Studio Square

In all of this great, wide, wonderful world, is there anything better than a bar crawl? How about a biergarten? But then again, how about a biergarten crawl, made possible by Studio Square, opening three stops short of that other biergarten Thursday in Long Island City.

Studio's a colossal suds-complex divided into a two-barred, exposed brick interior (decked out in industrial steel doors and vintage whiskey barrels), and a 900-capacity, birch, ivy, and stone outdoor patio, all dreamed up by two Queens locals -- a Greek resto & gym owner, and a stone mason/ex-boxer who was once knocked out by Riddick Bowe (obviously, he didn't look at the Golota tapes to discover Bowe's dangling weakness). The garden's watered by ~20 German and local draughts (Franziskaner Hefe-Weiss, Capt Lawrence Fresh Chester Pale Ale, Radeberger, etc) served in 1/2-liter and liter steins and $18 pitchers; there's also perfectly chilled sangria stirred in basement vats, pumped upstairs, and then drawn from taps at the bar (fruit's added afterwards, at least 'til the Germans invent a tap line that pumps apples). Tamping it all down's a meat-heavy selection of all-$8 grub, including 8oz black Angus burgers, pulled pork sammies, bratwurst, weisswurst, and two dogs from Hebrew National (jewcy).

Studio also rocks a front patio for street-view drinking, plus a huge 2nd floor which they plan to rent for events and weddings -- an event your biergarten crawling should forestall indefinitely.