Thursday, March 21, 2019

New Japanese Restaurant on Austin St.

Welcome (soon) Hinoki, in the former location of A&J Pizza, on Austin Street in Forest Hills. (Thanks to Joe for the close-up pic.)



31 comments:

  1. am i the only one who think we have too many japanese restaarants?

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    1. Not really since only 1-2 are good.

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    2. Very few Japanese restaurant in FH are not owned/operated by Japanese. I hope this one is authentic.

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    3. This is owned by the owners of Sakuraya grocery store, also on Austin Street.

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  2. I like the sleek look of it and I'm surprised how fast that particular spot was filled but I totally agree with Alex. Now the place is becoming saturated with Asian eateries. Too many banks, barbers, beauty/nail shops, pharmacies and now Asian eateries! I would totally love a nice Russian/Ukrainian/Eastern European eatery to open over this way, we have the population to support it or a nice Indian place on Austin, or a good quality butcher selling grass fed products (such as Queens Natural Meats in Flushing)- we need variety!

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  3. Ethiopian, Nigerian or Moroccan or Brazilian bbq would be nice. Even Korean bbq, if we are sticking with Asian theme b

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  4. Forest Hills is quickly becoming a mirror image of Flushing. Anyone who thinks otherwise is completely blind. Almost every new business which opens on Austin Street or Queens Blvd. in Forest Hills is now Asian-owned. Exactly how many noodle or dumplings shops, Chinese or Japanese restaurants, or Asian bakeries/eateries do we need in one neighborhood? It's the "beginning of the end" for Forest Hills as we once knew it. The level of "creativity" just isn't there and since most FH Asian residents do the bulk of their shopping in Flushing, you can expect the turnover and empty store-fronts to continue. That's why, IMHO, Metropolitan Ave. has far greater diversity in it's business offerings and has really come a long way in re-creating itself over the past decade. One only has to look at Cinemart Cinema, Eddie's Sweet Shop, the amazing variety of restaurants, children & adult art studios, Aigner Chocolates, and of course Trader Joe's to recognize that new businesses do not have to be "more of the same" to flourish and provide an enjoyable shopping experience for FH residents! What is the Austin Street alternative? A Spectrum Mobile store opening up where New York & Company used to be! Wow, isn't that exciting? Wait! Maybe another bank can open up? It's a sad commentary for Forest Hills and the Austin Street commercial district.

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    1. We'd be lucky if the quality and authenticity of the Asian eateries here matched Flushing.

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    2. You’re kidding- metropolitan ave feels like the forgotten part of queens food wise. Food choices in forest hills have a long way to go to before it becomes even close to being a “mirror image of Flushing”

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  5. Unfortunately, I have to agree with everything Anonymous (9:04) said. There are many Asians in my building and come to think of it, there's that new Beijing Dumpling place on Queens Blvd near Key Food and also that new Grocery Topia place (which I found out has lots of Asian items). I mean the area is a very quick drive from Flushing and even with two short train rides, downtown Flushing is pretty close. Asians will be the only ones willing to pay such large prices for the high housing costs here. When you have Archie Bunker style houses going for 900-1mil, the typical white family usually opts for the suburbs. Def not prejudice, have been to China a few times and love it, but we definitely don't want Forest Hills to turn into Flushing, window guards on everything, shoddy construction, balconies crammed with all kinds of junk, etc...

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    1. First rule about blog commenting: If you say you're not racist before anyone accuses you of being so, you probably are, you probably are...

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    2. No, I'm definitely not. Like I said, lots of Asian people in my building, all wonderful, no issues whatsoever. New Asian businesses in the area are great too, but the 9:04 comment was saying that FH could be on its way to becoming a mirror image of Flushing and while it might be nice to eat at an authentic place in Flushing or shop at the GW supermarket, I don't think that we would want FH to become quite like Flushing. I think all of us in FH like the balance it provides. I don't think many of us would enjoy living in downtown Flushing.

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    3. Agree on it not being racist. It used to be true of the "I'm not racist, but..(insert racist thing here)", but now it's become more necessary because the mere mentioning of race, gets labelled as racist. I realize it's a more complex issue than that.

      That said, I think it's an incorrect assessment to say FH is becoming Flushing. It's not even close.

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    4. To Anonymous 9:04 AM and 4:40 PM:

      In your posts, replace every instance that you used "Asian(s)" with "Black", "Hispanic", and "Jew/Jewish".

      Read it back to yourself a few times to see how it sounds.

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    5. It would be nice if we had a nice big Asian grocer with more variety than the Japanese grocer near Natural Market.

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    6. Come on, you're accusing anon of being racist because he prefaced his comment by saying no prejudice? That's just lazy and narrow minded, especially in this hyper sensitive environment we all live with now. There is nothing wrong with saying you don't want to live in a place where most of the food you can get is Asian, and you just want more variety. My wife is Chinese (I'm white) and she notices the same trend happening as others mentioned and she is very unhappy about it. Is she racist? Her parents live in Elmhurst and they're happy there, but never for a second would she consider Elmhurst or Flushing because she is looking for more diversity. We wonder what it will look like in another 10 years and if the investment we made to buy here will feel like a mistake. People throw around the race card like it's so cheap and easy and completely forget the real gravity of true racism.

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    7. Hey, thank you Entered Apprentice! I'm the original poster that got labeled as racist, even though I tried to preface it by saying to please do not take this the wrong way! I'm a world traveler and love the diversity Queens offers, but if you look back at the history of Queens, you will see that over time, demographics in many areas shifted radically- whether good or bad. Drive down Northern Blvd from Flushing into Nassau and it's mostly Asian businesses and it definitely was not that way 20+ years ago. Even the Great Neck school district website has translations of letters to the community in Chinese. This had always been a well to do, predominantly Jewish area. So could that happen here? I don't see why not. Flushing can only handle so much expansion- they only have that one subway stop for goodness sake!

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    8. You say you’re not racist but then say great neck used to be well to do and Jewish and now has schools needing Chinese translations and that might happen here. Does that mean Chinese are not well to do and wealthy? Does it matter if the people who can afford to live here are a certain ethnicity that isn’t yours? Does that make them poor because they don’t speak your language? Definitely prejudice if you think so.

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    9. No it definitely does not mean that they are not well to do. Sorry for not phrasing it this way: "Great Neck used to be a predominately well to do Jewish area that is now becoming a predominately well to do Asian area." I think the predominately well to do aspect is implied by the price level in Great Neck and Northern Queens in general and housing in Forest Hills also. Any family that is buying a three bedroom home for 1 mil or higher is well off. So please stop trying to pick apart statements, thank you!

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  6. "Beginning of the end"? Ha not the way real estate is going here, def not a declining neighborhood. This neighborhood is about fads, what makes money NOW. So current flavor is Asian, if you don't like it then patronize other businesses. On one hand, totally understand the desire/appreciation for quality of life and curb appeal. But please don't let the divisiveness hit home!

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  7. Argentine Tango on queens blvd closed. I agree with the “fad” comment. Today it happens to be Asian places. They are not all the same. And we need something to replace Jade which also closed.

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  8. Remember when Jade was Beefsteak Charlie’s?

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  9. If it's not good or if there are too many restaurants serving the same fare, they'll just close. The rent is too high to merely coast along. See: Ice Cream places on Austin.

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  10. We truly need a good independent or used book shop! Too many restaurants!

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    1. How would that make money for the owner in high rent areas? It's a nice idea, but nearly impossible unless it's a wealthy person's side project.

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  11. I have a good feeling about this place. Good location and Japanese food is trendy and popular in NYC. Good idea having "bar" in the title as well, as it will brand itself to late evening clientele and younger people who want a fun dinner/night out but not your typical bar scene. From the appearance I expect it to have a modern and high-end feel. People complaining about the Asian food need to take a chill pill. Austin, QB, and Metropoliton see different foot traffic. If the place is successful, it belongs here no matter how many Asian spots there are. If they fail, the market will dictate why.

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  12. The proliferation of these Asian Fusian/Sushi bars are a dime a dozen all over Queens. Not one stands out amongst the herd.

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  13. I welcome with open arms any restaurants moving into the neighborhood! It can't be easy...I'm sure the rents are outrageous. Looking forward to trying it!

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  14. :( noo, we need korean bbq

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  15. I wish they torn down the old facade and made it more appealing. It looks like the same old tile facade from A&J but instead of that pinkish color it's black. Did they just spray-paint it? Many Asian families live in FHs but eat elsewhere...they know where to get good Chinese food, not FHs.

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  16. We tried it yesterday. They need to get their footing. Young inexperienced waiters - menu is not to large ,which is a good thing, but the offerings left us wanting. Nice to see something new but will give them a few months hoping they iron things out until then it's still Bamboo Ya

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