Hidden on one of the neighborhood’s quieter streets there’s an egg-and-cheese sandwich sold in a small Indonesian cafe that opened inside a shuttered bodega amid the pandemic. The sandwich consists of a thick, custard-like omelet (with add-ons like turkey) sandwiched inside a soft, incredibly chewy bun. Wash it down with a cup of sbajigur, a latte flavored with ginger and pandan leaves. fcmm

The family-owned dining room with its large Sicilian menu is a bounty of classics: a chicken francese swimming in a wholesome lemon-butter sauce; calamari doused in fra diavolo; fettuccine alfredo bathed in cheese.

A cavernous piece of recognizable local history (from 1924) with a friendly, unpretentious appeal, Gottscheer Hall succeeds in drawing the neighborhood’s new hipsters as easily as it keeps a crowd of longtimers that date to the hall’s place as a community center for immigrants from the region of Gottschee, an enclave that used to exist in what is now Slovenia. The menu also easily outperforms most of the neighborhood’s newer bars, featuring everything from fried pierogies to juicy sausages to a cheesy macaroni-like dish called spätzle that easily satisfies.

Located just beneath the Forest Avenue M stop, Bosna Express is a small cafe that concentrates on the bar food of Bosnia, which means cevapi (skinless beef-lamb sausages) and pljeskavica (a hubcap-size hamburger). Both come on a round bun with yogurt and ajvar, a Balkan red-pepper paste, along with lettuce, tomatoes, and onions. You won’t walk away hungry after eating, either.

Guadalajara De Dia 2 is a grocery-turned-taqueria that offers some of the best Mexican food in Ridgewood at a single long table set down amid the dried chiles, stacks of tortillas, and imported candies and canned goods. On the mainly southern Mexican menu, standouts include eggs scrambled with cactus, a fiery chilate de pollo (chicken soup), the round Pueblan sandwiches called cemitas, and hand-patted huaraches with a choice of fillings.

A popular Smorgasburg pop-up that now operates a small corner bakery and coffee shop three days a week, the husband-and-wife duo at Millers & Makers are behind some of the best new baked goods you will find in the neighborhood. It’s essential to try the sweet potato cinnamon rolls, which are gooey, thick, surprisingly luxurious to taste and come with a vital cream cheese frosting spread. Other somewhat unique inventions include a very popular maple-glazed cruller, only available only on Saturdays, brioche donuts, rye chocolate chip cookies and scones made with chorizo. 

A Ridgewood staple for almost a decade, Cachapas y Mas has since expanded into the warm streets of Seneca Avenue, befitting its dedication to a grab bag of Caracas-style street sandwiches, which come in the form of the titular cachapas. Alternatively, they are also sold in between thick patacones, the buns of a pepito, or inside a tacucho, an arepa or yoyo. For something smaller, try their tequeyoyos: thick and fluffy stick of ham and melted cheese. For something bigger, order a maracucha: an infamously maximalist burger made of at least four kinds of meat.  

Among the number of next-level pizza spots to arise after the pandemic-era departure of the storied Houdini, Pizzeria Panina specializes in pies made of an especially chewy sourdough that comes generally sized for parties of two. Toppings on these span from tangy dollops of labneh yogurt, to a forest of mushrooms, to hot honey-infused bacon that the restaurant buys across the street from a historic pork shop called Morscher’s, which has operated for most of the past century.

Burek Pizza serves flaky, book-shaped, Serbian-style slices of pie that’s freshly baked throughout the day in small batches inside the small, family-owned shop. More akin to a turnover than a corner slice, these come filled with either ground beef, chunks of crumbly cheese or, for the slightly health-conscious, spinach (and cheese). The slices come out remarkably larger than you will expect, travel satisfyingly when wrapped like a gift in thick deli paper, and can be paired with the only other item on the menu at Burek: an Anthora cup filled with a drinkable yogurt.

A blend of both Nepalese and New York cuisine that recently expanded its dining area deep into its backyard, the star of While in Kathmandu is probably the creamy alfredo, which emulsifies a rich geography of cheeses and other seasonings. Other compelling fusions include the ‘not a taco,’ which packs charred chicken onto a rolled up roti, and the masala-flavored fries, which applies the fusion idea into the simple joys of street food. For a more purely Himalayan experience, try the boiled momos filled with earthy plantains.

Ridgewood has long been a neighborhood of inexhaustible taquerias, but that didn’t stop one of the best from recently opening a few blocks away from the Seneca M station. The menu is long and rich with choices, but basics like the plate of chips and guac come freshly-fried and are essential. On a separate menu are at least six different birria dishes: highlights include the fried tacos filled with a layer of cheese and chunks of pork that taste best seasoned with a cup of the stew-like consommé. The mole is also fabulous, perfectly sweet and not bitter.

Another wood-paneled classic in the neighborhood, Cozy Corner began attracting customers in recent years with the 10-inch pizzas they give away to accompany a beer. As far as a free pizza goes, these are surprisingly satisfying. Other bar food highlights include homemade nachos and an ambiance that brings to mind the building’s storied century of persistence.

Located near the neighborhood’s border with Glendale is a storefront that, in recent years, has built a menu entirely around one of the most popular dishes in El Salvador, the pupusa. Here, they come in at least 14 different varieties, filled with everything from the traditional, crisp chunks of chorizo to vegan and vegetarian options, like beans, broccoli or chopped loroco flowers, which are remarkably chewy, native to the region, and used primarily to fill pupusas. Other Salvadorian touches include the plastic cups of marañon, a sweet amber-colored juice that is sold chilled.

A casual slice shop that easily outpaces every other casual slice shop on Myrtle Avenue, it feels hard to imagine the neighborhood plaza without Joe & John’s, directly across the street from its quiet hub. Here, you can find the full gamut of pizzeria fare with an attention to detail and variety that results in everything from lush, leafy chicken Caesar slices to a square-shaped vodka pie, to remarkably chewy pepperoni pinwheels.