No place eats quite like Queens. The most diverse county in America packs an entire world of flavor into its 109 square miles, with restaurants that represent the food of all the people who call it home. One night you might be slurping noodles in Flushing, the next eating some of the best seafood in NYC in Long Island City or sipping baijiu alongside a plate of spicy dumplings. Between the beach at Rockaway, the food courts of Flushing and the neighborhood taverns where time seems to have slowed down, Queens is proof that great dining isn’t only about Manhattan’s price tags or hype cycles—it’s happening right here, every night.

Updated October 28, 2005: Queens’ dining scene is heating up this fall, with a new wave of openings that stretch from Astoria to Flushing and everywhere in between. The latest arrivals span street food to fine dining, highlighting flavors from all over the world—proof that no other borough captures the city’s diversity quite like this one. Cozy dining rooms are buzzing, grills are firing and new menus are giving even longtime locals fresh reasons to eat their way through the borough.

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