A Restaurant Experience

Punta Dura Italian Restaurant

41-15 34th Street (off Steinway)
Astoria, Queens, NY 11103

718-721-2137

R/V/G train

http://www.puntadura.com/

This restaurant is a true step back into time into a far away land. They do have Italian food, but the feel is very Eastern European, as the owners are Croatian and the crowd is very mixed from all over Eastern Europe. A sort of secret about this place, is that it was used in The Sopranos as the scene for the restaurant Nuovo Vesuvio, and when you walk in you feel like you have been here before.



The food is excellent and fresh and a drop pricey for Astoria, but don't let that stop you, as it’s just a fun feeling to be a part of this place. At 10 PM on both Friday and Saturday nights they have live international music, and everyone dances to music from every country. It really reminds me of our trips to Croatia, Italy, Germany and Poland and much more.



The waiters are formal, and the service is excellent. It has the feel of "old world" and definitely not Manhattan. I felt like a fly on the wall seeing how other people enjoy the simple pleasures of life; good food, good wine, seeing friends, and making new friends and dancing and dancing. Around midnight yet another group comes in, a bit younger and more dancing. I admit this place is not for everyone, but I know we'll be regulars. as it brought back lots of fond memories of both trips abroad and times gone by.