Fresco’s Cantina (Provided by Brian Martinez)
May 27, 2020 By Michael Dorgan
An Astoria restaurant is launching a new food delivery service with a twist.
Fresco’s Cantina, a Mexican fusion restaurant located at 12-14 31st Ave., tested out a drag queen delivery service recently and will formally roll out the service on May 31.
Drag queens will deliver food and drinks to customers starting this Sunday from midday to 4 p.m. The restaurant will repeat the service every Sunday through June to celebrate Pride Month.
The LGBTQ friendly restaurant is popular for its in-house drag events like bingo nights and viewings of the TV show RuPaul’s Drag Race. However, the COVID-19 shutdown brought such entertainment to a halt.
Brian Martinez, who co-owns the eatery with his husband Adrian Suero, decided to incorporate its drag entertainment with their deliveries. They have called the service “drag-livery.”
Martinez said they conducted a trial of the service on May 17–which got rave reviews–and they are now ready to launch on Sunday.
Customers will have to pay an extra $15 to get the drag Queen service with a minimum food and drink order of $50. They will then be asked to select a song they want to see performed from a pre-selected list.
One of the four drag queens they have on the roster will then turn up at the destination, blast some music on a loudspeaker and “do a number,” Martinez said.
The performance includes a dance and lip-syncing to the music. The drag queens may briefly remove their face masks while maintaining social distancing from the customer, Martinez said.
And it’s not just the customers who are kept entertained by the girl’s curbside antics.
“The neighbors get to enjoy it too and join together and dance, so it’s a lot of fun,” Martinez said.
“People really love it because it’s very different from any other delivery out there right now,” he said.
Martinez said customers ordered the service on May 17 for birthdays and other special occasions.
“It has put a smile back on people’s faces because celebrations and gatherings have been canceled due to the shutdown,” he said.
“This made their occasion feel special again,” Martinez said.
“People love our food and drinks and now they’re getting some entertainment with their deliveries,” he said.
From June 1, Fresco’s Cantina will be open for takeout and delivery on Wednesdays to Saturdays from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. and on Sundays from midday to 7 p.m.
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16 Comments
Gene, Free food is available at food banks, and from the city at the schools, among other sources.
Restaurants are businesses struggling to stay alive, and many will not survive, especially if they don’t make a profit. So no, it is not their obligation to give out free food.
Kudos to them for thinking of a way to drum up business and stay afloat. That keeps people employed too, including the drag queens.
It’s a limited time offer of four hours on Sunday afternoons in June. Tip well.
Which one of them are you?
Which one of them is you?
Reply back to Garden Watcher :
People have lost jobs and food is consider a luxury . I support restaurants but your thinking of creative marketing to charge $15 for clown & order must be over $50 in desperate time is insulting. Owner should give out food to the hungry .
If nurses can dance and sing during the pandemic while their patients are dieing than why cant food delivery people dressed in drag do it. At least they are not hurting anyone and getting paid for their entertainment.
Hey, Gerry: I thought all you conservatives died of the coronavirus…
Firstly, I want to say that that is a terrific sentence you wrote there. Well done! I especially like how you made up a new word, “theirselves.” You’re like Joyce and Shakespeare rolled into one.
Secondly, I agree: you don’t get it. They are clowns and this is their performance. Some people will enjoy the show and some won’t and that’s the great thing about life on this planet, you have choice.
Still putting up your posts? Most of you progressives ran out of NYC in March .
This article is about an Astoria restaurant launching a new food delivery service with a twist. That’s in the first sentence. Senior moment?
Oh Gene, lighten up. The restaurant business has always been a tough one, but even more so now. This entertainment surcharge is a creative marketing idea.
Jimmy is that you ?
You don’t have to be negative towards drag queens, our former mayor and our president’s personal lawyer is one.
He’s done much more for this city than JVB. It’s strange you think they’re so similar.
Extra $ 15 for delivery by drag queens ! Did I read this correctly. Who came up with this idea . City trying to cap delivery fees on Grub & etc and this place is doing opposite. Shame shame
Sorry ladies.
PS. FYI those masks aren’t doing much with all that make-up on.
He’s a drag queen and he was here for NYC when we needed him
I don’t get it, how they want inclusion and respect when they make a clown of theirselves….