Djerdan

 
This place is excellent.  The Burek's are fantastic light and tasty, the cheese version is my favorite but the mean one is good also.  They are always fresh, and perfectly crispy one the outside without being greasy.  A really good pie.  The Cevepi is excellent also, HUGE portion of nicely grilled and still juicy little veal kebabs. The meat seams to be of good quality, really enjoyable with the red pepper spread.  They have a dessert I like very much that is like a Napoleon filled with layers of cream.  The cake is very light and moist.  It is delicious.

Overall great place, the service is decent, they are nice but sometimes there is a slight language miscommunication, but the good is excellent and well priced.  There is also a sparsely decorated but still charming back courtyard.  Highly recommended, especially if you have never had a Burek.

Cronin & Phelan's

My favorite pub in Astoria.  I'm not much of a drinker so i come here for the food alone, its worth it.  They always have a great selection of specials, tons of variety.  They food is as expected served in large portions, heavy, filling, and delirious.  The burgers are great, typical juicy burger, great toppings.  The wings are huge, well fried and offered with a good selection of sauces, typical quality wings.  The soups are always something we enjoy, whether  its the French Onion Soup or the soup of the day, its usually excellent.  Sometimes they have a fried brie appetizer that is excellent, heavy, rich, and on occasion, the perfect thing to order.  They pork dishes they serve are always good and moist, not dry boring pork.  The ribs are just OK, not my favorite thing here.  The Shepherds Pie is excellent!  BIG portion of piping hot beef covered in creamy mashed potatoes.  The fish and chips are also very good, although a bit greasy.  Overall almost everything I've had here is excellent, highly recommended for pub food in Astoria.

La Casa Del Pan

I absolutely love this place... Its my go to place for a quick bite in Astoria.  Their chicken and beef empanada's are excellent.  They have the yellow ones that are greasy and often filled with potatoes.  I enjoyed the white baked ones that are not at all greasy and have a great crust.  They are always fresh and the filling is lean and tasty.  My favorite item they make is I believe called Treme but I call it a Mexican challah because that is what i looks like... It is stuffed with white cheese, gauva and pineapple, its fantastic and everyone i share it with loves it.  Sometimes I pick up a few potatoes here so i don't have to cook a side dish for dinner, cheap, fast tasty.  They are very nice and the food is always fresh.  Recommended for sure.

Pachanga Patterson

 (This picture is from a recent visit for Brunch.  Excellent value at $10 for food and a drink)

I said to a friend just 2 weeks ago that Astoria needs a modern Nuevo Mexican place, thankfully a few days latter I found this place!  It is exactly what the area needed.  The food is fresh, tasty and exciting.  I like the small menu, I don't need a million options, and it is a lot easier to keep food fresh when there are fewer options on the menu.  The staff is very friendly, casual, knowledgeable about the food.  We had the spiciest of the salsa's, the Charred Tomato & Serrano Chili. It was good, although not quite as strong, or spicy as I would have liked.  The chips were fried fresh and a bit on the thick side, which I like.  Their house hot sauce was way to mild.

To start we ordered the Mussels which we did not enjoy very much.  They were just OK, the taste was a bit flat, under seasoned.  It could have used something to sharpen the flavor, perhaps citrus, or vinegar or just more salt.  Both my company and myself did not enjoy this very much, although we did not return it.

The entrees were very good.  I had the Roasted Pork Belly Enchilada, chocolate, fig & peanut sauce, cumin crema which were excellent!  The pork belly itself was cooked well, although not falling apart it had a good texture.  The sauce, chocolate, figs and peanuts were a wonderful balance to the pork, I really enjoyed the flavor combination and the crunch of the peanuts.  Great dish!  The fish taco's are excellent also, good portion of well fried fish.  Very tasty and not greasy.

For dessert I had the cold fruit soup with whipped cream.  It was alright, tasted more like a fruit salad, the actual broth was not memorable, however it was tasty and a great cool refreshing end to the meal.

I'm looking forward to returning to try the Duck and the Pork tacos.  Chips and salsa are not complementary, and neither are side dishes, which may push the price a few dollars higher than I would normally spend for Mexican food.  It is worth it for the food and the great outside sitting area.