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Save for the topless bars by the Queensborough Bridge, there's not much shaking after hours in the western reaches of Long Island City. La Vuelta Bistro Latino, open weekdays only, is a lively after-work and lunch destination colonized by personnel from the Citibank tower two blocks away. It's neither precisely a bistro nor Latin, but a throw-back-your-tie cantina with south-of-the-border menu touches. The low-lit dining room's brick walls flaunt paintings by local loft-dwellers, and a spacious patio is a magnet for cell phoners and smokers. La Vuelta's sandwich-laden, appetizer-heavy menu, a mainstay of catered lunches, goes well with the busy bar's winning tamarind martinis; a starter of grilled tuna salad features meaty slices of seared fish, and nachos are tangy with jack cheese. Heartier appetites may be sated by simple rice-based dishes scantly seasoned for the no-garlic midday delivery crowd. With all the exceptional dining options in neighboring Astoria, La Vuelta's patrons are drawn not by the chow but by the chance to hobnob with a banker they might not even know yet. — Karen Tina Harrison

Grilled tuna salad, $14