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Queens

Woodside

Little Manila under the 7 train, Irish pubs on the corners, and some of the city's best Thai.

Woodside lives beneath the elevated 7 train, and the train sets its rhythm: a rush of steel overhead every few minutes, then the quiet of a neighborhood that mostly goes about its business. For generations it was Irish, and the pubs along Roosevelt and Woodside Avenues still pour pints and show the hurling. Since the 1970s it has also been the center of Filipino New York.

Little Manila runs along Roosevelt Avenue in the 60s, and in 2022 the corner at 69th Street was co-named Little Manila Avenue. This is where to eat sisig still crackling on the plate, sour tamarind sinigang, garlic rice with longganisa, and lumpia by the dozen, then pick up ube pastries and pandesal from the bakeries and groceries next door.

A few blocks north, on 39th Avenue, Woodside holds one of New York's most celebrated Thai restaurants, which drew diners from across the city long before Queens Thai was a genre. Between the two, the neighborhood makes a strong case for an unhurried afternoon: lunch in Little Manila, a walk under the tracks, dinner on 39th Avenue.

Filipino bakeries and turo-turo counters on Roosevelt Avenue

Irish pubs that have outlasted several waves of neighbors

The 7 train's shadow striping the avenue

Ube, pandesal, and longganisa sold side by side

Local notes

Renee's Kitchenette & Grille

Serving Little Manila from under the Roosevelt Avenue tracks since 1992. Sizzling sisig, sinigang na baboy, pork chop silog, and lumpiang shanghai are the standards, and the dining room fills with families who have been coming for three decades.

Sripraphai

The Thai restaurant on 39th Avenue that taught a generation of New Yorkers to ride the 7 train for dinner. A long menu of regional dishes, a back garden in warm weather, and heat levels that mean what they say. Waits are normal on weekends.

Little Manila Avenue

The stretch of Roosevelt Avenue from roughly 61st to 70th Streets has been the heart of Filipino New York since the 1970s, and the corner at 70th Street was officially co-named Little Manila Avenue in 2022. Restaurants, remittance shops, and Filipino groceries line the blocks under the train.

Through the lens

Shoot Roosevelt Avenue at dusk, when the restaurant signs come on and the train overhead throws moving bands of light across the street. The station at 61st Street gives you an elevated view down the avenue. Pub facades along Woodside Avenue are best in soft morning light.

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

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