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A black plastic carryout container of pale pork roast and bronze skin.
A serving of pernil at Los Primos in the Bronx.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

40 Inexpensive Dining Destinations

Our senior dining critic tracks down some of the city’s best food deals in the five boroughs and beyond

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A serving of pernil at Los Primos in the Bronx.
| Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

For many New Yorkers, rising prices mean dining on a budget is more important than ever. Luckily, there are options throughout the five boroughs and beyond that don’t require spending an arm and a leg. Despite the pandemic, I have seen small, inexpensive, often immigrant-run restaurants continue to stay open and even flourish. Here are 40 great dining establishments, including some old standbys as well as some new favorites, where you can dine well for $20 or less — and sometimes for much less.

New to this edition of the map is Myung Dong (Korean), Warkop (Indonesian), Desi Deli (Indian), Tengri Tagh (Uyghur), Pierozek (Polish), Asian Taste 86 (Indonesian), Beijing Dumpling (Sichuan), Chipilo (Italian Mexican), Yi Zhang Fish Balls (Fujianese), Gloria’s (Trinidadian), and Little Georgia (Georgian).

Health experts consider dining out to be a high-risk activity for the unvaccinated; it may pose a risk for the vaccinated, especially in areas with substantial COVID transmission.

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Los Primos Resturant

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This Latin Caribbean diner is home to the most gorgeous steam table you’ve ever seen right next door to an expansive dining room. The menu offers classic breakfasts of green plantains, eggs, and longaniza, plus lumberjack pancakes and three-egg omelets, then moves on to lunches and dinners of well-seasoned rotisserie chicken, pork chops, kingfish or salmon, mofongo in several variations, meal-size soups like sancocho and mondongo, and pernil so good it might make you weep.

Two hands trim a pork roast with scissors.
Carving the pork roast at Los Primos.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Calle 191 Pescaderia

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Located in the northern reaches of Washington Heights, this Dominican establishment handily combines a fish market with a restaurant. Decorated with artificial palm trees, it also boasts a bar, and the lengthy menu features nearly every Spanish and Latin Caribbean seafood dish imaginable. One favorite is the marvelous asopao, a tomato and vinegar rice soup flavored with garlic and cilantro, generously dotted with large shrimp.

A hand lifts up a spoonful of red soup with shrimp.
Shrimp asopao at Calle 191 Pescaderia.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Myung Dong Noodle House

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A spacious multilevel palace of Korean food in downtown Fort Lee, New Jersey, Myung Dong specializes in two types of noodles. The first is the wheat noodle known as kalguksu, served in mildly flavored soups, of which the most engaging throws them into a broth with ground beef and dumplings. The second is naengmyeon, originating in North Korea and made from buckwheat or sweet potato and served cold with boiled egg and pickled vegetables: very refreshing.

An opaque white broth with thick white held aloft by chopsticks.
Kalguksu in soup with dumplings.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

This branch of a Grand Concourse restaurant is a bit grander, with a dining room a few steps up from the steam table where a dozen or so Ghanaian dishes are displayed. Pictures of the food over the counter assist in your selection, and don’t forget you can combine dishes on one plate. Get sauces of fish, mutton, or chicken — or pick a mixed meat sauce that contains all of them — then choose a starch ball like white yam fufu to go with it. As far as the goat pepper soup goes, watch out!

A steam table with various stews, a woman behind the counter looking down from above.
The steam table at Papaye.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Jerk House

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Harlem has rarely seen a Jamaican steam-table restaurant with such a broad, pristine selection of island dishes. Sure, the jerk chicken is great, finished over a flame right before being served, but you’ll also find jerk pork, jerk ribs, and even jerk fried chicken. There’s also escovitch fish, curry chicken, and, perhaps best of all, curry goat. The restaurant is an offshoot of an earlier Jerk House in the Bronx, both operated by Sideon Stewart, affectionately known as “Jerk Chicken Jackie.”

Goat curry with plantains in a small Styrofoam container.
Goat curry at Jerk House with plaintains.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Teranga

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From Senegalese chef and cookbook author Pierre Thiam, this lively place at the northeast corner of Central Park in the Africa Center manages to catch the spirit of West African cooking with a brief menu in the fast-casual mode. That doesn’t mean there isn’t lots of seating, and you’re encouraged to relax either indoors or out. Senegalese grilled chicken yassa, with a relish of mustard and sauteed onions, is a high point.

A bowl of grilled chicken and blackeyed peas with a green relish on the side.
Senegalese chicken yassa at Teranga.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Bigoi Venezia

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There are still plenty of off-price pasta mills to be found, a fad that peaked late in the last century and lingered thereafter. These places encouraged you to pick a pasta and match it with a sauce. In a similar but simpler vein, Bigoi Venezia takes a single pasta — freshly made Venetian bigoi, tube-shaped spaghetti — and offers a choice of a dozen or so treatments, some particular to the Venice, some not. Turkey sauce (referencing the flightless bird, not the country), and peas, ham, and cream are two top contenders.

A plate of spaghetti with an olive-dotted red sauce.
Bigoi with puttanesca sauce.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Warkop NYC

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Warkop is quite simply NYC’s best example of an Indonesian warung, or snack shop. As it should be, this one has a quirky and limited menu based on packaged ramen, which is transformed into a number of very inexpensive dishes by Omar Karim Prawiranegara. My favorite noodle topping involves corned beef and greens. Coffees and desserts are also available.

Curly noodles with shredded red meat on top and chopped greens underneath.
Packaged ramen with corned beef and greens.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Desi Deli

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When visiting Hell’s Kitchen, Desi Deli proves to be a great dash-in spot for a pair of bulging samosas, a Kolkata-style kati roll stuffed with chicken tikka, or just a cup of steaming chai. More elaborate rice-based meals like shrimp saag and goat biryani are also available (check the steam table), plus a beguiling collection of Indian breakfasts. A dining room next door beckons if you want to linger a while.

Two pyramid shaped pastries with a red sauce on the side.
A pair of vegetable samosas make for quick snacking at Desi Deli.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Rio Market

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Cafes inside food markets, both here and in South America, are often good and a good deal. Rio Market in Astoria offers customers the advantage of browsing the Brazilian groceries, along with a cafe that has the feel of a working-class refectory, with its modest seating and harsh lighting. Brazilian pastries (including pao de queijo and salt cod croquettes) are dispensed from glass cases, and the usual grilled meats are done to order on a flame grill visible right inside the kitchen.

Cheese balls seen inside a white bag.
A bargain bag of hot pao de queijo from Rio Market.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Tengri Tagh

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The location may come as a surprise — a full-blown, sit-down Uyghur restaurant only a dumpling’s throw from Macy’s in Midtown — but all the Uyghur classics are here, from steaming plates of dumplings, a wide variety of noodles, a plethora of lamb, and the classic big tray chicken (da pan ji), a spicy stew of chicken and potatoes served with wide noodles.

A plastic container of chicken and potatoes flecked with red bell peppers, with white broad noodles on the side.
The fabled big tray chicken.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Kotha Grill and Kabab

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Kotha Grill is one of the latest in a string of Bangladeshi eateries aimed at grocery shoppers surrounding the corner of 73rd Street and 37th Avenue in Jackson Heights. Boasting a small dining room the focus here is on the steam table, which usually contains a choice of biryanis, plus chicken and goat curries, river fish dishes, and a number of roasted vegetables and mustard oil-laced vegetable purees, often including potatoes, eggplant, pumpkin, and okra.

Slices of eggplant covered with chile peppers on a meatal tray.
Spicy roasted eggplant at Kotha Grill.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Amazing Grace Restaurant

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A successor to neighborhood mainstay Krystal’s, Amazing Grace took over the same Little Manila space not long ago, offering a similar mix of Filipino standards that went from barbecued brochettes (the pig ear is splendidly chewy), to set lunch and dinner plates, to the omnibus breakfasts known as silogs. The one featuring smoked milkfish is a favorite, which also includes garlic rice, fried eggs, eggplant strips, and a fresh salsa of onions and tomatoes. The restaurant is run by longtime area denizens Efren and Mary Jane De Leon.

In the foreground on a white plate, a whole fish head and all browned from smoking, with an array of dishes around it.
A milkfish silog breakfast.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Sophra 2

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Turkish classics are the focus of this branch of an Upper East Side Ottoman restaurant, where topped flatbreads fly from the oven at a regular rate, composed salads can be made into a vegetarian platter, and many of the meat offerings are presented as juicy kebabs tasting of smoke. The shaved-meat doner kebab is particularly flavorful, and you can get a combo of chicken and lamb doner in a sandwich or on a platter. Turkish and Italian wines are available, though the list is limited.

A number of vegetable and dairy dishes on a rectangular plate, some involving beets or yogurt.
The vegetarian mezze platter at Sophra 2.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Deli El Chapincito

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This Murray Hill deli offers packaged Guatemalan spices, soups, and baked goods, plus a small prepared-food concession to go with them. Proceed to the rear of the walk-down premises to find a steam table offering three or four stews of beef, chicken, and fish. The pollo guisado is particularly good, tomatoey and mellow, served with black beans, rice, and freshly made tortillas. Fried chicken and grilled steaks are also available.

A black plastic tub with red chicken parts and black beans.
Pollo guidsado — a Central American chicken stew, served with rice and black beans.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Harry Sweets & Snacks

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This modest spot just south of the Queens County Farm Museum concentrates on Mumbai-style street snacks and is strictly vegetarian. One favorite is bun chole, a small round roll stuffed with chickpeas, potatoes, and onions sweetened with tamarind sauce, very much like Trinidadian doubles. The menu also offers samosa chaats, vegetable curries, milk-based sweets, and snacks combining fried lentils, nuts, chips, and crunchy noodles.

A flatbread stuffed with chickpeas and potatoes,
Bun choley at Harry.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Asian Taste 86

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Little Jakarta is a small neighborhood centered at Whitney Avenue and Broadway in Elmhurst, with groceries and small cafes (a modest number of both to be sure) radiating from that corner. The name doesn’t suggest an Indonesian cafe, but it is, and a very good one. It specializes in full-plate combinations that may contain rice, a coconut-laced composed salad, shrimp chips, and a satay or two.

A square plate with a pink flower design with rice and satays.
A combination plate at Asian Taste 86.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Terra Thai

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This tiny cafe just south of Tompkins Square specializes in the street food of Bangkok with a limited menu of full meals that will make deciding what to eat easier. Karuna Wiwattanakantang and Norawat Margsiri previously owned a restaurant in Boulder, Colorado, and the best dish on the current menu is basil chicken, with ground poultry cooked down to a rich mixture served with rice, a poached egg, and boiled sweet potato. For vegetarians, there’s a very nice pad Thai.

A black plastic carryout tray with a green chicken stir fry on one side, and rice with a poached egg and sweet potato on the other.
Basil chicken at Terra Thai.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Pierozek

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This modernized take on a Polish obiady (lunch room) offers an airy and comfortable setting, and a menu focused on pierogi in its many savory and sweet permutations. Fourteen in number, the savory come floundering in butter served with garlic-and-dill sour cream, and the choice includes such unusual examples as one stuffed with potatoes and eggs and another with blood sausage. The rest of the menu is slender, but includes borscht, stuffed cabbage, and a substantial kielbasa sided with pierogi, which makes a substantial meal.

A long sausage with three dumplings.
The kielbasa meal at Pierozek.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Little Myanmar

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Little Myanmar is quite simply the best Burmese restaurant the city has yet to see. The interior is bare bones and not particularly comfortable — though your ability to see into the kitchen is an advantage and a pleasure. The 100-item menu covers the vast sweep of the national cuisine, from the salads called athokes (try the tea-leaf version) to noodle soups, stir fries, and curries.

A metal wok of dark red meat curry on the bottom right, with a plate of rice and cup of soup on the upper left.
Goat curry comes with a bowl of lentil soup at Little Myanmar.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Banh Mi Co Ut

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There are two other good Vietnamese sandwich shops in close vicinity, so why pick owner Co Ut Tran’s shop? Because sandwiches tend to be overstuffed: The No. 4 begins with the usual pate, cha lua, and salami, then adds a bonus slice of fat-rimmed Virginia ham. The vegetarian banh mi made with baked tofu is also good, redolent of lemongrass, and the kitchen staff ably turns out more ambitious dishes, which include pho, and the wonderful tapioca dumplings called banh bot loc, wrapped in banana leaves and glowing like amber.

A hero sandwich seen in cross section with layers of meat and vegetables.
Banh mi at Banh Mi Co Ut.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Jayhan's Grill

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This jazzy spot in the middle of Jersey City’s Philippine community is aimed at a younger crowd, with chalkboard walls upon which slogans and specials are scrawled. In addition to the classics, snacks are an equal focus of the menu, which offers specials — on a recent weekend afternoon, deep fried siomai, which went magnificently with the fish-intensive rice soup goto. In a further touch of modernity, dishes like oxtail kare kare come deconstructed.

A yellowish rice soup with chunks of fish visible, one suspended on a spoon over the soup.
Fish goto at Jayhan’s Grill.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Beijing Dumpling

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Hearty working-class Chinese fare at favorable prices is the forte of this bare-bones shop conveniently located on Queens Boulevard in Forest Hills near the Kew Gardens subway station. Noodles, dumplings, and soups make up most of the menu, with Sichuan dumplings and dan dan noodles available in memorably good renditions.

A plate of noodles on an orange tray and another of dumpling dabbed with chile sauce.
Sichuan classics from a northern Chinese perspective.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Chipilo

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In the late 19th century, a group of Italian immigrants established itself in the small Oaxacan city of Chipilo. That’s the name of a commemorative sandwich shop, with substantial and inexpensive sandwiches that seem mainly Italian, but with a Mexican flourish here and there. My favorite is the devito, which features mortadella, mozzarella, and arugula — plus avocado, which amplifies the other flavors and assists the hero in sliding down your throat.

A half seeded hero roll with luncheon meat poking out.
The devito, a Mexican mortadella sandwich.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Yi Zhang Fish Balls

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This family-run Fujianese lunch counter is one of Chinatown’s best budget-friendly restaurants — and best kept secrets. Like the name suggests, the pork-stuffed fish balls in soup make a memorable repast, but there are also all sorts of other agreeable noodles and soups. The pan-fried pork buns, darkened on the bottom, puffy on top, and generously stuffed, are another standout.

A room with counters on the left and right at which people are seated.
The semi-subterranean dining room is busy all day.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Taiwan Pork Chop House

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Most patrons of this Taiwanese cafe tucked away on picturesque Doyers Street pick the first or second items on the menu: a pair of soy-glazed pork chops over rice with mustard greens, or an ample chicken leg with a similar treatment. Either way, it makes a perfect full meal. Rice cake stir fries, oyster pancakes, fish ball noodle soups, and taro cakes make other fine choices.

A pile of pork chops on rice in a round black plastic container.
Choice number one on Taiwanese Pork Chop House’s menu.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Bakhtar Afghan Wali Baba Grill

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This Jamaica Estates Afghan restaurant offers meats, meats, and more meats — including kebabs of chicken, beef, and lamb in various combinations — and little else. The lamb chops, in particular, are superb, often cut to order from the rib cage (you can hear the saw thrumming in the kitchen), smeared with a reddish spice rub, and grilled to complete succulence. A few curries are also available, though as the attendant said, “We don’t have vegetables.” A Bangladeshi menu is sporadically also available at this highly recommended halal establishment.

A platter or dark rice, small metal bowl of curry, and reddish lamb chops heaped on another plate of rice.
Goat curry and grilled lamb chops.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

While most Lebanese restaurants have a straight-up Middle Eastern menu of falafel, hummus, kebabs, and salads, Semkeh does the formula one better by including some rarely seen regional dishes, including the namesake samke (a more common spelling of the dish). This classic from the north of the country features a fish poached in a garlic and tahini sauce, which makes for a very tasty fish. Have it wrapped in a pita, or pick sujuk instead, a Lebanese beef sausage. For vegetarians, check out the wrap of falafel and fried cauliflower with the garlicky sauce called toum.

A tubular wrap made with a grilled flatbread, a tomato slice peeking out the end.
Samke at Semkeh.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Taqueria Al Pastor

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Sure, there are dozens of great, old-fashioned, mainly Pueblan taquerias within the borders of Bushwick, but this place opened early in 2020 with a zingier demeanor, including a brightly painted minibus on its exterior. The lure is a humongous rotating trompo of pineapple-marinated pork al pastor, sliced and deposited on a rustic corn tortilla. Cactus, chicken, and carne asada fillings are also available.

A man in a blue shirt with a long knife bends over a twirling vertical spit of meat.
The al pastor spit twirls at Taqueria Al Pastor.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Pera Ždera (Peter Eater)

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This small storefront in the wilds of Glendale specializes in Balkan bar food, an apparent branch of a place in Subotica, Serbia. It concentrates on grilled meats and pastries, the former including the skinless sausages cevapi and the burger-like pljeskavica, which comes on a round bun that may be dressed with kaymak (thick sour cream) and ajvar (a red pepper paste) — plus the usual onions, tomatoes, and lettuce. Burger lovers: Don’t miss it.

A burger in a mottled and irregular bun with some angry looking red sauce visible on the bottom half of the bun, lettuce, too.
Pljeskavica from Pera Ždera.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Pupusas Ridgewood

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Many places make their own Salvadoran pupusas, sometimes hand-patting the masa or rice dough, but this establishment from Guillermina Ramirez takes the process one step further. Its pupusas are of larger circumference, juicier, and stuffed with a choice of 10 fillings. Some, like broccoli and cheese, are a bit unusual, but neophytes should first try cheese and loroco — a pickled flower that resembles oregano; and revueltas, which combines pork rind, beans, and cheese. First split the pupusa then shovel in some of the slaw called curtido for extra crunch.

An assortment of outsize papusas, browned stuffed pancakes sometimes broken open to show fillings, on a red plastic tray.
Pupusas at Papusas Ridgewood.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Mama Kitchen

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Mama Kitchen is a kosher Israeli restaurant that far exceeds expectations (everything except the composed salads are cooked to order) at a lower price than you might expect. Entrees include a full plate of food plus another plate from a salad bar with over a dozen selections. The Ashkenazic schnitzels are superb, but there are Sephardic North African tajines, too, and there’s no better place in Bed-Stuy for a falafel sandwich.

A browned irregular chicken cutlet on a mottled green plate sitting atop rice, with some reddish steamed veggies on the side.
A perfectly breaded chicken schnitzel at Mama Kitchen.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Gloria’s

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Named for founder Gloria Wilson, this cafe with makeshift seating — there was once a more famous branch north of Eastern Parkway — specializes in Trinidadian homestyle cooking, ladled out in massive portions. The goat curry is profuse and pungent with curry powder, and better still when served as a roti with a dal puri wrapper and plenty of extra heat with the condiment called simply “pepper.” A tofu dinner, callaloo, and bhaji roti are other choices.

A flatbread opened up to reveal meat, bones, and brown gravy.
A glimpse inside the goat roti at Gloria’s
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Ethel & Annie Mae's Soulfood Kitchen

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Catering veteran and master baker Danielle Moore started this corner soul food cafe, mainly takeout, in Flatbush, showcasing the cuisine’s standards, featuring chicken wings, fried porgies, and New Orleans po’ boys. But at whim she ventures outside the canon, producing a wonderful lamb burger with a thick sear and a tzatziki dressing. Also don’t miss the pineapple upside-down cake and banana pudding.

A blackened patty in a bun with bright green lettuce and slice of tomato sticking out.
The lamb burger at Ethel & Annie Mae’s.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Bedawi Cafe

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This Windsor Terrace staple celebrates the contributions of the Bedouins to Middle Eastern cuisine, focusing on the cooking of Jordan. The interior is small, charming, and well-decorated, making you feel like you’re in someone’s living room, and the menu features kebabs, sandwiches, and platters, plus many of the same ingredients made into flatbreads called “pitzas.” And there are snacking opportunities galore, including garlicky fava beans and a Levantine spin on potato salad.

A hand holds a meat and lettuce sandwich with a pickle chip sticking out almost wrapped completely in a flatbread.
The leg of lamb sandwich at Bedawi.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

New Asha

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Located a short bus ride straight uphill from the Staten Island Ferry, New Asha, founded by Vijayakumari Devadas in 1999, is a funky sort of place with excellent Sri Lankan food. A glass case displays heavy tubular fritters that are good for snacks, but why not sit and chow down on mutton or jackfruit curries, poured over rice and served with yellow dal and a chopped vegetable salad? The meat is halal.

The front of a storefront with a green awning that with the words “New Asha Srilankan Restaurant” in all capital yellow letters
New Asha is a Staten Island mainstay.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Chef Vincent Dardanello is the owner of this nifty Sicilian cafe in Bay Ridge, where standard dishes — think rice balls, fried calamari, potato or chickpea croquettes, focaccia, and olive oil-glossed salads — are presented in a modern context on a mainly Neapolitan menu. Amuni reproduces a wonderful muffuletta sandwich inspired by the New Orleans original, and two types of Sicilian pizza called sfincione are available, along with characteristic Sicilian vegetables like fennel and cardoon in simple presentations.

An oblong white bowl of round pasta in tomato sauce, with cheese and bread on the size.
Pasta al forno at Amuni.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Al Aqsa Bakery & Restaurant

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Only recently have Palestinian restaurants become an attraction unto themselves in the city with the advent of places like Al Badawi, which offer sit-down dining. At lower prices and with more of a lunch counter atmosphere, Al Aqsa specializes in pita or laffa sandwiches, tucked or rolled, respectively, and filled with chicken shawarma, falafel, or lamb shish kebab, slathered with a strong toum, a garlicky white sauce. Kufta, bread dips, lahmacun in several variations, and even schnitzels round out the menu.

You can see shreds of meat inside a flatbread tube dabbed with white sauce.
The mixed shawarma laffa at Al Aqsa.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Lahori Chilli

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This 24-hour West Midwood Pakistani cafe with a chile-pepper logo has it all, from snacks like samosas and stuffed breads that are great for rapid snacking to full meals that include meat and vegetarian dishes served with rice, bread, or both. Go for the ground meat kebabs, which absorb lots of smoke in the clay oven, or haleem, a delicious porridge of lamb, wheat, and lentils. The steam table offers many vegan dishes.

A steam table with bright yellow, orange, and brown dishes in metal tubs, with two headless figures standing behind.
Cast your eye on the steam table at Lahori.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Little Georgia

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A stone’s throw from the beach, Little Georgia, is a convenience store in front and a bakery in back. It can get pretty crowded on weekends as patrons line up for multiple forms of khachapuri — often hot out of the oven — along with roast chicken, stout smoky sausages, and other beach-friendly tidbits. Lamb or chicken shawarma sandwiches of mind-boggling volume are a sideline.