One of Astoria's Greek restaurant landmarks, Neptune Diner, isn't going to close because of the COVID-19 pandemic and instead is taking a chance, opening another branch in Bayside, Queens, betting people will come. 

A manager not named told the news site QNS of the risk: “By the looks of it, we’re all going to be closed down soon. However, there’s an idea that’s going around that the Astoria location is closing, and that’s false,” the report said. 

It's uncertain when the new Neptune Diner will open at the site of the former Jackson Hole restaurant at 35-01 Bell Boulevard, which closed during the crisis because indoor dining in New York might be curbed. 

Customers who've come for generations sure hope not because Neptune has lured them with Greek specialties and omelettes and traditional diner food, the kind you can only get at a place out of a Harry Mark Petrakis short story. 

Pat Perulli, owner of the Bayside Milk Farm next door, told the site he's glad it's coming. “I’ve heard good things from customers coming from Astoria about Neptune Diner. We have a lot of Greek customers.”