Paid Protest

Before

Long walk · 0.8 mi · 15 min walk; 2 min ride - Astoria

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.

After

short ride recommended · 4 min - Astoria

A Greek cafe on Broadway with a refrigerated case of galaktoboureko, ekmek and cakes cut to order, and a coffee counter that works from six in the morning until half past one the next night. People order a frappe and sit an hour at a marble-top table without anyone minding. There is waiter service at the tables rather than a line at a register. The Astoria branch is one of three, the others being in Bay Ridge and on the Upper West Side.