After months of lockdown, restaurant owners in this Queens neighborhood finally had a reason to be optimistic: indoor dining had returned.
After months of lockdown, restaurant owners in this Queens neighborhood finally had a reason to be optimistic: indoor dining had returned.
Hopeful Day in Queens: A Slice of Pizza, Served Indoors
ByMatthew HaagSept. 30, 2020
Hopeful Day in Queens: A Slice of Pizza, Served Indoors
Hopeful Day in Queens: A Slice of Pizza, Served Indoors
On Roosevelt Avenue,under the shadow of the 7 Train, people packed the sidewalks. This immigrant neighborhood ravaged by the pandemic had a reason for optimism: indoor dining had returned. →
Hopeful Day in Queens: A Slice of Pizza, Served Indoors
At Due Fratelli, a pizza shop on 37th Avenue,brothers Aiden and Moshi Horton celebrated their godfather, Bill Conklin, who turned 70. Mr. Conklin enjoyed a birthday slice of spinach pizza.
Hopeful Day in Queens: A Slice of Pizza, Served Indoors
They sat at one of the two tables indoors. There were six before the pandemic.
I asked Aiden Horton, who had just finished a ground beef pizza slice with a Snapple, about eating inside after it wasprohibited for nearly seven months.
“It feels pretty good,” he told me, as his brother and godfather smiled in agreement. “It feels like things are coming back — slowly.”
Hopeful Day in Queens: A Slice of Pizza, Served Indoors
Pedro Mancebo opened Due Fratelli about a year ago.
On a good day, he would deliver 20 pizzas to a school, cater a work lunch and have up to 20 diners inside the restaurant.
Now, he told me, 85 percent of his business is delivery. The rest has been takeout orders.
He then excused himself, telling me he had to deliver 15 pizza boxes to doctors and nurses at Elmhurst Hospital.
Hopeful Day in Queens: A Slice of Pizza, Served Indoors
A few blocks away at Aroma Brazil,Joel Villalba and his girlfriend, Erika Franco, were finishing barbecued beef and sodas. “Outside, it is kind of ugly and very noisy because of the subway,” Mr. Villalba said.
Hopeful Day in Queens: A Slice of Pizza, Served Indoors
The restaurant’s owner, Sydney Costa, has laid off 12 employees. Besides the couple, there was just one other diner inside, an older man sipping coffee from a paper cup.
When I asked Mr. Costa about paying his monthly rent – $10,000 a month – he let out a big laugh.
“I haven’t been able to pay my personal bills,” he said, adding that during the worst of the crisis he didn’t think he’d ever reopen.
“This area was dead,” Mr. Costa told me.
Hopeful Day in Queens: A Slice of Pizza, Served Indoors
Cositas Ricas, a Colombian staple on Roosevelt Avenue, packs in customers 24 hours a day, its cavernous dining room lit up with neon lights.
On Wednesday, the booths were mostly empty. More diners were outside on the covered patio.
But one loyal customer, Luis Barrientos, who has been eating here for years, sat inside by a window. He was enjoying soup of the day, sancocho de punta miercoles, a brothy soup with beef.
Hopeful Day in Queens: A Slice of Pizza, Served Indoors
Nearby, a couple ordered another special, pollos a la jardinera, a chicken breast covered in a white gravy of peas and diced carrots.
Hopeful Day in Queens: A Slice of Pizza, Served Indoors
When I asked about the past months, Oscar Franco, the owner, closed his eyes and shook his head. His business partner and a restaurant manager had died from the virus.
“I can’t believe it,” he said.
Here's what the first day of indoor dining looked like across N.Y.C.