Bourbon Street Restaurant and Catering on Bell Boulevard in Bayside celebrated the official grand opening of its new rooftop lounge on Oct. 7 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by such Queens luminaries as Borough President Melinda Katz, Bayside Assemblyman Edward Braunstein, Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Tom Grech and Schneps Communications President, CEO and Publisher Victoria Schneps-Yunis.
The New Orleans-themed café has been a popular Bayside eatery since 1997. Owner Mark Boccia was on hand to welcome guests and thank them for their support in making his dreams of a rooftop oasis come to fruition after more than a year of planning. The 2,000-square-foot space, which accommodates up to 140 patrons, features a bar with a vast selection of beers, a raw seafood bar and pizza oven. It is illuminated with French Quarter-style lanterns and skirted by a traditional New Orleans wrought-iron railing, and it has cozy banquettes, café tables and about a half-dozen big screen televisions.
Fans of the restaurant will also notice a complete renovation of the café’s façade, which includes new brickface, awnings and lighted signage in the traditional Big Easy colors of purple, gold and green, and a completely redesigned host stand area which fronts the stairs to the third-floor getaway. The renovation also includes a street-level elevator, which stops at the new second-floor catering facility on its way to the rooftop lounge.
Boccia hopes to have the second-floor catering hall open before Thanksgiving in time for the holiday season. The new space will be fitted with complete AV equipment, perfect for business meetings and seminars, as well as parties and events. He hopes to keep the rooftop open through New Year’s and is having a tent fitted over the area and adding heat lamps, so patrons can continue to enjoy the only rooftop lounge in northeastern Queens into 2016.
