El Boqueron

Great place for tapas, I really enjoyed the service and the sangria is really rely good

Family run Spanish restaurant with a low key, intimate feel. We loved the vegetarian paella and the spinach croquettes. The mussels were decent, but we didn’t love the Tempranillo wine. Next time: sangria!

Best Spanish coffe ever! Real family restaurant service. Tapas are so great! If u stop by Boqueron u should try the «Paella Valenciana, Marinera or Negra» all of them are delicious!
The steak is out of this world.
Love this place!!!
Best Spanish Restaurant in Astoria.

This Place Really disappointed me and my friend. Food was mediocre. I had the cod and I had to refuse it. It was gummy (I’m sure it was frozen) and without any flavor. 25 $ for this ??? Really??? Wine list is so poor and with cheap brands that you can find in the store for 10 $… Or less
Avoid this place !

I was craving for paella and decided to try this place.
I went with my boyfriend and this place was intimate and cozy with great service. I was initially worried that I would be hearing the train which is pretty much directly above the restaurant, but I did not hear anything and completely forgot about it.
For appetizer, we got calamari. The preparation, baby squid, and sauce were all exquisite. After we finished, they consistently refilled our waters during our 20 minute wait for our paella.
Now for the paella,
My boyfriend and I decided to have paella for two. We chose the Paella Valenciana. When they asked if we want two different paellas, my boyfriend mentioned if they could mix two different paellas. They never asked which two to mix, but when the paella came, they had mixed Paella Valenciana with the seafood paella.
IT WAS AMAZING. I hate burnt rice and the rice on the bottom was still soft and easy to remove from the pot. The only complaint I have was the mussels still had some pieces of sand in them.
If you want some amazing paella, please try this place. You won’t regret it.
Excellent service and excellent food :)

The best sangria I have ever had anywhere in the world.
I really enjoy going to this place it is one of my favorite Spanish restaurants in the city. There passionfruit sangria is to die for. They also have really good tapas here that are not overpriced and absolutely delicious. I recommend ordering any of the tapas but I do not recommend the Paella. That is the only not so delicious thing I’ve ever eaten at this place and I have been multiple times over many years. The service is also really good as they go out of their Way to make you feel comfortable and to ensure that you have a good experience at their restaurant.

This place was great! All the seafood was fresh and every dish was better than the one before it. The waiter was very helpful and friendly. Make sure you get paella and a pitcher of sangria.

Yay, tapas restaurant in Astoria! I was a little worried my snobby little manhattan self would hate food around the area, but I was thankfully proven wrong. Solidly good tapas, but nothing super innovative. It felt like home cooking, great if you want straight to the point food with little fuss.
Drinks: Strawberry Sangria. Usually sangria has this aftertaste of the wine, but the ones here don’t. Not sure what they do to it, but it was sweet and tasted like freshly made fruit punch. I’m such a fan of their mixture, I’d drink it for dessert! I had 3 glasses…
We had Lobster Croquettes, Mussels, Portobello Mushroom smothered with thinly sliced cured meat and cheese, Calamari, and then the squid ink paella negro. Topped everything off with a coffee flan.
Everything was hearty and delicious, I enjoyed myself here! Not to mention, the service is super friendly and make you feel like a long lost friend they’ve just connected with again.

Great food, very nice staff, paella no words just amazing!
Try the sangria maracuya!
And the flame sausage!

A friend had recommended this restaurant and we loved it. From the moment we walked in we were welcomed warmly. The sangria wasnt my favorite but we followed it with a wonderful bottle of wine i think it was called Trento. The croquetas de bacalo (codfish) were delicious. The mussels and flammed chorizo were great. The service was the best part. They were very nice to my 90 year old grandmother and gave us a shot at the end for my moms birthday. I would definitely return.

Great service, and they had a nice selection of red and white wine. I ate the paella — so delicious!

Outstanding! The octopus was like nothing I have ever tasted! If you are looking for a cozy, romantic and quiet atmosphere with absolutely great tasting authentic Spanish food done right then look no further! Service, atmosphere and food; five stars!

We passed by this little restaurant for years without giving it much thought. Then one day when I looked it up on Unilocal I was surprised to find out it’s a good Spanish tapas bar/​restaurant.
Since our visit to Spain last year I have been craving some authentic and good Spanish food which was apparently hard to find in New York. We have tried several places and were disappointed.
After walking in the restaurant I was pleasantly surprised by the atmosphere. Romantic candlelight and low key lighting with Spanish guitar music in the background.
The price of tapas ($ 8-​$ 12) are a bit more expensive than in Spain but Paella for one person is $ 22 which is comparable to decent restaurants on our trip to Spain
We ordered passion fruit red wine sangria (as recommended by waiter), bacalao croquetas, paella negra, and banana cake.
Sangria was really great. It was sweet but not overly so, as is the downfall of many sangria preparations.
The bacalao croquetas were tasty, but no pieces of fish were to be found… maybe they are ground into the potato mash inside because there’s a slight flavor present despite no fish meat identifiable. The inside of the croquetas were juicy and tender, outside is thin and crsipy. The marinara sauce tasted homemade with piece if tomato still visible and very flavorful
Paella negra took longer to prepared (as all freshly made paella should). It has shrimps, clams, mussels, calamari, and chicken with blackened saffron rice. It isn’t as salty as the ones in Spain, which was actually better for us as we like them less salty. The shellfish were quite fresh and chicken pieces exquisitely tender. The rice was so full of flavor. I was tempted to lick the pan after we finished.
The banana cake came with icecream, fresh strawberry and Piña colada sauce. Very tasty!
Amazing experience. Everything tasted good, and service was attentive, polite. The waiter was not shy about making recommendation, which was very nice.
Would definitely love to come back again!

When I arrived on a random weekday, the restaurant had two other diners and was relatively empty so they seated me right away.
Because I was waiting on a friend, I got started and ordered a passion fruit champagne sangria. It was mind blowingly delicious! (and quite potent, I must add)
Now onto the dishes
— Gambas al Ajillo (shrimp in garlic sauce)
— Setas Variadas del Huerto al Ajillo (Variation of mushrooms from orchard in a garlic sauce)
— Chorizo Special
— Paella Valenciana
All the tapas were very good; however, they were made with ALOT of garlic (I like garlic so I loved that it was). So if you’re not a fan of a lot of garlic — do not order the garlic dishes. My favorite by far was the chorizo special (too bad it’s a special). My least favorite was the paella — there was no socarrat. It was quite bland and dry — don’t think i’ll every order this again.
I would come back here for the chorizo and sangria.

Love finding hidden gems in Queens! Who said you have to travel to Manhattan for great food?!
Drinks– Passion Fruit Sangria– TO DIE FOR! A lot of red Sangrias are bitter and not as tasty, however if you add Passion Fruit, my o my. Changes my world! Hubby had a glass of Malbec which he enjoyed as well.
Apps– one of the specials on Saturday night was a DELISH Portobello mushroom with thinly sliced Italian sausage and melted cheese. YUMMM
Main course– Paella –delish in every way possible and my hubby had one of the specials — grilled white fish-​Amazing!
Dessert– OUT OF THIS WORLD– flan de mocha– which I’m still dreaming about the next time I can have some.
All the staff are super friendly and the place is small but very cozy. I can’t wait to try the other dishes on this menu!

The passionfruit sangria was absolutely delicious. The food itself was very good, very tasty. The portions were so tiny I kind of wanted to leave after the first appetizer came out. The salad was very small. we also got one of the dinner items which was the paella negra which was very good and decent size.

Great service, and good food.
Passion fruit sangria was definitely the highlight of my visit. Best I’ve ever had.
Codfish croquettes weren’t so special, though our server recommended it.
Paella was perfectly seasoned. Chicken was a little bit dry.
Shrimp in garlic sauce tapa was great
Octopus tapa was perfect

My brother and his wife like this place so they had us trek here for a small family gathering. I pulled up and it is basically the basement of a house that has been converted into a restaurant. I didn’t know what to expect. Nothing special on the inside, but the place was clean. The owner and the staff were all very nice and accommodating. We started off with a few appetizers. The baby calalmari and octopus were ok, nothing special. The mussels, which I was looking forward to were a problem. The first one I tried was tasty and tender. All the rest tasted and smelled like they were bad. My wife and I seemed to be the only ones that noticed or cared. Oh well. The lobster croquettes and the fish croquettes were decent.
All this time, we were washing everything down with their passion fruit sangria. The sangria was very good. Not too sweet and a very nice taste.
Our main course was Paella Valenciana. The rice was pretty good and had absorbed most of the flavors of the shellfish that is in this dish. Only issue was the taste and smell of the mussels again. It permeated the whole dish.
Dessert was an interesting banana bread with strawberries and a piña colada sauce. Very nice!!! A nice change of pace from typical dessert offerings.
All in all, not a bad spot, but I wouldn’t make the trip all the way to Astoria to get it.

The best tapas and sangria in Astoria and in NY
Best shrimp in garlic sauce
Paella Valenciana made from scratch
Mocha coffee flavored flan to died for
Great Service you have to tried el Boqueron tapas

Recently went to Boqueron for dinner on a Saturday night (after fleeing the unbearable din at Zenon). We walked in seeking a place to dine with like minded, civilized foodies. Every time I eat here I wonder why there is no line out the door. Though they were almost fully seated, the owner carved out a cozy space for us before we had time to perch at the bar!
The food is fabulous, (for reference, I am a foodie and gourmet level chef). We ordered a pitcher of gingered sangria while trying to decide which tapas to order (amazing portabello mushroom with chorizo and lobster croquetas), while we waited for the delicious seafood paella (always prepared PERFECTLY to order, and totally worth the wait). Too full to order dessert (though tempted by the flan), we were given a lovely watermelon tequila digestif to finish off the meal.
Everything about El Boqueron is the way it should be. The staff is always friendly, and will do everything possible to make you welcome and comfortable should you walk in at the height of their dinner hour without a reservation. My friends decided we should find a date to try all the tapas, but this too big a job for one visit, as the owner told us there are forty two regular tapas in the chef’s repertoire! If you have not tried this gem, I urge you to seek it out, it never disappoints. Many of my Manhattan foodie friends regularly travel into our ‘hood to eat here but, as all Astorians have learned, WHY leave Astoria?