You want to eat well across the city without guessing where to go. The best food neighborhoods in NYC are Chinatown, Flushing, Astoria, Jackson Heights and Rego Park, each built around a cuisine.
Browse the full new york food guide for more ways to plan your meals across the city.
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Languages spoken in Queens | More than 130 |
| Astoria residents | More than 150,000 |
| Jackson Heights residents born outside the US | More than half |
| Little Fuzhou’s start as a community | The 1980s |
| Shu Jiao Fu Zhou menu size | 14 items |
| Manhattan Chinatown’s roots | Mid-1800s |
These figures come from an Untapped New York guide dated May 20, 2021, and a Matador Network guide dated Jul 28, 2021. Figures and restaurants can change, so check the sources and each venue before you rely on them.
What makes a neighborhood a food destination?
A great food neighborhood is more than a strip of restaurants. It is a place where a community’s cuisine shows up in bakeries, groceries and street carts as well as dining rooms. Both guides behind this piece trace the food back to who settled where.
Queens is the clearest example. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, as quoted by Matador, Queens is the “most ethnically diverse urban area on the planet,” and more than 130 languages are spoken there, as Matador’s July 2021 guide reports.
Manhattan’s Chinatown shows a different pattern. Untapped notes that high rent and gentrification pushed many residents and recent immigrants to Flushing and Sunset Park, which are often considered more diverse and authentic than the Manhattan original, according to its May 2021 guide.
Manhattan Chinatown and its offshoots
Manhattan Chinatown
Manhattan’s Chinatown is a primarily Cantonese-speaking enclave dating back to the mid-1800s, and some shops and restaurants, such as Nom Wah Tea Parlor on Doyers Street, date back nearly 100 years, per Untapped. The neighborhood mixes traditional fare with more experimental options.
Dim sum is the classic reason to go. Untapped describes cart-style dim sum rooms with shrimp dumplings, steamed buns, rice rolls and chicken feet, and names Golden Unicorn and Dim Sum Go Go among the popular options.
For a quicker bite, the same guide points to small, casual counters. Here is a short list of the kinds of dishes it highlights:
- Fried pork dumplings at Fried Dumpling, which the guide calls very unassuming.
- Steamed rice rolls at Yi Ji Shi Mo Noodle Corp.
- Pineapple buns and gooey sesame balls at Kam Boat Bakery.
Dining rooms change. In its 2021 guide, Untapped noted that Jing Fong had closed its expansive dining room and planned to reopen in another Chinatown space, so check before you go (Untapped, May 20, 2021).
Little Fuzhou
Little Fuzhou on the Lower East Side began in the 1980s, when immigrants from Fuqing and Changle settled on East Broadway and Eldridge Street, according to Untapped. The guide describes Fuzhounese cuisine as light and non-spicy.
Shu Jiao Fu Zhou is the guide’s staple example, with only 14 items on the menu, including pork and chive dumplings. Its wheat noodles with peanut butter sauce and beef tripe noodle soup are popular as well. The guide also says the area has been declining due to gentrification and evictions.
East Village
The East Village, about half a mile north of Little Fuzhou, has grown into a modern and diverse Chinese enclave, per the same Untapped guide. It leans toward creative takes on traditional recipes.
- Szechuan Mountain House for Sichuan cooking, known for its numbing “Má-La” spice.
- MáLà Project for dry pot, where you choose meats and vegetables.
- Dian Kitchen for Yunnan rice noodles called mixian, a cuisine the guide calls rarely seen in the city.
Queens neighborhoods that cover the world
Matador says Queens has fewer Michelin-starred restaurants and tasting menus than Manhattan, but it excels at home-style plates from cuisines such as Uzbek, Bangladeshi, Colombian, Guyanese and Brazilian. Its advice is to hop on the 7 train toward Flushing, in the July 2021 guide.
Astoria: Greek cuisine
Astoria has more than 150,000 residents, making it one of the largest neighborhoods in Queens, and Greeks arrived in large numbers in the early-to-mid 1900s, Matador reports. Around Ditmars Boulevard you will find Greek tavernas, grocery stores and bars.
Taverna Kyclades specializes in seafood cooked with simple Mediterranean ingredients, and Matador warns of a wait of up to an hour on weekends and busy nights. For something faster, Sal, Kris, & Charlie’s Deli serves goliath gyros, and Lefkos Pyrgos is the pick for Greek coffee and pastries.
Rego Park: Uzbek Jewish cuisine
Many Bukharian Jews settled in the Rego Park and Forest Hills neighborhoods of Queens, according to Matador. Their cooking centers on grilled meat, rice, bread and spices, and the national dish of Uzbekistan is plov, fried basmati rice topped with meat.
- Plov, usually made with lamb.
- Shashlik, smoky skewers served with thinly sliced onion.
- Manti, dumplings topped with yogurt and dill.
Cafe Arzu and Shashlichnaya are the guide’s starting points, and both are famous for plov. Bring friends, because an order of the heavy rice dish is recommended for groups of three or more.
Jackson Heights: South Asian and Himalayan cuisines
With more than half of its residents born outside the US, Jackson Heights could be considered the quintessential Queens neighborhood, per Matador. You can taste Bangladeshi, Nepalese, Tibetan, Pakistani and Indian cooking within a few blocks.
Angel Indian Restaurant has a small, tight menu of Punjabi classics, with panipuri, biryani and butter chicken singled out. Alcohol there was BYOB in the guide, so confirm the policy before you carry a bottle. Raja Sweets and Fast Food, down the street, offers cardamom- and cinnamon-spiked pastries.
Flushing: Chinese cuisine
While Manhattan has the most famous Chinatown, Flushing, off the last stop on the 7 train, may well be where to find the city’s most authentic Chinese cuisines, Matador says. Szechuan Mountain House, covered above in the East Village, also has a location here, according to Untapped.
Which neighborhood fits your craving?
Match the neighborhood to the meal you have in mind. These pairings come straight from the two guides:
- Dim sum and bakeries: Manhattan Chinatown.
- Fuzhounese dumplings and noodles: Little Fuzhou.
- Sichuan heat and Yunnan noodles: the East Village.
- Greek seafood and gyros: Astoria.
- Plov and skewers: Rego Park.
- Punjabi dishes and sweets: Jackson Heights.
How to plan a food crawl
A little planning keeps a food crawl fun instead of tiring. Follow these steps:
- Pick one neighborhood per outing, so you spend your time eating rather than traveling.
- Go with a group when you want to share big plates such as plov.
- Expect waits at popular sit-down spots, especially on weekends.
- Check hours, menus and BYOB rules, since the guides date from 2021.
Once you have picked a neighborhood, read up on classic new york foods to round out what you order across the city. If you also want the famous slice, learn what is new york style pizza before you go.
Frequently asked questions
Is Manhattan’s Chinatown the most authentic?
Show answer
Not necessarily. Untapped says Flushing and Sunset Park are often considered more diverse and authentic than Manhattan’s Chinatown, and Matador says Flushing may well have the city’s most authentic Chinese cuisines (Untapped, 2021).
Where should you go for Greek food in Queens?
Show answer
Astoria, especially around Ditmars Boulevard, is the neighborhood Matador highlights for Greek tavernas, groceries and bars. Taverna Kyclades can have a wait of up to an hour on weekends and busy nights, per its 2021 guide.
Do you need a group to try Uzbek food?
Show answer
It helps. Matador recommends an order of plov for groups of three or more because the rice dish is heavy, as noted in its Jul 28, 2021 guide.
Are the restaurants in these guides still open?
Show answer
Check each one before you go. Both guides are from 2021, and Untapped itself noted that Jing Fong had closed its dining room and planned to reopen elsewhere in Chinatown (Untapped, May 20, 2021).
