ASTORIA — Gotta catch 'em all — and catch their business.
Restaurant owners in Astoria are cashing in on the Pokémon GO craze, publicizing their location as a pokéstop or offering WiFi, outlets or other freebies in an attempt to lure pokémon hunters as customers.
Gossip Coffee on 30th Avenue, for example, is serving pokémon-inspired donuts, with treats glazed in red, yellow and blue (the different pokémon team colors) as well as one donut that looks like a poké ball (the items used to catch the digital creatures).
The cafe is also giving away free mini donuts with the purchase of a drink to customers who catch a pokémon on the premises, according to posts on social media.
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The Bao Shoppe on Steinway Street is appealing to people's competitive side, offering a 10 percent discount to customers whose best pokémon is stronger than theirs, the eatery posted on its Facebook page.
Businesses that lucked out and have nearby PokéStops — locations where players in the game can put down "lures" that attract the digital creatures — say the spots are also drawing in customers.
"It is actually a business booster since we have a pokéstop right at the corner," Mathew Wong, owner of bubble tea cafe Tea and Milk, told DNAinfo in an email.
"Our team sets up lures all the time and when they do, we see an influx of people coming by and just walking in."
Wong said they had one customer stay at the shop nearly all day playing the game, during which she ordered "every single tea we serve."
The cafe put a sign outside saying pokémon hunters could "come in and recharge," and staff has given out drink upgrades to customers who set lures at the shop, Wong said.
"It's insane how this game is helping out small businesses," he said. "At the same time since most of the partners grew up in the pokémon era, it was very nostalgic."
Other Astoria PokéStops include the famed Bohemian Hall and Beer Garden and Rizzo's Fine Pizza, according to what DNAinfo readers have reported on a crowd sourced map.
Bar and restaurant Queens Kickshaw on Broadway is also a PokéStop, according to owner Jennifer Lim, who said there's another one at the library across the street and a third around the corner on Steinway Street.
"It's sort of like a hub," she said, saying the area's been filled with hunters in the evenings. "You see literally dozens of people on the street playing pokémon."
She said its not entirely clear if the nearby PokéStops can be credited for their business lately — the restaurant hosted a rosé cider promotion last week, which drew in customers — but she said it's definitely introduced them to a new crowd.
"I think we're seeing people who didn’t know what we were, walking by because of the game, and then seeing that we're actually a café or a bar and then coming in," she said.
