10 Awesome Places to Eat in Queens, New York City!

Other than being a great cultural district with lots of fun things to do, Queens also offers an amazing variety of delicious food to eat! We found many different cuisines in the various ethnic enclaves here. From Western to Chinese to Korean to Indian to Tibetan, there’s bound to be something that will satisfy your taste buds. Below is a list of ten awesome places to eat in Queens, categorized by the respective neighbourhoods of Long Island City, Astoria, Jackson Heights, and Flushing.

Long Island City

1. LIC Landing by Coffeed

We had the perfect start to our day at LIC Landing by Coffeed, a waterfront cafe located at Hunter’s Point South Park in Long Island City. The cafe serves simple comfort food such as burgers, sandwiches, french fries, bagels, etc. Drinks wise, it offers coffee, tea, and beer too. The food tasted decent, but what we loved the most was the wonderful vibe here. There was a gentle breeze with the cafe playing soothing music in the background. We enjoyed eating while reveling in the scenic view of the Manhattan skyline across the East River.

Directions: Take the 7 train to Vernon Blvd – Jackson Av station and walk for about 10 minutes.

LIC Landing by Coffeed
Address: 52-10 Center Blvd, Long Island City, NY 11101
Phone: +1 347 706 4696
Opening Hours: Daily 6am to 10pm
Facebook: www.facebook.com/LICLANDING

2. Communitea Cafe

Next, we dropped by Communitea, a cafe famous for its unique premium organic teas. The quaint cafe also serves nutritious sandwiches, salads, soups, sweets, and alcohol. We enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere here which was great for a quick break before continuing our exploration of Queens.

Directions: Communitea is a short walk from Vernon Blvd – Jackson Av station.

Communitea
Address: 11-18 46th Rd, Long Island City, NY 11101
Phone: +1 718 729 7708
Opening Hours: | Mon to Wed: 8am – 7pm | Thur to Fri: 8am – 9pm | Sat to Sun: 9am – 7pm |
Facebook: www.facebook.com/CommuniteaLIC

Astoria

3. The Garden at Studio Square NYC

The Garden at Studio Square NYC is a spacious outdoor “beer garden” that serves beer and bar food. It is a great place to chill out with friends over live music and sporting events.

The Garden at Studio Square NYC
Address: 35-33 36th St, Astoria, NY 11106
Phone: +1 718 383 1001
Opening Hours: | Mon to Thur: 4pm – 4am | Fri: 3pm – 4am | Sat to Sun: 12pm – 4am |
Facebook: www.facebook.com/StudioSquareNYC

4. The Queens Kickshaw (Closed Down)

Please note that the bistro has closed down

Located along a street in Astoria, The Queens Kickshaw offers specialty coffee, craft beers, ciders, wine, and cocktails. Food wise, we found a selection of grilled cheese sandwiches and other comfort food. The restaurant exudes a hip industrial vibe with its brick walls, wooden furnishings, and metal stools.

We ordered the Kimchi Fried Rice ($13), which consisted of fried rice with avocado, sesame oil, and sunny side up eggs. This fusion dish tasted delicious. We enjoyed the savoury fried rice which was nicely complimented by the eggs. The avocado provided a nice balance with its refreshing taste.

The Queens Kickshaw (CLOSED DOWN)
Address: 40-17 Broadway, Astoria, NY 11103
Phone: +1 718 777 0913
Opening Hours: | Mon to Fri: 7.30am – 12am | Sat to Sun: 9am – 12am |
Facebook: www.facebook.com/thequeenskickshaw

Jackson Heights

5. Unidentified Flying Chicken (UFC)

Our first pit stop in Jackson Heights was Unidentified Flying Chicken (UFC). This no frills Korean-style joint offers sinful Korean fried chicken for your indulgence. We went with the 4-piece wings ($5). For the flavours, we chose Soy Garlic and Hot. For the sides, we picked Garden Salad and French Fries. This was definitely a satisfying meal. The wings were tender and savoury, and we enjoyed the spicy flavour. It may not be as good as other KFC we have tried before, but it was definitely passable.

Directions: Take the 7 train to 69 St-Fisk Av Station, and walk for about 3 minutes along Roosevelt Avenue.

Unidentified Flying Chicken (UFC)
Address: 71-22 Roosevelt Ave, Flushing, NY 11372
Phone: +1 718 205 6662
Opening Hours: | Mon to Sat: 11am – 11pm | Sun: 12pm – 10pm |
Facebook: www.facebook.com/UFCchicken

6. Jackson Diner

After UFC, we proceeded to the vibrant enclave of Little India. Jackson Diner is a well-known longstanding Indian restaurant in this colorful neighbourhood. It serves a variety of Indian food such as South Indian food, Tandoori, Soups, Curry dishes, Vegetable dishes, and Naans.

Directions: Jackson Diner is located in the Indian district of Jackson Heights. It is a one-minute walk from 74 St-Broadway Station.

Jackson Diner
Address: 37-47 74th Street, Flushing, NY 11372
Phone: +1 646 902 6010
Opening Hours: | Mon to Thur: 11.30am – 10pm | Fri to Sat: 11.30am – 10.30pm | Sun: 11.30am – 10pm |
Facebook: www.facebook.com/jacksondinernyc

7. Lhasa Fast Food

Lhasa Fast Food is a hole-in-the-wall joint that serves Tibetan food. Popular dishes include the thenthuk (noodle soup),  beef cold noodle, phingsha (glass noodle soup with beef), and sha momo (beef momo). Prices range from $4 to $7.

Directions: Lhasa Fast Food is located in the “Little India” of Jackson Heights, a one-minute walk from 74 St-Broadway Station.

Lhasa Fast Food
Address: 37-50 74th Street, Jackson Heights, NY 11372
Phone: +1 646 256 3805
Opening Hours: | Daily 11am to 10pm |
Facebook: www.facebook.com/lhasafastfood

8. Espresso 77

After exploring bustling Little India, we took a short break at Espresso 77, a cozy coffeehouse / wine bar that is very popular with the locals in the neighbourhood. Espresso 77 serves specialty coffee, craft beer, wine, tea, fruit drinks, yogurt smoothies and frappes. The food menu offers pastries and sandwiches. The joint also doubles as an art gallery for local artists, and we saw many pretty paintings on sale here.

We decided to order The Honey Mint Limonata ($4.50, 20 oz). The minty flavour combined nicely with the tangy lemon taste and sweet honey to form a refreshing drink. It was the perfect drink for us to recharge before continuing our conquest of Queens!

Directions: Espresso 77 is a six-minute walk from 74 St-Broadway station.

Espresso 77
Address:  35-57 77th St, Jackson Heights, NY 11372
Phone: +1 718 424 1077
Opening Hours: | Daily 7am to 10.30pm |
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Espresso-77-177116102317

Flushing

9. Golden Shopping Mall

Our final destination in Queens was the amazing Flushing Chinatown! We loved this vibrant neighbourhood which was full of vigour and culture. We went to the famous Golden Shopping Mall, which is a small building packed with two floors of Chinese food stalls. It is quite the hidden gem as we almost walked past it without noticing the obscure entrance.

After walking past many stalls, we decided to have dinner at Xi’an Famous Foods, a popular Chinese food restaurant chain in New York City. This restaurant is the real deal, serving authentic food from the Chinese city of Xi’an. These include the “biang biang” noodles, liangpi “cold skin” noodles, lamb pao mo soup, and more. It has even been endorsed by Anthony Bourdain before! We ordered the Mount Qi Pork Hand-ripped Noodles ($8), which is essentially pork chunks served with the signature “biang biang” noodles and doused in spicy sauce. The pork was tender and succulent, and the noodles were chewy and had great texture. I stirred the noodles to soak in more spicy sauce and it tasted wonderful.

Directions: Golden Shopping Mall is a three-minute walk from Main St Station.

Golden Shopping Mall
Address:  41-26 Main St, Flushing, NY 11355
Phone: +1 917 478 4536
Opening Hours: | Daily 10am to 9.30pm |

10. CoCo Fresh Tea & Juice

No trip to Chinatown would be complete without drinking bubble tea (known as boba in USA), and we got our bubble tea fix from CoCo Fresh Tea & Juice. We ordered the classic Bubble Milk Tea which tasted delicious with its rich and creamy flavour. We were glad that it did not taste diluted, like those of other inferior bubble tea chains. The pearls were chewy and tasty too!

Directions: Coco is located directly opposite Main St Station.

CoCo Fresh Tea & Juice
Address: 39-22 Main St, Flushing, NY 11354
Phone: +1 718 321 8566
Opening Hours: | Daily 9am to 12am |

Awesome Food Video of Queens!

Conclusion

This is by no means a complete list and there are lots of other awesome eateries in Queens not covered in this article. Other good food in Flushing Chinatown includes the New Flushing Bakery (delicious Portuguese custard egg tart) and Fang Gourmet Tea (exquisite Chinese tea at an affordable price). You can check out this detailed breakdown of what to eat in Flushing Chinatown. We hope you will enjoy all the good food in Queens!

This article is part of our completely free and fantastic Ultimate New York Travel Guide for First Timers. Why spend days researching when all your holiday information is simply a click away?