{"id":377107,"date":"2026-10-19T18:42:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T18:42:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/377107\/"},"modified":"2026-10-19T18:42:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T18:42:08","slug":"punjabi-dhaba-iconic-indian-restaurant-in-queens-opens-new-hillside-avenue-location-qns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/377107\/","title":{"rendered":"Punjabi Dhaba, iconic Indian restaurant in Queens, opens new Hillside Avenue location \u2013 QNS"},"content":{"rendered":"

Punjabi Dhaba<\/a>, a community landmark Indian restaurant in Queens, celebrated the grand opening of its brand new Hillside location at 259-11 Hillside Ave. in Glen Oaks<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The restaurant, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, hosted a grand opening ceremony and block party yesterday to commemorate the occasion, welcoming over 1,000 members of the local community to join the fun.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The celebration included a prayer, live music, an ice cream truck and free buffet meals showcasing the popular dishes of the Queens restaurant.\n<\/p>\n

Punjabi Dhaba owner Navdeep Singh was joined by restaurant staff, elected officials and members of the community to cut the ribbon and officially open the doors to the new location.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Attendees included Arts4All Foundation<\/a> founder Dr. Sumita SenGupta, U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi, Assembly Member Edward Braunstein, Assembly Member David Weprin, 35th District Leader Hersh Parikh, Koshy Thomas and Harpreet Toor.<\/p>\n

Restaurant leaders said the opening of the new Punjabi Dhaba location reflects the growing South Asian population in New York and the new emerging Indian neighborhood in Northeast Queens.<\/p>\n

Punjabi Dhaba, a family-owned restaurant founded in 2006 by the late Karnail Singh and Gurmit Singh, has pioneered Indian culinary traditions that have shaped New York food culture for over two decades.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Brothers Karnail and Gurmit both began as taxi drivers who dreamt of opening a restaurant and sharing their Punjabi family traditions and cultural cuisine with New Yorkers. Once that dream came to fruition, it was an overnight success.<\/p>\n

Punjabi Dhaba, which boasts itself as one of the first South Asian restaurants to open in Richmond Hill, is now famous for serving authentic and traditional Indian vegetarian comfort dishes and sweets at an affordable price.<\/p>\n

\"\"Navdeep Singh, owner of Punjabi Dhaba, presented Queens elected officials with Indian sweets during the grand opening ceremony.Photos courtesy Punjabi Dhaba<\/p>\n

Navdeep, son of Karnail and new owner of the restaurant, said he will honor the legacy of his family and fulfill their dream of opening the new location on Hillside Avenue with his cousin, mother and sisters.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMy father and uncle opened Punjabi Dhaba with a vision of making every dish feel like it was home,\u201d Navdeep said. \u201cAnd today, twenty years later, every dish continues to tell a story of our rich Indian heritage. All food is cooked by our family members, and we use recipes passed down through generations. We are honored to open our new location to share the true taste of India and traditional Punjabi home cooking.\u201d<\/p>\n

SenGupta said local-run family businesses like Punjabi Dhaba serve an important role in growing the local economy and enriching the community.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cFor locals, Punjabi Dhaba is not just a restaurant but represents the fulfillment of the American dream and a reminder that there is nothing more satisfying than a meal made with love,\u201d he said. \u201cAt Punjabi Dhaba it is a son preparing the orders, a mother cooking the laddus, a cousin making the chole bhatura and a sister packaging the food. This is truly a family-run enterprise, and I congratulate Navdeep Singh, Jasvir Kaur and Punjabi Dhaba for their generosity, cultural contributions and success.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elected leaders commended the restaurant for its family-centric vision and celebrated its growth within the local community.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI am grateful to honor and support local businesses in our community,\u201d Suozzi said. \u201cTwenty years ago, the Singh family had a dream of bringing authentic Punjabi cuisine to New York, and today we celebrate the success of a family-run business opening a new location to continue to be a welcoming place for local families and members of the community to enjoy homemade meals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Braunstein also congratulated the restaurant, recognizing its anniversary and its role as a community hub for visitors to come together and enjoy diverse cuisine.<\/p>\n

\u201cCelebrating 20 years of service is an incredible feat and a meaningful milestone,\u201d he said. \u201cI congratulate Punjabi Dhaba on expanding their services to the new little India, Hillside Avenue, ensuring that they continue to be a place where the community can gather for authentic Indian food and drinks and celebrations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Weprin, who presented a proclamation to Punjabi Dhaba, said the restaurant contributes to the vast array of cultures that comprise the World\u2019s Borough.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat makes Queens great is the vibrant diversity of New Yorkers, who share their rich cultural heritage through opening local businesses that strengthen our community,\u201d he said. \u201cFrom Richmond Hill to Hillside Avenue, Punjabi Dhaba is a staple in Queens and a household name for authenticity and excellence.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Punjabi Dhaba, a community landmark Indian restaurant in Queens, celebrated the grand opening of its brand new Hillside…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":377108,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-377107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=377107"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377107\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/377108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=377107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=377107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=377107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}