The Top Food Pop-ups in Queens

If you’re not from there, this might leave a sour taste, but Queens might just have the best food out of all five boroughs in NYC. Undoubtedly, its food scene represents the most cultures out of any, and that rich melting pot churns out some remarkable chefs. With a platform that encourages cooking with ingenuity, chefs in Queens seem to relish every opportunity to make their concepts memorable. This is a list of the standout pop-ups coming out of Queens. We’ve tried to be comprehensive but as you know pop-ups are a moving target, if we missed your favorite pop-up submit it here and we will make sure to add you to the list!

This article is just a small taste of the 🔥 dishes on 8it. Hit the green button at the bottom of this article to explore all NYC’s top dish recos, new dish drops and food pop-ups on the 8it app.

Doozie Pizza

Doozie pizza pops up on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays at Evil Twin Brewing in Ridgewood. They make both square and circular pizzas. The circular form adopts a very Neapolitan-style look, scorched by a blazing hot wood-fired oven. Their square pies land somewhere in between grandma-style and Detroit style, with a shallow but cheesy outer crust.

The Grit Shop

Chef Lonnie Love, a culinary unicorn, has his latest concept- The Grits Shop up and running in Ridgewood. Historically characterized as a simple, highly accessible food, grits are given the Xzibit treatment at The Grits Shop, with 12-hour braised oxtail or Mafè shrimp smothered in peanut sauce over coconut cream grits, porcini butter grits with truffle and more. Someone nominate Chef Lonnie Love for an episode of “Pimp My Grits.”

Gunita

Chef Jason Mandia studied the culinary arts in the Philippines before working at several Michelin restaurants. Now, he’s on a mission to bring elevated Filipino food to NYC. His menus feature lechon sisig tacos, braised beef sinigang, grilled lemongrass chicken insal and much more made with produce sourced from the Union Square Greenmarket. He’s also known for a purple burger made with an ube bun. Slide over, Martin’s.

Happy Bull

Paulie Gee’s and King Umberto alum, Felix Toro is the chef behind Happy Bull Pizza, which pops up mostly at breweries at breweries in Queens and Long Island, including every Tuesday at Fifth Hammer Brewing Company. His pies feature a crust reminiscent of charcoal-fired New Haven style pizzas, with a char he imparts using a Breville oven. The toppings, however, are more New York; like pepperoni with jalapeños and hot honey.

The Laksa Shop

This curry noodle soup pop-up was born out of Mama Lam’s, a mother-daughter duo bringing Malaysian flavors to NYC in the form of curry pastes and hot sauces. The daughter, founder Cassandra Lam, teamed up with former Chopped contestant Chef Lizzy Singh-Brar to make the popular southeast Asian dish that’s ignited by her curry paste. Historically, they’ve popped up at breweries across Queens and Brooklyn with their perfect drinking food, but they’re currently residing in Manhattan at two different locations.

Queens Night Market

Famous for its $5 price cap on food and hundreds of rotating vendors, cuisines of more than 90 different countries have been represented at Queens Night Market over the years; almost half of the world’s countries. From Ethiopian eats by Emeye, Trinidadian shark sandwiches by Caribbean Street Eats to pan-fried noodles by Hong Kong Street Food, a walk around Queens Night Market is like a global voyage without the chance of getting seasick. An impressive feat considering it all goes down within Corona Park in Queens.

Salvo’s

Whispers have been circling around the NYC food media landscape about a moped crawling the literal NYC landscape with sandwiches in tow. By whispers, I mean a whole article in Grub Street, and by a moped, I mean Salvo’s Cucina Casalinga. Salvatore La Rosa delivers sandwiches with various Italian-leaning topping ensembles like soppressata, provolone and marinated zucchini in his Puch Magnum around Bushwick, Bed-Stuy and Ridgewood.

Smoked Spice BBQ

Smoked Spice BBQ breaks the internet with pre-orders for their smoked barbecue oxtail whenever a pop-up is announced. Inspired by Texas-style salt and pepper barbecue, they use a method similar to the typical approach for burnt ends by smoking the meat then tenderizing it in sauce, but instead with oxtail for a Caribbean spin. Their spare ribs, brisket and wings keep it traditional with smoky flavor and decadent bark.

Tikkun BBQ

In the barbecue district, right on the corner of fork around and find out, you will find Tikkun BBQ. During the heat of the pandemic, Eli Goldman was inspired by Italians who were lowering bread down from their balconies to their neighbors in need. He began to do it himself, donating 100% of the money. Through his passion for barbecue that practice evolved into Tikkun BBQ, a pop-up that donates most of their profit back to the community. Their menus show their willingness to choose the path less traveled to barbecue success. Red curry smoked chicken legs, Malaysian curry butter beef ribs, smoked turkey pastrami sandwiches, you never know what flavor profile to expect at a Tikkun pop-up, but you know it’s gonna be smoky, juicy and delicious.

Tito Papas

This pop-up brings killer Filipino-influenced bar food to NYC. Tito Papas will feed you and your imagination with lechon kiwali poutine, Filipino chicken parm on spaghetti, steak tapa nachos, burgers and kaldareta birria tacos. Led by chefs Jaypee Almero and Derek Empanadas, they pop-up for brunch, at food festivals and for sit down dinners all over NYC.

Traze

Traze by pizzaiola Natalie DeSabato slings grandma-style square pizzas at bars and breweries around Queens, including every Wednesday at Fifth Hammer Brewing Company. The key to her pizza is flavorful crust, a sourdough which she spikes with finely chopped herbs. That dough is thoughtfully adorned with seasonal ingredients like butternut squash puree. She also sells chocolate chip cookies at her pop-ups.

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Every Food Pop-up You Should Know About in Queens