Bustling Broadway
In Astoria it’s a hive of activity — and great food
Lined with markets, restaurants and bars — most still independently owned — Astoria’s own Broadway is practically just as busy as the more famous version. The few blocks near the Q train stop are some of the most exciting, thanks in part to newcomers from all nationalities (and Manhattan) moving into lower Astoria.
“That’s what good about this neighborhood,” says Yang Gao, who owns both a wine and beer shop near the intersection of 34th St., “the mix of the old and the new.”
What’s also great is the food. Here are four best-in-class stops along Broadway.
WINDOW SHOPPING
You can usually spot chef and owner Claudio Tomax in the window of The New
Los Portales, the tiny central Mexican spot he opened with his family nine years ago. That’s where he holds court over the restaurant’s most delicious feature, a simmering pot filled with spicy chorizo sausage, the thin slices of brisket Mexicans called suadero, and whole spring onions. The latter are slowly cooked to silky perfection, and served alongside tacos and other traditional dishes from Tomax’s native country; he says to try them with a squeeze of lime and a sprinkle of salt.
While Tomax prepares $2 tacos and $5.50 tortas by the window up front — all served with both spicy green tomatillo-japaleño sauce and his smoky, creamy chipotle salsa — in the back another tiny kitchen is used to turn out more complicated fare like the housemade roast pork called al pastor or the chicken and hominy soup called posole, available with other specials on weekends (it’s $6.95).
In between are tables and a television where regulars watch Telemundo. Early risers in search of breakfast tacos are out of luck: While Los Portales is open till 2 a.m. daily, doors don’t open till around 3 p.m.
25-08 Broadway, at Crescent St. (718) 204-6736
THE ROYAL TREATMENT
For a decade commuters heading home from the Broadway stop have been blessed with one of the city’s most beloved street carts, the King of Falafel & Shawarma stand run by Palestinian-born Fares (Freddy) Zeideia.
From 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. every day but Sundays, Zeideia serves up beef and chicken shish kebabs ($3 a skewer), spiced beef patties called kefta (platters are $7), shawarma made of marinated beef and lamb ($7 over rice), and all manner of cheap combo platters slathered with both his homemade hot and tahini sauces.
While the combos are perpetual best sellers at Zeideia’s always-packed operation, his incredible ovals of crispy-crusted falafel shouldn’t be missed: Luckily they’ll often hand you one hot from the fryer if you have to wait in line.
Better still, after sweeping the Vendy Awards in 2010 — the annual Academy Awards for city food trucks — this year Zeideia opened a second outpost for lunch at the corner of E. 53rd St. and Park Ave.
By late afternoon Astorians will usually find him back in Queens, stationed at the original KF&S right in front of the C-Town parking lot, where his staff will occasionally deliver to those waiting in their cars.
Southwest corner of Broadway and 29th St., (718) 838-8029
MAMMA MADDALENA'S IN THE HOUSE
Rest assured that Sac’s Place — opened by Anthony Sacramone and his brother Domenico in 1989 — is no ordinary pizzeria. For starters, there are the slices themselves, which arrive with a bright wash of garlicky marinara and a wonderfully charred crust, thanks to the skill of a real pizzaiolo and the 900-degree heat of a coal-fired oven. (Large cheese is $16.95).
That’s just the pies: The rest of the menu is just as worth a look, thanks both to the Abruzzese heritage of the brothers and their mother Maddalena, who provides both recipes and hands-on help in the kitchen. (“Right now she’s downstairs,” says Anthony on one recent visit, “making the pasta.”)
In addition to dishes like Maddalena’s ricotta and mozzarella filled manicotti ($11.95), there’s a daily handwritten menu of Sac’s specials, which might include rice, green-olive and sausage stuffed-Savoy cabbage, made with greens grown on the family farm in Pennsylvania. On Nov. 15, in fact, they’ll be roasting a whole baby pig in honor of the harvest under a tent outside the restaurant. The family-style meal is $55 per person, though that doesn’t include their fantastic pizza.
25-41 Broadway, at 29th St., (718) 204-5002
FERMENTATION STATION
Yang Gao launched Astoria Bier & Cheese four weeks ago for exactly the same reason he opened the adjacent wine shop in 2009, he says: The neighborhood needed it. While Astoria has long been home to plenty of traditional foodstuffs from Italy and Greece, says Gao — a musician who lived in the ’hood for years — you couldn’t buy Vermont goat cheese, aged Gouda or even a six-pack of Brooklyn’s Sixpoint Craft Ale “without taking the train to Manhattan.”
About 60% of Gao’s well-curated new shop is domestic products that are harder to find anywhere in the city — like the triple crème Nettle Meadow Farm Kunik from the Adirondacks or Southern Tier Brewing’s robust porter from western New York — but he also carries charcuterie, cheese and other specialty foods from around the globe.
His sleek shop also serves as a bar and tasting room, open until midnight on weekends. You can order meat and cheese plates or ale bread and a $4 pot of spreadable “beer cheese” and pair it with a draft beer poured from 10 tap lines embedded into the white tile walls. Both a 16-ounce Smuttynose Old Brown Dog Ale and Empire White Aphro are just $5. Take that, Manhattan.
34-14 Broadway, between 34th and 35th Sts., (718) 545-9463 rachelmwharton@gmail.com