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Mad-scientist modern Spanish chefs may challenge the palate, but old-school Spanish tabernas like this one furnish the comfort of familiarity. There’s something undeniably cozy about Queens’ Meson Asturias, open since 1979. You know the joint even before you walk in: flamenco guitarist, classic Iberian menu, waiters in vests, stucco and timber walls. The restaurant’s original clientele of first-wave Jackson Heights Latinos—Colombians and Argentinians—now rubs elbows with more recent Hispanic immigrants and new trendy residents toting toddlers and tattoos. The place’s namesake province, Asturias, is a rugged coastal patch known for seafood casseroles and rustic beef, veal, and chicken dishes spiked with Spanish olives, Cabrales cheese, sherry, or cider. Basic tapas, like toothpick-speared grilled chorizo, are popular at the hospitable bar. But a great many diners go straight for the paella, which is accompanied by a thick, garlicky caldo gallego soup. Crowds can throw the restaurant off-kilter; on a Friday or Saturday night, your paella might be dry and your service lackluster. But any other evening, you’re odds-on for a moist, saffron-perfumed platter and napkin-changing attention. — Karen Tina Harrison

The bargain “business lunch,” complete with glass of sangria, is a standby for Roosevelt Ave. businesspeople, who run the strip’s botanicas, English-language schools, and legal storefronts for immigration and divorcios rapidos.

Music
Live flamenco performances on Saturday nights start at 9 p.m.

Paella Valenciana, $16.95; sirloin with blue cheese, $18.25; veal with olives, $19.95; caldo gallego soup, free with entrée