Valentine’s Day. The most romantic, fun-loving holiday there is. How could you be upset on Valentines’s Day? You’re celebrating love, the coolest thing ever. I don’t only mean love romance-wise, but I mean in general. You celebrate the love you have for your family and friends, as well.

I personally love this holiday; I love all of the flowers, the red, the pink, the chocolates, and just the overall attitude. You’ve got some pretty chill vibes, Valentine’s Day.

Some people are super bitter about Valentine’s Day for some reason. I’ve seen some pretty cold stuff on Instagram about how much they hate Valentine’s Day like:

And:

I mean, I can see why that’s cool, but can we not get rid of Valentine’s Day?! Can we all just agree that there’s absolutely nothing wrong about being single on Valentine’s Day? THERE’S NOTHING WRONG WITH IT.

We’re celebrating the fact that we, as human beings, are able to create friendships and relationships that grow, that last and that we cherish. I am so thankful for my friends, and this Valentine’s Day, I celebrated them.

We like to do all sorts of things. You don’t need to be in a relationship to do romantic, fun, and exciting things. You always have the most fun with your friends, anyway! Here are a few friend-date ideas in Queens for any day, not only Valentine’s Day:

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Yoga and JJ’s Fusion, Astoria

I really like to go do yoga with my friends. Yoga kind of feels like a safe zone for us, where we can let out our frustrations and stress. It’s about finding your most relaxed state, following your breath, and leaving the rest of the world at the door when you walk into the studio. It’s a really safe, calming environment.

There are a ton of great yoga studios in Astoria, like Yoga Agora, located at 33-02 Broadway. It’s only $8 a class ($8!) with a mat rental included, ranging from an hour to an hour and a half each. You can get more information about the studio here.

But there’s something extra special about going with your friend. It makes the whole experience much calmer knowing that you’re next to someone you’re comfortable with, doing the same thing.

It’s the best when you’re struggling to get through your chair pose (which is a really horrible pose where they make you squat down, as if you’re sitting in an imaginary chair, for way too long). You’re sweating profusely, glasses sliding down your nose and you look over at your friend as she’s breathing like she’s giving birth. You both exchange a look and laugh out loud at how stupid you both look, trying to conceal your laugh in the quiet room.

It’s also good to go with a friend to yoga because then you guys can go eat after! We’re always starving after yoga.

We almost always want to eat something that’s relatively healthy after yoga, since we were just exercising (and don’t really do that often) and want to keep it up. There’s this amazing sushi place that’s a few blocks away. It’s called JJ’s Asian Fusion, located at 3705 31st Ave.

This is probably my favorite sushi place in Queens. As soon as you walk in you feel how calm the restaurant is. It’s always busy, but almost never noisy. The atmosphere is amazing, the lights are dim and there are candles on the table. Perfect for an actual date, too!

There are so many good things on the menus. Let’s start with the appetizers. The dim sum will change your life. It’s a homemade dumpling with chicken and crabmeat, topped with a shrimp. And the sauce it comes with just send it over the edge. I’ve had this countless times and every time it’s just as delicious.

On their website they have an appetizer of the month, and this month it’s a rock shrimp tempura served with baby arugula.

JJ’s also has really tasty pork gyoza, which is a fried dumpling. They’re soft, buttery, and perfect.

Now let’s talk about the rolls. One of the rolls I always get no matter what is a California roll, which is an avocado, cucumber, and crab meat roll. I also usually get the shrimp tempura, which has fried shrimp, cucumber, and lettuce and is covered in eel sauce. Eel sauce is my favorite thing (not so much eels, though). It’s so sweet and adds the right amount of flavor to sushi.

Their scallop California roll is also a good choice; it’s a roll with crabmeat and crunch topped with a seared scallop, tobiko (fish roe) and creamy sauce.

They also have a lot of sake options, which I recommend getting with your meal. I like the Tokubetsu Junmai sake, which is smooth and easy going. It’s made from rice and koji and is so good.

Come check out JJ’s Asian Fusion anytime, but especially after a yoga class!

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Baseball Game and Park Side Restaurant, Corona

It may not be baseball season right now, but a baseball game is the perfect friend-date. Especially at Citi Field, home of the Mets, in Corona. I wrote about Citi Field in a previous post which you can read here.

Citi Field is located at 123-01 Roosevelt Ave. Baseball games are fun because you get to dress up in your team’s attire, sit among really intense baseball fans, sing along to the songs they play, get up for the 7th inning stretch, drink beer out of Mets cups, and eat as many peanuts as you want. Plus Citi Field is just cool to walk around and explore.

I really like the seats all the way on top of the stadium not only because it’s cheaper (we’re in college, so) but also there are less people up there, so it feels a little bit more private. So you can talk with your friends and not feel like you’re disturbing any one. And the view is insane! You can see everything from up there, and you can look out at the surrounding area if you look behind you.

There are a lot of great places to get food in Citi Field like Shake Shack, Nathan’s Hot Dogs, El Verano Taco (!!!), A seafood stand called Catch of the Day and Pat LaFrieda’s Steak Sandwich. Or you can go to a nearby restaurant called Park Side, located at 107-01 Corona Ave., and have authentic Italian food.

This place is a bit fancy, but perfect for a friend-date, or an actual date, too. There’s valet parking and everything! And they serve their desserts à la carte, so you see what you can get before choosing it.

They describe themselves as an “Italian Landmark” in Corona, and I believe it. It’s been visited by New York Magazine, Tony’s Table on CBS, it’s been highly rated in Zagat and it was voted City’s Best, all according to their website.

It’s a great friend-date option because it gives you and your friends the opportunity to dress nice! Quickly go home after the game, change out of your Mets attire and put on a dress, stocking and nice boots.

Once they seat you down at the white table-clothed table, they give you a meat and cheese plate and bread to start. As you’re munching you can look at their extensive menu.

I, for one, love Italian food. And so does my friend Brittany, her family actually loves coming to Park Side. And her mom makes the BEST Italian food. Don’t even get me started on her lasagna. One time when I slept over at her house I ate it for dinner and then again the next morning for breakfast. So. Good.

They have a lot of authentic Italian appetizers, like Hot Antipasto, which is shrimp, clams, stuffed mushrooms and stuffed zucchini. There’s also Cold Antipasto, which is a mixed salad with provolone, prosciutto and salami.

They have crispy fried calamari, baked stuffed clams, which are whole clams baked oreganata, which are stuffed with breadcrumbs and oregano.

Park Side has really great entrees like pastas, from the grill, pesce (fish), vitello (veal), pollo (chicken), and a crazy amount of desserts. Brittany’s favorite thing to get is the Veal Sorrentino, which is sliced very thin and topped with eggplant, prosciutto and cheese.

A few examples of desserts they offer are Tiramisu Gelato Truffles, Caramel Custard, Tartufo Bocci Balls (which is ice cream) and chocolate-covered strawberries. They also give you complimentary mini biscotti at the end of your meal!

Come check out Park Side restaurant, whether it’s after a baseball game at Citi Field or not. It’s great for special occasions!

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Ladies Who Brunch

Who doesn’t like brunch? It’s at a perfect time, not too early not too late and usually there’s alcohol involved. Which is always a plus.

Our favorite place to get brunch is Banter in Forest Hills, located at 108-22 Queens Blvd.

Brunch itself is a perfect friend-date because it usually happens on a weekend morning. So you can get together with your friends and talk and laugh about events that happened throughout your week in a calm environment.

Brunch at Banter is the best. It’s an Irish restaurant, and there’s usually a line to get a table, but it’s so worth it. A brunch entree comes with a choice of a screwdriver (a drink with vodka and orange juice), a mimosa (a drink with champagne and orange juice), a Bloody Mary, coffee, juice, tea, or soda.

Almost every entree on this menu is $16, except the hearty steak and eggs and The Irish Breakfast, which comes with Irish sausage, Irish bacon, two eggs, black pudding, white pudding, mushrooms, sautéed onions, half a grilled tomato, and Irish brown bread.

My favorite thing to get is the homemade Quiche of the day, which is served with a mixed green salad. It’s different every time you go there; the last time I went with my friends, it was a vegetable quiche. And it usually sells out quick.

Rina got the blackened salmon salad, and it was SO GOOD. It came with sweet corn and black bean salsa, crispy onions, pepper jack cheese and romaine lettuce tossed in ranch dressing.

Claire and Brittany both got the homemade crepes, served with wild mushrooms, asparagus, parmesan cheese, and grilled chicken in a cream sauce. And they were so good, too, and so filling.

They also serve Irish classics for brunch like homemade corned beef hash, which comes with crispy potato skins filled with corned beef hash, topped with two poached eggs with a mixed green salad. You can view their full menu here.

Brunch with your friends is always fun, especially at Banter! It’s every Saturday and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

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A movie and DiWine Restaurant and Wine Bar, Astoria

A movie friend-date is really fun. No matter what you see (no matter how bad it is) you’re always going to have a good time at the movies with your friends. Especially if it’s at the UA Kaufman Astoria Cinemas 14, located at 35-30 38th St.

This particular movie theater is really cool because it’s huge. There are a lot of theaters, multiple concession stands, and even an arcade! There’s also a photo booth you can take pictures in.

I recommend the movie Spotlight, I thought it was really good! We got popcorn, nachos, and cherry coke from the concession stand.

If you’re not too full from the junk you ate during the movie, you should check out a wine bar nearby called DiWine, located at 41-15 31st Ave.

DiWine is the ideal place for a night out. The atmosphere and decor is chic and the seating is cool. There are couches with curtains for privacy and really low tables, kind of like a coffee table.

It’s a wine bar, so it specializes in shared plates and cheese and meat plates to go with your wine.

They have really amazing sharing plates like truffled mac-n-cheese, which comes with béchamel, wild mushrooms, and gruyere. There’s also bacon wrapped shrimp, which comes with pineapple salsa.

DiWine also has really good personal, brick oven pizzas. They have one called The Gigi, which has smoked beef, capers, caramelized onions, and wild mushrooms. There’s another called the Blue Crab Bianca, topped with ricotta, artichoke, blue Maine crab, and asparagus cream.

Come check out DiWine with your friends! It’s romantic, intimate and has live music on Sundays from noon to 3 p.m.

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I hope you enjoyed this post about friend-date ideas in Queens! Just goes to show that there are other things to do on Valentine’s Day, or any day for that matter, that don’t include a boyfriend/girlfriend.

No need to stress out if you’re not in a relationship on Valentine’s Day. Make it a day to celebrate your friends and love yourself!

If I didn’t mention your favorite date spot in Queens, tell me in the comments below!

But if we’re being honest here, there’s nothing better than a Chipotle date:

Till next time!