Some of the weirder restaurants in LIC are nestled up above the Queensboro bridge between the Queensbridge apartments and the Triboro Bridge. It's Astoria, technically, and that enhances the weirdness of these places.

One of them is Rizzo's, an italian place on 21st street on the way from LIC to Socrates Sculpture Park. The signature elements are the overgrown green ivy, the gondola with an electric boatman who stutters back and forth, and some charming old neon lettering gone stale. The food isn't really praised in the reviews they have pasted onto the front door, so LICNYC took a pass on actually dining there.

Another one is the only Bulgarian restaurant anywhere in New York, and for that reason likely one of the few in the country: Bulgara. When LICNYC dropped in, the staff was relaxing the afternoon away, waiting for the evidently very busy and musical nights. There is a stage, sound system, big open dance floor, and a vaguely Mediterranean-except-really-Black-Sea look. Get in touch with them here

If you are really hard up for a buck, you can dive into one of the taxi driver joints lined up near the end of 21st near the Triboro. Fast, cheap...dubious quality, but friendly (depending on your Urdu language skills).