Call me bias, but New York City has the best food scene in the world. You can get any type of food you fancy at any time of day you’d like. Pancakes at 1am? There’s a spot for it. Uzbek cuisine on a friday night? You’ll have dozens of options.
The concrete jungle is a kitchen for flavors from across the world. But there are also some classics eats that are uniquely New York. As they say, there’s something in the water that just makes certain items taste different. And no, it’s not pollution. We hope.
I hit the pavement in Astoria, Queens on a classic New York eats food crawl for a day full of my favorite eats.
Let’s dive it!
Stop 1: New York Bagels from Astoria Bagel Shop
In the 19th century, a wave of Eastern European Jewish families immigrated to New York, and they brought bagels with them. The humble bagel was popular in the city, but it didn’t become the delicious star it is today until the invention of the bagel rolling machine in 1958. Suddenly, bagels could be mass produced and shipped to all pockets of the country.
(Curious about who invented the bagel itself? Click HERE!)
Today, you can snag bagels all the way from Minnesota to Miami. But nothing beats what you’ll get in the Big Apple. The perfect New York bagel has a nice level of chew, a slightly hard crust, a subtle yeasty tang, and deep developed flavors (depending on the type of bagel.) The texture and flavors are attributed to at least two days of proofing followed by a flash boil before being put in an oven. (Some say there’s something in the water– a fun theory, but blind test tastes have proved otherwise.)
So of course stop one on our classic New York east food crawl had to be a bagel.
We pulled into Astoria Bagel Shop. It’s a hole in the wall neighborhood institution that has been dishing out fresh bagels to locals for a few decades. They are known for their bagel/schemer combos rather than bacon, egg, and cheese creations. I decided on an everything bagel with sun dried tomato cream cheese accordingly.
As we approached the counter to order, a cranky woman gave us a look of disdain as we interrupted her heated discussion with a co-worker. The service was abysmal (to put it nicely), but luckily the bagels were pretty darn tasty.
My everything bagel was perfectly dense with a good chew, and the seasonings on top were balanced nicely. The sun dried tomato cream cheese was delightful with a thick creamy texture. The two qualms were the bad service and lofty price tag of just over $6.
Stop 2: New York Pizza from sLICe Astoria
Our classic New York eats food crawl continued with perhaps my favorite New York eat: pizza.
The tale of New York pizza goes back to 1905. Gennaro Lombardi, an Italian immigrant, started whipping up Neapolitan style pizza out of his little grocery store in Little Italy. New York pizza as we know it developed thirty years later when Frank Mastro added a gas line to his pizza oven. Gas requires lower cooking temperatures than coal, meaning longer cooking times and dryer pizza. Dryer pizza has a longer shelf life and can be quickly reheated. Voila! The birth of the classic slice!
Get the full scoop on the history of New York pizza HERE!
Astoria is teeming with Italian pizzerias dishing out authentic Neapolitan pies. New York slices aren’t as popular, so we pulled into the first spot we came across: sLICe Astoria.
We sprung for a Margherita slice, vodka slice, and grandma slice which were all under $4. Each crust had a decent flavor and texture, but the sauce on the Margherita and gandma slice was the star of the show– Rich, thick, and just acidic enough. Would I go out of my way for sLICe? Meh probably not. But if I was craving pizza and walked by one, I wouldn’t say no.
Pro tip: I also noticed they have some solid daily deals! Good option for fellow frugal foodies….
Stop 3: New York Cheesecake from Omonia Next Door
No classic New York eats food crawl is complete without a slice of New York cheesecake.
We pulled into Omonia Next Door, an old school Greek bakery that’s been dishing out treats for decades. The options were overwhelming. Baklava cheesecake! Oreo cheesecake! Carrot cake cheesecake! We settled on a marble cheesecake, and it was bliss.
The texture was thick and creamy, and the flavor had an exquisite symphony of caramel, chocolate, and vanilla. It might be the best cheesecake I’ve ever had…. just saying.
This classic New York east food crawl, Astoria edition, was a wild success!
Hungry for more? Check out my Lower East Side classic New York Eats food crawl HERE!
