In the heart of Ravenswood, find this fried chicken factory turning out crisp-skinned birds at a modest price. Additional choices include wraps, chicken sandwiches, wings, and even burgers. All the sides you might expect at KFC are available here, plus a few more in a soul food vein, plus some very good fried fish and chips. All meat is halal.

You’ve probably never seen a steam table quite this big, featuring two dozen or so Bangladeshi dishes, handily distinguishing the cuisine from Indian food. Be on the lookout for freshwater fish, one or two imported from South Asia, as well as the small vegetarian dishes called bhortas. Mustard oil abounds, the signature seasoning of Bangladesh.

This delightful Neapolitan cafe and pastry shop under the elevated N tracks was founded in 2020, and takes a distinctly modern approach to Italian pastries. The bomboloni are becoming legendary, with their range of fillings from nutella to pistachio, and since they’re made periodically during the day, you may get one fresh out of the oven. And if they don’t have a flavor you crave at the moment, you can have them filled to order. Savory pastries, pizzas, and great coffee are also available.

Nai Brother is a restaurant chain known for a singular dish that you can order a hundred different ways: the Sichuan soup, suan cai yu. The default version is sour, savory, and spicy: It comes with flaky white fish, like snakehead or tilapia, plus pickled mustard greens and a handful of chiles. That’s just the beginning. Diners can customize with an array of ingredients, like ramen noodles, dried beef, frog, and duck blood, as well as several broths available at different spice levels.

Ambitious Chinese restaurants serving multiple cuisines have been popping up in Long Island City lately, and Red Sorghum, from Vincent Lin, is one of the newest. Located in a stretch of Jackson Avenue thronged with new highrises and boasting a giant dining room and bar, the menu focuses on Sichuan and Hunan food and there are lakes of red oil and heaps of pickled chiles. Yes, you can get dan dan noodles, but why not go for the Hunan fish head in chile sauce? The bar features mixed drinks incorporating baijiu.

This food cart has served the breakfast and lunch crowd since opening in Long Island City in 2018, close to the Court Square station, specializing in the popular Chinese street food jianbing, savory rolled crepes of sorts, with fillings. The jianbing here may not be the best iteration of the dish in New York, nor was it the first time they arrived in the city in a mobile food cart. And yet they are their own thing. The fillings to choose from — pork floss, Spam, sweet corn, you tiao, cabbage, and beef sausage, or decidedly New York-y, untraditional adaptations like avocado, mozzarella, and bacon — mean there’s lots of opportunity to explore. Its Instagram account often shares location updates.

Petey’s Burger borrows from the best elements of In-N-Out and upgrades the formula with hormone-free black angus beef. With the most simple burger still available for under $5, prices here are only a little higher than the average fast-food chain. Since opening in 2012, this location has built up a following.

Before they had Dhamaka and Semma, partners Roni Mazumdar and Chintan Pandya ran this Indian canteen in Long Island City. The specialty since 2018 has been dum biryani, a pot of fragrant saffron rice and bone-in goat covered with a thin crust. Beyond biryani, the menu has butter chicken, fish curry, and paneer tikka, and most dishes cost under $25.

Hooni Kim, owner of the currently closed defining Korean restaurant Danji, opened a new spot across the bridge, in Long Island City, in 2022. At the front is Little Banchan Shop, a provisions shop where Kim stocks fridges with his own sauces and ferments, with a cafe that serves up fresh bibimbap. At the back is Meju, a Michelin-starred hidden tasting menu counter.

Yumpling started as a stall at the Long Island City flea market in 2015, although if you work in Midtown, you may also know it from its bright red food truck. During the pandemic, the owners opened a permanent dumpling shop, where they serve pan-fried dumplings with a thick, chewy top and crisp bottom, with a mound of cilantro and chile oil as a garnish. You can also order great versions of Taiwanese staples, like beef noodle soup and lu rou fan.