So I went to Astoria for breakfast at the Neptune. It's right at the bottom of the stairs at Astoria Boulevard Station. You can't miss it with its white stone walls and red adobe-style roof, its arched windows and lighted carriage lamps.
The food was good. As the paper placemat informs you, the Daily News has named Neptune the Best Diner in Queens.
The place was busy, too, bustling with a Queensian mix of New Yorkers--working class and middle class, many races and ethnicities. The city.
I don't know how long the Neptune has been in existence. Long enough for David Bowie and Catherine Deneuve to dine there during the filming of The Hunger, and no doubt longer.
Photo by Jean-Claude Deutsch, via Findery
But back to those closing rumors. I asked a man who looked like he knew the score.
"I heard you might be closing," I said. "Is it true?"
"That's the Twitter," he replied, waving away the rumor with his hand. "You know the Twitter?"
"Yes."
"You know Donald Trump on the Twitter? He's gonna build a wall? Ha!"
"Yes."
"It's like that."
Make of that what you will. There is currently no public record of the building being sold. Maybe they're thinking about it, maybe they're not. But when these rumors crop up, they're usually made of something. So go to Neptune, have a good meal, and enjoy the place. Because you just never know.
3 comments:
The certificate of occupancy online from 1959 shows it was a diner then, so it's at least been one that long...
They're not a good diner anymore - the waiters look like they'd rather be anywhere else, the owners and management are not welcoming or friendly and the food has gone downhill. It's also very expensive - some of the prices they charge now would suit a restaurant in Manhattan - it's really ridiculous and if they did close, they wouldn't be missed. There are better places in Astoria to eat.
Just gross, sad, and unwelcoming. i stopped even trying. Just go to the Bel Air, better food and staff.
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