Feature Photo by Brian Kachejian
I was recently watching an episode of the great Netflix Punisher television series when I noticed a very familiar location being utilized in a certain scene. The Punisher’s central character, Frank Castle, played by the phenomenal actor Jon Bernthal, was sitting in a very familiar-looking diner booth. Once the camera angle depicted the view of Queens Boulevard from the diner booth’s window, it became very clear that the Punisher character Frank Castle 
We are so accustomed to watching television shows and big-budget Hollywood movies being created on multi-million dollar soundstages. However, when a film crew comes to your own neighborhood and utilizes a neighborhood street or store in their film, they pretty much immortalize that particular location forever. They also create a new tourist destination for fans of that particular film or television show. The place no longer just belongs to the neighborhood; it belongs to the world of popular culture.
I know Sunnyside, Queens, very well. My uncle lived there for over 50 years. I have played many of the clubs in the neighborhood as a musician. I have eaten at every restaurant in Sunnyside multiple times for the last fifty years. It is one of the most diverse neighborhoods in New York City and an incredible place to live. We will be covering Sunnyside in full in upcoming articles. Pete’s Diner has been in the same location since the 1960’s. It was not always called Pete’s Diner. The current owners took over in 2007 and named it Pete’s Diner and Grill. However, that diner has been there for a very long time.
After noticing that Marvel’s The Punisher had utilized Pete’s Diner in their television series, I decided to take my son, who is a huge Marvel fan, to Pete’s Diner to sit in the same seat as The Punisher. We arrived at the diner and were disappointed to find that a few kids were already sitting in the Punisher’s booth. It was late on a Sunday evening, and the diner was empty except for the people sitting in the booth we had gone there to sit in. We decided to sit in the third booth from the entrance.
A waiter came over very quickly to take our order. I asked the waiter if he had been at the diner when they were filming The Punisher
I discovered many weeks later that another television show, titled Persons of Interest, had also filmed an episode at Pete’s Diner. In that episode, the main characters, Kara Stanton, Mark Snow, and Reese, sat in the booth we were in. The waiter had just mixed up his television shows.
Pete’s Diner is in a neighborhood not far from Kaufman Astoria Studios. It’s about a two-minute drive to Kaufman Astoria Studios. The studio has been around since the 1920’s. It is the most widely used movie studio in New York City. So many popular films and television shows have been filmed at Kaufman Astoria Studios. The Sunnyside neighborhood in Queens has served as a perfect on-location setting for many projects being filmed at Kaufman Astoria Studios. The elevated subway line that runs along Queens Blvd in Sunnyside has been used frequently in Marvel’s Spider-Man movies. Taking a visit to Pete’s Diner in Queens will serve as a gateway to the New York City Marvel Universe. You can sit in the same booth as Netflix’s Marvel’s The Punisher and stare through the windows at the L train that Spider-Man has leaped from multiple times. Come on, that is cool.
When I watched the episode of The Punisher, I noticed that Frank Castle (The Punisher) appeared to be using authentic diner coffee mugs and plates. The first item I ordered at Pete’s Diner was a cup of coffee. When the waiter brought over my coffee mug, I was ecstatic because it was the exact same style as the mug The Punisher was drinking from in the episode. Talk about authentic filming. Netflix used Pete’s Diner’s original coffee mugs and silverware in filming the episode. What does that mean? Well, it means one can have breakfast, lunch, or dinner at Pete’s Diner while using the same silverware used in a Marvel television show. That is triple cool!
If you are visiting New York City and are a fan of Marvel Comics, we highly recommend visiting Pete’s Diner in Sunnyside, Queens. However, even if you are not a big fan of movies or comics, we still recommend a trip to Pete’s Diner because in the end, it’s a great New York City Diner. If you’re looking to discover how real New Yorkers eat, Pete’s Diner is the answer. Their omelets are incredible, and their French toast with strawberries is to die for. The food is a notch above most diner food, and the staff is very professional and friendly.
Feature Photo by Brian Kachejian
