The Best of Queens Restaurant Week

If you love seafood, this is the best choice in the 2011 Queens Restaurant Week. If you love seafood, you probably already knew this. London Lennie's has been a destination restaurant in central Queens for years. The $25 meal is your chance to get reacquainted or indulge for the fist time in Lennie's seafood. Take advantage!

Mighty Argentinean grill La Fusta earns a couple of top nods. NYC foodie and writer Krista Garcia says, "Restaurant Week is kind of about bang for the buck, so for my $20.07 I would hope for something grilled and meaty from La Fusta, the oldest Argentinean restaurant in NYC."

But it's not just the oldest, according to Seth Kugel, coauthor of the Nueva York book and blog: "La Fusta is the greatest Argentine restaurant in Elmhurst, in Queens, in New York, and I would say the world if it weren't for some stiff competition in Argentina. Totally non-pretentious, humongous portions, pasta for your vegetarian date, a dulce-de-leche-filled crepe flambé, plenty of English spoken."

Every year Queens Restaurant Week gets bigger and better, but you can't eat everything. You'll have to ask these restaurants to join in 2011. Start with Jim Leff's yen for a "lunch at Piccola Venezia (42-01 28th Ave, Astoria), Zum Stammtisch (69-46 Myrtle Ave, Glendale), or Trattoria L'Incontro (21-76 31st St, Astoria)."

Then let's add northern Italian star Il Toscano (42-05 235th St, Douglaston), and the happiest restaurant on Northern Boulevard, Pio Pio (8415 Northern Blvd, Jackson Heights). And finish with Mets blogger Joe's pick of Erin's Isle (15403 Cross Island Pkwy, Whitestone, 718-746-8456). Ah, time to start saving up that $20.08 for next year.

Sometimes I look through the restaurants in Restaurant Week and roll my eyes -- $25 isn't much of a deal at some of them. That's not the case at Christo's Steakhouse. Not at all. A $25 dinner at this Greek-style steakhouse is perfect here. Try it. You'll be happy.