You are reading

Taste of Sunnyside’s New Crawl Format Proves a Big Hit With Foodies

Taste of Sunnyside (Photo by Kamila Harris)

Sushi being served at the Taste of Sunnyside Sunday (Photo by Kamila Harris)

Oct. 8, 2021 By Michael Dorgan

More than 500 people took part in the revamped Taste of Sunnyside last Sunday.

The sold-out event saw residents go door-to-door to sample food and beverages offered by dozens of participating local restaurants/bars.

This year’s event was changed to a restaurant/bar crawl as opposed to being held in one location under a big tent – and organizers said it proved to be a big hit.

“Overall it was a great success and participating restaurants/bars were really happy,” said Jaime-Faye Bean, executive director of Sunnyside Shines Business Improvement District (BID), which organizes the event.

“It was definitely a better format than a tented festival as people were able to familiarise themselves with the storefronts and what they have to offer.”

Sunnyside Shines carried out a survey following the event and 80 percent of respondents said they preferred the new format while 90 percent said they would return to the establishments they visited on the day, according to Bean.

No decision has been made as to the format of next year’s Taste, although Bean said it would be surprising if the crawl format isn’t continued.

The Taste of Sunnyside is the BID’s most popular event and aims to promote the district as a restaurant destination.

More than 30 local businesses took part in this year’s event, which provided them with a timely boost in the wake of the pandemic and the recent disruption caused to some storefronts by Hurricane Ida.

Ticket holders began checking in for the Taste at around 2 p.m. at Lowery Plaza – located at 40th Street and Queens Boulevard under the elevated 7 subway train. They were provided with recommended routes to follow and there were also two trollies on hand to bus attendees to the establishments if desired.

Foodies were then able to visit the participating local restaurants/bars and taste some of their best-selling items. Many businesses had stands set up outside their storefronts where workers gave out food and beverages to ticket-holders.

Taste of Sunnyside participants outside SoleLuna Sunday (Photo by Kamila Harris)

Bean said that some of the most popular establishments included the Italian restaurant SoleLuna, whose workers were making pasta in a cheese wheel outside, and Maggie Mae’s bar which sold its own drinks along with food from an upcoming restaurant called Caribbean Cuisine.

She said that the owners of sushi restaurant Ariyoshi were delighted to participate in the Taste for the first time. The restaurant could not take part in previous years as they were unable to keep their fish frozen under the tent.

Regular favorites like Sotto le Stelle, I love Paraguay, Riko Peruvian, Tito Rad’s, Dazies and 43 Bar & Grill were also on the route.

Taste of Sunnyside (Photo by Kamila Harris)

Ticket-holders begin their Taste of Sunnyside crawl at Lowery Plaza Sunday (Photo by Kamila Harris)

Taste of Sunnyside (Photo by Kamila Harris)

Two trollies were on hand to bus participants to the various businesses (Photo by Kamila Harris)

Taste of Sunnyside (Photo by Kamila Harris)

Workers prepare food at the Taste of Sunnyside Sunday (Photo by Kamila Harris)

Taste of Sunnyside (Photo by Kamila Harris)

Children outside Maggie Mae’s bar Sunday at the Taste of Sunnyside (Photo by Kamila Harris)

A worker at Italian restaurant SoleLuna making pasta in a cheese wheel (Photo by Kamila Harris)

email the author: [email protected]
No comments yet

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.


The reCAPTCHA verification period has expired. Please reload the page.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

CM Moya announces support for massive Metropolitan Park proposal near Citi Field

Council Member Francisco Moya announced his support for Metropolitan Park, a proposal put forward by New York Mets owner Steve Cohen and Hard Rock International that calls for the construction of a casino and entertainment complex on the parking lot just west of Citi Field.

In a lengthy statement released on Thursday afternoon, Moya said that when he was first approached about the project, his main consideration was ensuring that it would meet the needs of his constituents and provide a major boost to the local economy.

Long Island man charged in fatal Flushing hit-and-run that left 81-year-old man dead: NYPD

A Long Island truck driver was arrested on Tuesday and booked at the 109th Precinct in Flushing for a fatal hit-and-run collision that killed a Murray Hill senior who was riding an electric bike on Northern Boulevard three months ago.

Kyle Schreiber, 27, of Lincoln Boulevard in Hauppauge, was charged with leaving the scene of an accident resulting in the death of 81-year-old Peter Seo on the morning of Thursday, Dec. 28.

MTA seizes 19 ‘ghost’ cars registered to toll violators at Queens Midtown Tunnel on Monday

Two days before the MTA Board approved the controversial congestion pricing plan for Manhattan on Wednesday, the agency cracked down on persistent toll violators at the Queens Midtown Tunnel in Long Island City.

MTA Bridges and Tunnels seized 19 vehicles registered to persistent scofflaws on Monday and issued 81 summonses and confiscated two fraudulent incense plates. The MTA noted that the scofflaws accounted for approximately $483,000 in combined unpaid tolls and fees. One of the top persistent toll violators from the targeted enforcement owed nearly $76,000 in tolls and fees.