Nino’s AQ at 35-01 Ditmars Blvd. (Photo: Queens Post)
Dec. 18, 2018 By Meghan Sackman
After months of work, Nino’s AQ, an Italian restaurant, has at last opened its doors on Ditmars Boulevard.
The restaurant opened at 35-01 Ditmars Blvd. on Dec. 5, and is the second Nino’s location for brothers Michael and Franco Vendome, who also run Nino’s 46 in Manhattan.
The restaurateurs aim to offer a contemporary and low-key Italian dining experience in its Astoria site, which was first anticipated to open in the summer.
Nino’s AQ menu includes dishes like fried pumpkin with nasturtium aioli, coffee crusted skirt steak, and several kinds of pizza, such as the truffled prosciutto pizza, that all have the option of being made gluten free.
Menu items at the 50-seat restaurant range from $9 to $56, with a wine menu also included.
Franco, Nino’s AQ executive chef, told the Queens Post in May that he wanted to incorporate some of the same dishes from Nino’s 46, which his parents opened in 1982, in the Astoria restaurant while also creating new Italian-based dishes with a twist.
He also stressed the importance of blending both a sophisticated and low-key setting for guests at the new location.
“We want people to have a city experience but without any pretension,” Franco said in May. “It’s a family restaurant.”
