A record crowd of over 1,400 foodies braved the rain on Sunday, Oct. 4, for the 16th annual Taste of Sunnyside food crawl, which saw 70 local businesses showcasing the delicious food that the neighborhood has to offer with their best bites and sips.
The hugely popular annual restaurant crawl, organized by the Sunnyside Shines Business Improvement District (BID), once again highlighted Sunnyside as a vibrant hub of food, drinks and community celebration.
The steady downpour on Sunday afternoon did nothing to deter crowds from flocking to dozens of different restaurants throughout Sunnyside, with long lines forming outside most, if not all, participating businesses.
Photo by Ramy Mahmoud
Sunday’s event also featured all of the festivities that have made Taste of Sunnyside a neighborhood staple over the past 16 years, including a block party underneath the elevated subway line at the intersection of Queens Boulevard and 46th Street and roaming performances by groups of musicians. Meanwhile, the CitySoul Bus also provided mobile DJ setlists throughout the neighborhood.
The popular restaurant crawl aims to promote Sunnyside as a culinary destination by showcasing the diverse restaurant mix in the neighborhood. Attendees go door-to-door to sample food and drinks from participating businesses, which set up stands in front of their establishments to allow ticket holders to sample their best dishes.
Sunday’s crawl featured a host of delicious bites from a diverse range of restaurants, including fall-inspired fritters and hot apple cider from Kora; pupusas from Salvadoran staple Ricas Pupusas & Mas; peanut soup from Bolivian Llama Party; a selection of pizzas from Sotto le Stelle; and noodles from Ariyoshi.
Sunnyside Italian staple Sotto Le Stelle provided a selection of pizzas for the event. Photo by Ramy Mahmoud
A number of restaurants that have opened their doors in the last 12 months also took part in the food festival, taking an opportunity to introduce themselves to new potential customers. Makina, the extremely popular Eritrean-Ethiopian fusion restaurant on Skillman Avenue, offered a delicious selection of injera chips during Sunday’s event, while newly opened Italian restaurant Silvana offered a selection of pizzas and pastas.
Dirk McCall de Palomá, executive director of Sunnyside Shines, said the event provides an opportunity for new businesses to make an impression on local residents who may not have had a chance to stop by.
“This is their introduction to the neighborhood because all the foodies stop by,” McCall de Palomá said.
McCall de Palomá said the quality of the 2026 was even higher than usual, commending participating restaurants for putting on a delicious selection to entice foodies.
“The food is going great. I don’t think anybody served anything that wasn’t amazing,” McCall de Palomá said.
Taste of Sunnyside was changed to a crawl format in 2021 due to safety concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. The event was previously held in a single location, with local restaurants setting up stalls underneath the elevated subway tracks along Queens Boulevard.
Participants extolled the benefits of the format change, stating that the new format allows attendees to better engage with local businesses.
Anik Amin of Cardamom, which offered a range of popular Indian dishes during Sunday’s event, said the restaurant has been able to attract a large number of new customers since it started participating in the festival five years ago.
Cardamom provided several menu staples. Photo by Ramy Mahmoud
“The amount of people that have come back and said ‘we tasted your food at Taste of Sunnyside’ has been amazing,” Amin said. “We’re trying to bring in more customers, and we kind of go a little all out. We get the decorations. We get music. We do everything.”
Amin, whose family previously operated a restaurant in Midtown Manhattan, said the annual restaurant crawl showcases everything that is good about operating a restaurant in Sunnyside.
“When we operated a restaurant in Midtown, people would come in on their lunch break – quick in and out,” Amin said. “Here, you really get to know the people and I love that. It’s one of my favorite things about this neighborhood.
“This is one of the best events that I’ve ever seen any borough, any neighborhood do.”
Michelle Murphy, co-owner of Bar 43, has been participating in Taste of Sunnyside since the event’s foundation and said the event still serves as an opportunity to introduce the bar to residents in the neighborhood, especially those who have recently moved to Sunnyside.
Michelle Murphy (left) and Bar 43 staff at the Taste of Sunnyside. Photo by Shane O’Brien
“We offer our frozen margaritas and our Atomic Wings. It’s always been great for us. We’ve always had good feedback,” Murphy said. “It (Taste of Sunnyside) has been great for our community.”
Council Member Shekar Krishnan, who attended Sunday’s food crawl, described Taste of Sunnyside as a “great event” that celebrates small businesses and the diversity of the neighborhood.
“The Taste of Sunnyside festival has brought together our entire Queens community to celebrate our cultures and celebrate our small businesses,” Krishnan said. “That’s how we work together to make sure our small businesses have the support they need.”
Former state Sen. Mike Gianaris added that the event has become “part of the fabric” of the Sunnyside community since its foundation 16 years ago, describing the crawl as one of the best days of the year.
“We’ve seen people, not just from Sunnyside, but from all over Queens. And they’ve now learned about all the great things that Sunnyside has to offer,” Gianaris said.
Former state Sen. Mike Gianaris. Photo by Ramy Mahmoud