On a recent Friday afternoon, the bar packed in all types of people, from businessmen to hipsters and families with kids running around. Even though the bar was full, plenty of seats remained open at the community picnic tables. It didn’t feel crowded—a nice bonus to drinking in Queens, a borough where space remains readily available.
Because of the industrial and commercial neighborhood, most people visiting Astoria usually don’t have a clue about what’s really going on or where to go once they get there. Unless you feel adventurous or know Studio Square is there, the stucco, apartment-building-like 36th Street entrance isn’t an obvious foyer to a bar. But once you pass the airy front bar, the large room to the right and the ATM machine (it’s cash only here), a world of large, thick, wooden picnic tables opens up. At first, it feels a little overwhelming as hundreds of people litter the space and wait in line, but if you just take a breath and another look, and you’ll find plenty of seating available. Now, go get a beer.
On draught, Studio Square serves Warsteiner, Raderberger Pilsner, Spaten Oktoberfest, Stone Pale Ale, Honey Moon, and Abita Light, just to name a few of the ever-changing 18 brews. All beers run $7 for a half liter, $13 for a liter and $18 for a pitcher.There’s also a new twist to the biergarten experience: Studio Square offers red wine sangria on tap. For $7 you can get a 16-ounce cup or, for $25, a 60-ounce pitcher. Bartenders will even drop a bit of fresh fruit salad on top, though without the saturation of alcohol, I don’t really see the point. In general, beer is your best bet.
One of my favorite things about biergartens is the excuse to suck down fatty meat and salty fries. From the sausages I sampled, Studio Square has it going on. The basic menu runs $8 for one of four kinds of sausages (complete with bread and sauerkraut), a hamburger, pulled-pork sandwich, chicken sandwich, chicken or pork souvlaki or a Portobello sandwich. You can add fries to any of the meals for $2. Extra sides of fries or sauerkraut or a jumbo pretzel will run $3—not that you’ll need anything extra. My posse only got one order of the crispy, golden, melt-inyour-mouth fries, and by the end of the meal, I struggled to put the last bites of a crispy-skinned Kolbase in my mouth.
Studio Square opened in the beginning of May, but the place runs so smoothly that it feels like it’s always been around. My only complaint rested with the food line: It seemed to take forever.When you’re starving and watching people walk away with steaming piles of food, it can make you a little anxious; but once you get yours and sit down with a beer, you’ll be living large, fed and imbibed, feeling like a queen in Queens.
> Studio Square
35-33 36th St. (betw. 35th & 36th Aves.), Queens, 718-383-1001
