Jacksons offers a delicious hearty brunch with classic rock playing in the background that will have your mom constantly saying “Oh I love this song.” The owner Andrew has a dope mustache and serves up excellent cocktails, like their apple cider mimosa. My favorite meals to get here are the fried chicken and waffles (waffle flavor varies by season - currently pumpkin!) and the southern eggs benny with pulled pork and jalapeno hollandaise.
Yumpling started out as a food stand at LIC Flea and opened their storefront on Vernon Blvd this spring with a Tawainese menu focused on dumplings and fried meats. Seriously everything is so delicious, but if I had to choose favorites I’d tell you to go for the pork yumplings or the fried chicken and basil sandwich, with a side of lotus root chips.
Picture a New York City diner. Great, now you know what Court Square Diner is like. The amount of times I’ve impulsively walked here for a chocolate egg cream is embarrassing.
Welcome to Queens’ only Michelin Star restaurant, and boy do they earn it! Their mole is what they’re known for, so I usually go for mole enchiladas and whatever the specialty margarita is (watermelon and blueberry/coconut were options this summer and fall--YUM).
If you’re looking for a cheap shot and a beer and making new friends at the bar (during non-COVID times) this is your place. I personally try to stick to bottles of High Life while sitting in their backyard with an order of nachos but somehow the shots just keep appearing…
LIC actually has a lot of great coffee shops, but Coffee Project is where you’re gonna find the fanciest, tastiest pour over and most unique beans. This Coffee Project location is also home to their Academy, the only Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) premier training campus in the state, where you can take all sorts of really cool coffee-related courses whether you’re a pro or not.
Last but not least, take your to-go coffee, cocktail, food, or whatever to the waterfront. The LIC waterfront is two parks combined: Gantry Plaza State Park on the north side, Hunters Point South Park on the south side. Both offer plenty of green space to lay a blanket down and sit on as well as two different ferry stops with different routes. Gantry is where you’ll find the multiple dog parks, outdoor concerts, numerous piers, a long line of food trucks, and the famous Pepsi sign landmark. On the Hunters Point side, you’ll find the lookout point, wetlands, and Nobuho Nagasawa’s installation “Luminescence” representing the phases of the moon. No matter where you are, you can enjoy a stunning Manhattan skyline view from the World Trade Center up through 59th Street.
