Jimbo’s Bar and Restaurant is authentically Greek. Located on 30-05 Astoria Blvd, conveniently close to the Astoria Boulevard stop on the N train, Jimbo’s is a great place for Greek food and music.
Image courtesy of: http://pics3.city-data.com/businesses/p/1/1/2/0/8621120.JPG
When I visited, the live Greek music had not started up yet. All the tables inside were empty, except one where a man was playing solitaire with cards. Only a few people were sitting at the bar because it was only six o’clock. The man playing cards was the owner of the bar for the last thirteen years. He was born in Greece, but his father brought him to the United States forty years ago for a better quality of life. He has a strong accent and says he enjoys pastitsio, which is Greek lasagna, and moussaka, an eggplant based dish. He also likes lamb chops (paidakia), different hors d’oeurves, and fish (psari).
Pastitsio
Image courtesy of: http://christina-mycreativespot.blogspot.com/2011/02/pastitsio_25.html
The Atmosphere
While we were talking outside his restaurant, a comedic Columbian man, who lives in Whitestone because he can actually find parking there, came out of the restaurant to talk with the owner and I briefly. Inside the bar, I found people from even more nationalities talking amidst the Greek music playing on the radio. A Russian was watching a Mets game on one television while having a friendly argument with an elderly Italian man who was mocking the Mets. Another man was quietly watching a Greek drama on a different television. A Greek flag hung behind the bar. I ordered dinner and sat talking to the Bolivian bartender as I waited. During her years at Jimbo’s, she learned the Greek language. She said that a mixture of ethnicities visit Jimbo’s during the day, but at night ninety-five percent of the people are Greek. At night, she said it was a crowded and lively place. I saw two keyboards and microphones on a platform near a dance floor. She said that a bouzouki, an instrument specific to a specific area of Greece, usually accompanies the keyboards. She also said that people dance the Zeibekiko, Tsifteteli, and Kalamatiano dances depending on which island they are from.
The bouzouki sounds like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c33sNg45gPI&feature=related
My food was delicious. I ordered the special, makaronada (spaghetti) with kokoras (rooster). The chicken was extremely juicy and the spaghetti noodles had holes in the center.
What My Meal Looked Like:
Image courtesy of: http: http://sucreeathens.blogspot.com/2012/01/rooster-ragu-with-spaghetti-kokora.html
The food here was amazing, but I am sure there are other great Greek dining options in Astoria. In fact, a worker in an Italian bakery told me divulged that her favorite restaurant was a Greek seafood place called Taverna Kyclades at 33-07 Ditmars Boulevard.
