FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM AUGUST 3, 2017 • BUZZ • THE QUEENS COURIER 57
dining out
Photos courtesy of Katch
Outdoor speakeasy opens in Astoria
BY ERICA LOWENKRON
Th ere’s a new speakeasy in town! Katch
Gastropub and Eatery in Astoria is opening
its outdoor speakeasy on Th ursday,
July 13, at 8 p.m. It will be the perfect
place to go back in time ‒ without
having to use a time machine ‒ every
Th ursday night while the weather’s nice.
Th is 1920s-themed bar will make you feel
like you’re sneaking some booze during
Prohibition.
Th e speakeasy will be in Katch’s courtyard,
an outdoor space with a view of the
stars and a covered area to protect you
from potential rainstorms.
According to Katch’s new owner, Bill
McSorley, visitors to the bar will “go
through the inside of Katch, and there
will be curtains to hide it like a speakeasy.”
Th e drapes will be closed at all times
and there will be a doorman. McSorley
even wants to set up a code word to get
into the speakeasy to enhance the experience.
Once inside, visitors will be greeted
by a mix of live music and a playlist with
music from the 1920s and ‘30s.
He wanted to open the speakeasy to
provide something diff erent for the community.
“Brooklyn and Manhattan have them,
and we wanted to bring something new
to Astoria,” McSorley said.
He thinks the new outdoor space will
bring more people to Astoria, and make
going out to a speakeasy-themed spot
more convenient for Queens residents.
Th e themed bar will have drinks and
food that will go with the times. Th e
gastropub already has more than 40
beers on tap ‒ they serve many specialty
beers including Lagunista: Born Again
Yesterday, Victory: Golden Monkey,
Montauk Watermelon and Allogash
White to name a few. But for the speakeasy,
McSorley also wants to “change it
up and have more authentic drinks to
the ‘20s and ‘30s.” Th ey will serve themed
cocktails, such as old-fashioned dry martinis,
gin and tonics and Canadian whiskeys.
Katch is also working on a menu to
go with the food fads of the time period.
Th e outdoor speakeasy will have seven
Katch Gastropub and Eatery
31-19 Newtown Ave., Astoria
718-77-2230
televisions to show themed movies.
McSorley plans on “sticking to movies
from that time, not just set in that time
period.” (He won’t be a stickler to the
time period all the time, though; he said
he wants to show “Th e Untouchables,”
even though it’s from the 1980s.) All of
the movies will be black and white to go
with the black and white decorations.
Katch will be decorated with black and
white table covers. Th e servers will be
wearing black and white, too. McSorley
wants everyone to have the full experience,
to make the courtyard feel like “a
throwback to that time of the world when
alcohol was prohibited,” when people
had to “make an eff ort to get into a place
to drink.”
McSorley hopes that the speakeasy will
become the neighborhood’s Th ursday
night spot. He wants people to have fun
and enjoy the outdoor space: “We’re
inside half the year anyway,” he said. And
he’s confi dent that Katch has transformed
this little corner of Astoria so well that
visitors will be taken back in time to the
Prohibition.
“No one will be disappointed,” he
promised.
www.MariasOnBell.com
718-279-1606
38-11 Bell Blvd.
Bayside, NY 11361
-Open 7 Days
A Week