Metropolitan Ave. Sizzler Closing

8:00 p.m. update: This has been confirmed. Thanks to Robert for the photos.

A reader told me that the Sizzler on Metropolitan Ave. is supposedly closing. If I recall, it is one of the last remaining Sizzler's in the Northeast, if not the last one.

I have to admit, I've been to the Forest Hills Sizzler once, many a year ago. We went more out of curiosity than anything. And I never went back.

But this particular Sizzler really gained notoriety back in July of 2011 when it was sued by a gay woman who claimed she was attacked by the store's manager and some patrons. How nice. Here's my post from back then: Do The Metropolitan Avenue Time Warp...

Thankfully, Metropolitan Ave. seems to have changed a lot since I wrote that post. But that part of Forest Hills—with its small-town feel that often feels straight out of central casting from the year 1959—still does mark a distinct contrast from the hustle and bustle around Queens Blvd. to the north.

Forest Hills Sizzler to Pay Alleged Attack Victim $25,000

A woman who says she was beaten and called anti-gay slurs at the Sizzler on Metropolitan Ave. has been awarded a $25,000 settlement by the restaurant.

NY woman awarded $25,000 in discrimination suit against Sizzler restaurant

Liza Friedlander

To tell you the truth, I wasn't very surprised by this horrifying story. It's obvious there are some really severe pockets of reactionary, conservative fascist elements in our area and in Queens in general.
I always get the feeling when I go down to Metropolitan Ave. that I am going back in time like 50 years. Well, I guess this just confirms it. Apparently, the people who work at and frequent the local Sizzler for its fine dining have attitudes towards gay people that are about 50 years old as well. So very, very sad...

Do The Metropolitan Avenue Time Warp...

... And beam back to a quaint time when store signs tout "Sick Room Supplies," there is still a Carvel, and yes, there is even a Sizzler! Remember those?
Oh, and the employees and patrons of the aforementioned Sizzler have apparently never, ever seen something called a "Gay Person." After all, it is a Sizzler.
Oh, and one more thing. If you are gay and actually feel, well, hungry, as gay people sometimes do, and want to eat at the aforementioned Sizzler, you apparently first risk being beaten by one of the restaurant's employees, and then for dessert, might be set upon by the other SIzzler patrons, who, it seems, well, have never, ever seen a gay person either!
At least, that is, according to this account in The Daily News:
Queens woman, gay rights group sues Sizzler over alleged homophobic bias attack by manager
Hmmm, so maybe that's why the Forest Hills Sizzler is the last one open on the East Coast, I think, except for a few scattered across Florida. It's tough to maintain that hyperdrive time warp bubble around a restaurant the size of a Sizzler. Tough, and damn expensive too! ...  In this time of NASA budget cuts and all.