bohemian hall & beer garden

I walked past the beer garden today in the dead of winter and found myself wishing desperately for summer's return! The beer garden is an essential Queens experience, and is well worth a trip from Manhattan. There's a ton of outdoor seating, a mix of small tables and long ones, and a great beer menu. There's waitress service, but there's also an outdoor grill where you can order kielbasy and red cabbage (or more American fare like burgers and fries) if you'd rather self-serve. The beer menu is nice and reasonably-priced, with a couple of Czech beers on menu like Staropramen and Pilsner Urquell. The crowd is a mix of many different ethnic groups and ages- it's not strange to see kids running around together while their parents hang out. It's especially fun to come out for big soccer games- the crowd gets really crazy and it's a really good time. There's an indoor restaurant, too, so you can visit year-round, but it's most fun in the summer.

We expected an European Style Beer Garden, well at the entrance a security officer was checking the ladies bags, the beer was self service which is normal perfectly temperatured, the highlight of the visit. We asked and tried to get the attention of 6(six) different servers within 20 minutes to place a food order, only getting replies that they are not in charge of this table. Servers uniforms where very spotty and desperate need of dry cleaning. PROST!

We found this place for the opening of the 2014 world cup, Croatia vs. Brazil. I am from Vancouver Canada and on a whim I looked up "Little Brazil" in New York and Astoria seemed to be the area. It is not just Brazil but blue collar Greek, Italian, Spanish, everything. It's in Queens - take the train but Astoria district seems quiet and nice. It was actually a relief from busy Manhattan. That is where I would live from a short time in NYC.Couldn't have been in a better place on soccer day. It's a pub inside with a huge outdoor beer garden serving Czech, German and good American beers. I would recommend this place for ANY sporting/TV event, or just to go see especially on a hot sunny day and relax. Lots of tents/shade welcoming, and good BEER!Last note: everyone in there could speak english, and would enthused if asked and were friendly... but amongst their own groups it was all greek, portugese, spanish, croatian, very cool. Very happy to see something totally real for once. It was a special day with world cup starting but I have to give it a 5.