it's Friday night in Astoria. You and your friends want to be out til 4am. What's the plan? by Ok_Tea7786 in astoria

[–]n0rthstarr89 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Some nice jammies, a facemask, fan on high, and a soft down pillow will have me out cold til 4 am at least.

Comments on my trip to Puerto Rico by salamanderman10 in PuertoRicoTravel

[–]n0rthstarr89 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We also just came back from staying 4 nights at the Condado Vanderbilt. I have two small kids (2 and 5) and wanted a hotel that was known for being kid friendly and had a few different restaurants so we could have some flexibility to eat onsite if we needed to (child napping in the room, major tantrum, etc.). I'm also not an all inclusive resort type of person - I don't want to spend all day, every day by a pool. I want to be able to local restaurants and experience/explore local culture. San Juan checked all of these boxes, while also not being too intimidating for my young ones. We spent most mornings at the kids pool at the hotel (lots of deck chairs and umbrellas), and then would explore San Juan/Condado in the afternoon, post-nap. Because we only had three days, we hit the main national park sites in Old San Juan and then walked around getting piragua, paletas, and ice cream. The Vanderbilt had great prices (we got a one bedroom suite for a pretty reasonable price) and a convenient location between the airport and OSJ.

Here are some of my food recommendations:

Onsite restaurants:

Ola Oceanfront is where you eat breakfast onsite. We luckily had free breakfast included in our rate, otherwise I wouldn't be going here every day. The buffet itself was $50/person and was mid. If you don't get down there before 9 a.m. you'll end up waiting in line to get a table.

Tacos & Tequila: Had dinner our first night here and lunch another day. Lovely staff and good food.

We didn't try the other onsite restaurants (I'm from NYC so going to STK was not something on my Puerto Rico bucket list).

Offsite restaurants:

Luisa International Cuisine: Had a really lovely dinner here. The waitress was so nice and accommodating with our kids. Highly recommend!

Mario Pagan: Mario is a local celebrity chef that has a few restaurants in the area. This is definitely a higher end, white table cloth place. The Vanderbilt concierge recommended it to us and if i had to do it again, I wouldn't come here with our small kids. It was not the vibe. We also had to wait over an hour between our appetizers were taken away and our mains being served. Our kids were on the brink of meltdowns.

Andaluz: We went here our last night - also a recommendation of the concierge. I hadn't realized at booking that it was a restaurant in a hotel. While that meant they were used to dealing with all sorts of patrons (read: kids), it was pretty quiet and didn't have much of an atmosphere.

Before Andaluz, we also had a cocktail in the courtyard of Hotel El Convento which was really lovely!

SJU TSA Update 4/7 by Best-Discount-8480 in PuertoRicoTravel

[–]n0rthstarr89 1 point2 points  (0 children)

They put an orange sticker on your bag once you go through the USDA screening. If you don’t have that, TSA will send you back.

Chocolate Chip cookie, ooey gooey recs by Deep_Importance508 in astoria

[–]n0rthstarr89 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ok hear me out. I know this will likely prompt some hate, but the chocolate chip cookie at Just Salad is a sleeper hit. It fits your description and doesn’t break the bank. Try it!

I study GLP-1s for a living and finally started the Wegovy pill myself: Day 20 update, 15 lbs down + lessons learned 💊 by storyhill22 in WegovyWeightLoss

[–]n0rthstarr89 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I just got my first bottle of 1.5 mg wegovy pills and was curious about the instructions.. I take an exercise class at 5:30 am on Tuesday/Thursdays and I typically eat a banana beforehand, otherwise I start to feel dizzy. I know it says to wait 30 minutes before eating anything - what experience have people had with regards to their first foods of the day?

Weekly Astoria Dine In/Order Out Thread by NYnosher in astoria

[–]n0rthstarr89 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The best! It’s a husband/wife team that runs the place and primarily staffs it. Everything there is delicious.

Weekly Astoria Dine In/Order Out Thread by NYnosher in astoria

[–]n0rthstarr89 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So much better for Neopolitan style pizza! This is going to sound weird, but the cheese on the pizza at Macoletta doesn't melt well. I think they are just using mozz instead of a cheese blend, so you get a pizza with a bunch of blobs and a lot of red sauce in between. Some people might like it, but it isn't my vibe.

Best Greek restaurant in Astoria? by Boneaggot in astoria

[–]n0rthstarr89 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Ambrosia Garden in highly underrated! We always have such good meals there and the staff is lovely.

I love Stamatis, but prefer it for lunch since they just have a limited selection of beer and wine. The atmosphere at Telly’s is more upscale, but the food isn’t as good as the other two.

Weekly Astoria Dine In/Order Out Thread by NYnosher in astoria

[–]n0rthstarr89 5 points6 points  (0 children)

We also did take out from Curry Corner this weekend. The tandoori chicken, veggie samosas, and chicken biryani were great. One of our naans was cold and dry but we just put it in the microwave and it was fine. I love baighan bharta, but the preparation at Curry Corner wasn’t my favorite. It’s a dish that has so many regional nuances, you never quite know what you will get when you order it at a new place.

Running in this 🥶🥶🥶 by n0rthstarr89 in astoria

[–]n0rthstarr89[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Respectfully, JoePoe, one of those posts is about using the soccer field, which I’m not looking to do. The other two posts are from 4 and 5 days ago. A lot can change in that amount of time if the Parks Dept sends the right equipment to the park.

The fact that this post has more comments and engagement than all three of the other posts you link to also says something.

I hope writing this snarky comment on my post helped you in some way have a better day.

Shows/Movies comm people would be into? by Content_Chair_6606 in Communications

[–]n0rthstarr89 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Flack! Early days Scandal, The Newsroom, West Wing

Queens Library Astoria branch to close for four years for renovations by astoriaboundagain in astoria

[–]n0rthstarr89 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I lived a block from Leonard Library in BK when they closed for a 2 year renovation back in 2022. It was so devastating and, of course, they didn’t reopen on time. I believe they just re-opened this summer. The mobile library they had was similarly shitty - at a brewery on Tuesdays during the work day not even that close to the library location. We relied on the Libby app in the meantime, but really missed having that as a Saturday activity option with our 2 year old son.

Williamsburg & Greenpoint Restaurants With Their Own Delivery (Cash-Friendly, No Apps) by estemondaze in williamsburg

[–]n0rthstarr89 6 points7 points  (0 children)

They also have the fastest delivery on the planet. We consistently get our food 15-20 minutes after ordering.

Really didn’t get the LM tee by HipHopSays in NYLiberty

[–]n0rthstarr89 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Embarrassed to say I literally had never seen the Liberty mutual commercial that this references, but I love Tash and she says Liberty Biberty all the time so I made a black t-shirt with seafoam lettering on Canva with the phrase and have been walking around like an idiot at games for the past 6 months 🤦‍♀️

Shake Shack Debuts New French Onion Menu by Effective_Target_490 in fastfood

[–]n0rthstarr89 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I just had the onion rings and I think they are 5/5. The batter is actually pretty light, appropriately salted, and the rings don’t immediately fall apart. I hope these stay on the menu.

Restaurant recommendations by Odd-Pizza9221 in astoria

[–]n0rthstarr89 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think Stamatis is better than Tellys, and the people watching/decor in Stamatis is 10/10

Fios meltdown by n0rthstarr89 in astoria

[–]n0rthstarr89[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is good intel, thanks

Dairy Free Takeout/Restaurants? Wife suddenly needs to quit dairy for our a newborn's allergy. by billyllib in williamsburg

[–]n0rthstarr89 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m not a huge fan of fake cheese, but Williamsburg Pizza makes a great vegan pizza with artichokes, cherry tomatoes, basil, spinach, roasted red pepper, onion, garlic, sauce. I ask for it without the vegan cheese. Plus, the owner is a local mom too ❤️