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Queens

Sunnyside

A garden-city experiment, Colombian bakeries on Greenpoint Avenue, and Turkish grills on the boulevard.

Sunnyside is a quiet neighborhood with a loud main street. The 7 train rides above Queens Boulevard, and below it the avenue runs wide and practical. Step a few blocks north and you find Sunnyside Gardens, the 1920s planned community where low brick rowhouses face shared interior courtyards — an early American experiment in the garden city, and now a city historic district.

The food reflects a long run of arrivals. Irish bars hold on from the neighborhood's earlier decades. Greenpoint Avenue and Queens Boulevard carry Colombian bakeries with pandebono and buñuelos in the case, Ecuadorian kitchens, and a Paraguayan dining room that is a rarity anywhere in the country. Turkish grills turn out kebabs and pide near the boulevard, and Romanian home cooking survives on 43rd Avenue.

Add Japanese, Korean barbecue, Bolivian, and Nepali to the mix, and Sunnyside becomes the kind of place where a single evening can cross three continents without a subway transfer. Walk through the Gardens first, while the light is still good, then come back to the boulevard hungry.

Brick rowhouses around shared courtyards in Sunnyside Gardens

Colombian bakeries along Greenpoint Avenue

The old Sunnyside sign arching over Queens Boulevard

Turkish, Romanian, Paraguayan, and Bolivian kitchens within a few blocks

Local notes

Sunnyside Gardens

Built between 1924 and 1928 to plans by Clarence Stein and Henry Wright, the Gardens arranged modest brick houses around shared green courts in a deliberate rebuke to the tenement. The city designated it a historic district in 2007. The courts are largely private; walk the streets and look through.

Greenpoint Avenue's Colombian bakeries

Greenpoint Avenue and the nearby blocks of Queens Boulevard hold a cluster of Colombian bakeries and cafés: pandebono warm from the oven, buñuelos, arepas, and strong coffee at the counter. The best way through is a slow walk with small purchases at every stop.

Queens Boulevard under the 7

The boulevard is Sunnyside's dining room. Turkish grills, Japanese counters, Korean barbecue, and Latin American kitchens sit shoulder to shoulder from Lowery Street to Bliss Street, each a short walk from a station. Look for the old arch spanning the boulevard near 46th Street.

Through the lens

The arch over Queens Boulevard and the elevated tracks make the neighborhood's signature frame; shoot from the station platform at 46th Street–Bliss Street or from the median in late afternoon. Sunnyside Gardens photographs best in spring and autumn, when the courtyard trees fill the gaps between the rowhouses.

Editorial draft — core details last reviewed October 13, 2026. Confirm practical details with the official site before you go.

Where to eat & drink