Sparkling water on tap, a simple luxury at the Queens Kickshaw

soda fountain
The taps for soda water at the Queens Kickshaw.

Claire and I had dinner at the Queens Kickshaw for the first time last night. Preliminary report: great stuff. But what I want to draw your attention to is the fact that they have sparkling water on tap there — and it’s free.

Yes! We hadn’t yet tasted the food and already I loved this place.

Complimentary soda water. On tap. How often have you had that at a restaurant? It’s a small luxury that probably costs the Queens Kickshaw pennies.* Very classy — and smart. That cost is probably recouped a thousand times over from a customer loyalty standpoint. Continue reading “Sparkling water on tap, a simple luxury at the Queens Kickshaw”

What is with the abandoned building on Vernon Boulevard under the Queensboro Bridge in Long Island City?

It’s a question I asked just today on Facebook and was pleased to get an answer within minutes. From the New York Times‘s Christopher Gray in a March 1987 Cityscape story: The Queens Terra-Cotta building, built in 1892 as the first structure solely for offices of the growing concern, was designed by Francis H. Kimball, … Continue reading What is with the abandoned building on Vernon Boulevard under the Queensboro Bridge in Long Island City?