Chong Qing Lao Zao

Chongqing hot pot over two and a half floors, dressed as a country village: grass huts, wooden water wheels, a few fake chickens keeping watch. It is a lot, and it is meant to be. The pot is the point — choose two broths, set the chili from mild to very hot, and build your dipping sauce at a long sauce bar.

Bring a group and order wide: sliced beef, tripe, bean curd, shrimp paste. Even the mild setting runs hot by most standards. It is pricier than most of Flushing and the wait can be long at night, but it stays open late, which is when it is most fun.