18 Best Cocktail Bars in Astoria

“Best old fashions in Astoria.“

“I have hosted 3 big parties here over the last 5 years, and had countless nights here for food and cocktails. This is THE spot in astoria for vibes+good cocktails + good food (especially with great vegetarian options). Staff is all great, place is clean well kept and sexy lighting. I don’t have a single complaint after years. Thank you guys for everything and for all the help with the various parties you’ve helped me host ❤️“

“My friends and I celebrated a birthday party with 12 guests and were completely blown away by the food and the hospitality. The duck, the trout, the skate, the beef longgasnia, the pork with pistachio-- everything was delicious. We did not want the night to end--Definitely our new favorite restaurant in all of NYC!“

“Food was phenomenal, loved everything, one of the best places I’ve ever eaten at“

“My family and I had an excellent experience dining out at Rialto this past weekend. We were celebrating two birthdays, and the entire staff did everything possible to make it special. They were very attentive and provided a high level of service. All the food came out hot and tasted great - particularly the eggplant parm. These factors plus the elegant atmosphere provided an unforgettable experience. We will certainly be back!“

“Figlia is hands-down my favorite local spot. From the first sip of the Purple Rain cocktail to the last bite of the cacio e pepperoni pizza, I’m completely obsessed. The salads & pastas are always fresh, flavorful, and made with so much care. And the staff? They treat us like family every time we come in. It’s one of those rare places that just gets it right—every single time. Love you guys!“

“I couldn’t make it to a dinner with my family and pre ordered drinks for them and the staff was very accommodating , helpful and just overall pleasant. My family also said that they did a great job of serving , the food was wonderful and the atmosphere was great. !“

“Wednesday night’s jam session is the best around. The quality of the musicians who stop by and play a couple of tunes is first class!“

“great ambiance, lots of different beers. highly recommend.“

“Pasta, al dente. Sauce, out of this world. Vibes, off the charts. Il Nonno is such a breath of fresh (basil-filled) air. Last night, I stopped in with my friends for dinner and --more than once--after one side of the table tried a dish and implored the other to try, our eyes met in total food joy. "Oh my gah...this is SO good" was uttered too many times to count. Now let's get to the nitty, gritty. Our picks: Porcini ravioli (homemade pasta, phenomenal) Seafood risotto (menu says it's in a light tomato sauce. Definitely light, but it's far more flavorful than what I consider "light tomato sauce") Pasta Bolognese (another handmade wonder, lusciously complex sauce). Pasta Siciliana this one has eggplant and ricotta in a ROBUST sauce. Squid Ink Seafood Pasta was out of control. Like I need more savory adjectives in my life to describe this adequately. Apps. We loved all equally, but I mean calamari fritti is a no-brainer here and I literally had to slap the bread out of one friend's hand because she'd say she was full but relentlessly dipped more and more bread into the white wine mussels broth! The tuna carpaccio was almost too pretty to eat buuuut...we scarfed it down. Finally, Dessert. Chocolate cake (go with me here...you could smell the warm chocolate as it approached the table, incredible). Tiramisu, not too sweet, not too "damp"...perfection. And quite possibly even better than the banging food, we were lucky enough to chat up the delightful owner who introduced us to the chef (who happened to come from a VERY well-known Italian restaurant in Manhattan)! And all of the culinary magic instantly made sense. Don't walk. Don't run. Teleport to this place. Your taste buds will love you for it.“

“I had my birthday here such a great place to have any celebration, the food was amazing the wait time for the food was not too long, and The staff was friendly and willing to help making it special and enjoyable. The price was too high though that was the only thing that was the issue. But I recommend this place“

“We've stopped in for the last few grand openings. Our favorite was when it was first opening as Bar Parioli, they had $5 glasses of house wines.

The Parioli vision was good, a casual Italian restaurant/bar that's more of a hangout spot than a full blown restauraunt. The space is perfect for a place like that. And that's how it felt at the start casual with cheap wine and tasty small plates, but as time went on, it ended up just feeling like another botte restaurant.

We were hoping for some good changes after the grand re-opening as Botte, but unfortunately we were left disappointed.

For starters, the prices; we got the chicken parm, bolognese , and 1 negroni and it came out to $76 + tip. I get that inflation and prices are up, but the quality just isn't there to justify these prices. Cocktails were $18, and ill gladly pay $18 for a quality cocktail, but I had a hard time believing they were worth $18.

The tomato sauce is an over-emulsified, over-reduced red goop. There's no texture, flavor or love in this sauce. They way they've prepared it makes it taste jarred. The Parmesan cheese was cheap pre-grated stuff. The bolognese just tasted like ground beef cooked in tomato sauce. The crust on the chicken parm was actually really good, but the sauce didn't do any favors here. The service was great, our server was excellent. The pasta itself was pretty good, it tasted homemade.

Overall, we're sad that the Parioli vision never really had the chance to come to fruition. Normally I would wait a few weeks after opening and trying again before posting a review, but based on the social media posts and the identical post on the front door, the owners seem to want to pass the blame off themselves onto another individual and publicly air their dirty laundry. I found it very off putting and really paints the owners in a bad light.

They claim to know so much more about owning a restaurant but after publicly shaming and passing off complete blame to some individual, they ended up opening a tired concept that completely out of touch with what the Ditmars area needs. The owners need to drop their ego and take some responsibility if Botte is ever going to thrive on Ditmars.

If the owners want to succeed (Though I'm skeptical the owners would listen):
- Have a really good happy hour, a house red and house white, no more than $8. Better yet, have a cheap house wine all of the time like the greek restaurants do (Taverna kyklades has a 29$ full carafe that usually fills >5 glasses)
- Shrink the menu, nail down a really good bolognese (Meat forward, not ground beef in sauce). Toss with pasta water and real parmasean/peccorino before serving.
- Fix the sauce. Use whole canned tomato and don't blend it into oblivion
- Use high quality ingredients if you're going to charge high quality prices. Shrink the menu offerings if you need to.
- Alternatively, lean into a more casual concept (Ultimately, this is what Ditmars needs), small plates, cheap drinks. The space is perfect for a casual spot, cheap wine all the time, good happy hour, small plates. It would do especially well in the summer).
- Add an anonymous QR code survey on the receipt and get real customer feedback

Nobody wants to feel like they're getting ripped off, customers aren't dumb. Breathe some love and passion into this place, its a great space and the staff is great. There's a lot of potential here, but if the owners don't drop their ego and take some responsibility, it will be a slow walk towards closing their doors.“

“Wonderful Experience great service and wonderful food“

“Great atmosphere and service!!“

“Omg where do I even start , I would like to say that the food was top-tier also the drinks the atmosphere was amazing my server was very nice and sweet she gave us our food and drinks and we didn’t have to wait long either honestly all the staff’s that was working was all so kind! When you come here you would definitely feel welcome and positive energy:) I will be returning for brunch & dinner again ugh I love this place 🥰💕 oh and the prices are very reasonable!!!!!!“

“Great atmosphere, drinks and food where amazing the staff was attentive and fast.“

“atmosfera piekne barmanki“