Food in Astoria

A pastry counter on the Little Egypt stretch of Steinway Street with trays of baklava and knafeh behind the glass and more of it stacked on the shelves. The knafeh is what people come for, shredded phyllo over sweet cheese with syrup poured over it at the counter. Ma'amoul and basboosa are in the same case. You point, they weigh, and you pay by the piece or by the pound.

Daily, 11am to 10:30pm

A narrow Venezuelan place on 36th Avenue that has been griddling arepas on this block since the late 2000s. You order at the counter from a board of about twenty fillings and the reina pepiada is the one most people come back for. There are a dozen or so tables and the turnover is quick. It sits directly across 36th Avenue from Melrose Ballroom's door.

Mon to Thu, noon to 10pm. Fri, noon to 11pm. Sat, 11am to 11pm. Sun, 11am to 10pm

A full Queens diner on 21st Street with a counter, booths and a menu that runs from eggs to souvlaki to a slice of pie. It opens at five in the morning and closes at two most nights, which makes it the default answer in this part of Astoria at an hour when everything else has shut. In warm months the parking lot has been used for rooftop film nights and drive-in screenings.

Sun to Sat, 5am to 2am, except Monday, when it closes at midnight

Ali El-Sayed opened this on Steinway Street in 1989 and it was the first Egyptian restaurant on the block. It seats about twenty and the menu changes with whatever he found at the market that morning, so what is written up and what is available are rarely the same thing. Vegetables get as much attention as the lamb. He cooks it himself and he will tell you what to order if you ask.

Tue to Sun, 1pm to 9pm. Closed Mon