La Flor

Roosevelt Avenue is Woodside's main commercial district, the 7 train trundling overhead. La Flor is right under the 52nd St. station, its exterior and interior decorated with mosaics of tile, broken plates and pitchers, almost like early Julian Schnabel. In fact, artists (read: Francis Ford Coppola and Edward Burns) have come from this very neighborhood. Chef Viko Ortega executes a Mexican-French-Italian menu, which means tortas, tacos and quesadillas, as well as garlic bread with Gorgonzola cream sauce, warm Brie with poached pear and salad, and spaghetti with shrimp and vegetables in light garlic sauce. It's a friendly, unpretentious place where your coffee mug is readily refilled. They also have a brief wine and beer list.