at any other diner. As for cleanliness, I didn't notice.
ReplyDeleteI don't know anything about a seafood place moving in. I would welcome a seafood restaurant if it was comparable to The Mermaid Inn. On the other hand, a seafood restaurant that focuses on fried tilapias, fried shrimp and bread-heavy crab cake, would be a waste.
If shlocky, uninspired seafood is what moves in, then I can't imagine that I'll think very highly of them. That said, I have no idea what's replacing it. For all I know it could be a cell phone store.
The rumor on the Queens Central Forum is that it will be a Greek restaurant owned by the same folks who run Martha's Country Bakery.
ReplyDeleteIn reading up on Martha's, it seems their first Queens location was/is in Astoria, so perhaps there's some validity to this. If it's anything like Taverna Karyatis is Astoria, I'll be doing a happy dance.
Puke Bello was gross. Sorry, Jon but I can't share your sentiments. A pet food store would be an improvement.
ReplyDeleteIn other news, did anyone notice that Europan is finally open? I think they may buy their desserts from Martha's across the street and re-sell them at a discount which means they'll be in business for about another 3 months.
Meh. To each his/her own. As for Europan, yes indeedy, finally is a good word. On the plus side, they're a chain, so they're more likely to have the staying power of familiarity.
ReplyDeleteIt was more like Pew" Bella, which is an oxymoron.
ReplyDeleteQuestion for you guys, what's with the Martha's Country Bakery signs in the old Piu Bello windows?
ReplyDeleteThe Martha's people are taking over the space. Rumor is that a seafood restaurant is en route.
ReplyDelete