June 28, 2017 By Jason Cohen
A new gastropub featuring barbecue food and international cuisine is set to open in Forest Hills next week, with plans to add rooftop garden in 2018.
The establishment, called Queens Bully, will be located at 113-30 Queens Blvd (corner of 76th Road) and is named after the notorious thoroughfare. The owners plan to have a soft opening on July 6, and an official grand opening July 13.
The 2,000 square foot bar/restaurant will seat about 100 people and replaces Baluchi’s, which closed in 2015.
The pub has been outfitted with a slate grey brick façade, large elliptical windows, and accordion doors. Inside, it has brick walls, treated cement flooring, and exposed wooden beam ceilings. It will have picnic-style timber tables and benches and a 30-foot stone-topped bar.
The rooftop garden is expected to open next spring.
The established is owned by Rohan Aggarwal and Suraj Patel, both Queens residents.
Aggarwal has been working in the restaurant business since the early ’90s and also went to culinary school, while Patel comes from a background in hotel operations. The duo hope to create an environment at Queens Bully that celebrates the borough’s diversity.
“It has always been a dream of ours to open something different and fun in Queens,” Aggarwal said. “It definitely has a special place in our heart. Queens is home to people from all over the world – and, because of that, it’s where you can find some of the most delectable food.”
Menu items include Corona Corn Elote, Korean Fried Sticky Wings and Shrimp Ceviche Stuffed Avocados as well as a selection of artisanal naan pizzas and barbecue dishes such as Bayside Brisket and Off The Bully Baby Back Ribs.
Ingredients will come from the Forest Hills Greenmarket – among other local purveyors – and will also incorporate fresh herbs like dill and mint that have been grown in the restaurant’s basement-level hydroponic garden.
For the sweet tooth, the restaurant will offer desserts such as house made Key Lime Pie and Fluffernutter Bites, as well as handspun milkshakes like Avocado Turmeric and Ferrero Rocher Chocolate.
The bar will feature local New York craft beers (by the bottle or can) and will also have six options on tap that will rotate weekly. It will have an extensive collection of bourbon, rye and whiskey year round – with specialty cocktails changing seasonally.