This beloved Bolivian joint became famous for their salteñas, oven-baked, hand-braided pastries that are filled with a savory soupy filling (jigote). To eat, hold them upright and nibble the top to release the fragrant steam. Other favorites on the traditional-meets-fusion menu are the slow-roasted pork chola sandwich on house made bread and the sopa di mani, peanut soup. Owned by a trio of brothers, the Sunnyside spot has colorful outdoor seating. To find it, look for the Mi Bolivia sign.

In the heart of Rego Park, home to a large Bhukharian Jewish community, you can taste centuries of culinary fusion from Central Asia, with elements from Persian, Turkish, Chinese, and Uzbek cooking. At Chaikhana Sem Sorok, the big draw are samsas, deliciously charred pastries stuffed with onions, lamb, pumpkin or beef. Lagman, a Uyghur dish of hand-pulled noodles in a meaty red broth, and lamb plov are close seconds. Everything is made by hand at this Glatt Kosher spot.

Take a trip to Greece at this out-of-the-way restaurant. First stop, the islands, with grilled sea bass or a heap of crispy fried smelts. Then, head to the mainland with roast pork and lamb souvlaki. Whet your appetite with tirokafteri, a spicy feta dip, or skordalia, a garlic mashed potato spread with grilled veggies. Whether in the ship-filled dining room or the outdoor patio, each table gets free cinnamon-topped halva at the end of the meal. A gracious Greek tradition continued in Queens.

For some Corona neighborhood families, eating weekend barbacoa is as important as church. Slow-roasted in specialized ovens, the chili-marinated lamb and goat is melt-in-your-mouth good. As is the bubbling vat of carnitas. If you come mid-week, tuck into tacos and stewed meats, served on freshly griddled tortillas – you can buy a batch during slow times. If it’s on the menu, the pozole blanco, a rich pork and hominy soup from the owner’s region of Guerrero, is rare outside of Mexico.

This tiny grocery/takeout shop serves big Nigerian flavors. On the daily rotating menu, savor egusi (spinach, tomato, chile pepper, squash-seed sauce) or efo riro, a leafy greens stew, paired with garri (fermented cassava). Scoop the stews by hand with a pinch of cassava, a more traditional, effective method than a fork. Owner Beatrice learned to cook from her mom. Fittingly, Nneji (nn-Nay-jee) means “mother” in her Igbo language. For more African goodness, check out her nearby shop, Ibari.

This Indo-Caribbean stalwart has a fierce following for its dance-hall ambiance, reliable prices, and vast selection. You can’t capture all the steam table items in a single photo. They even dish out 800 dhalpuris (split-pea-stuffed rotis) each day! Other rotis are filled with curried chicken, goat, oxtail, fish, or chickpeas. Owned by a Trinidadian family, the house specialty are doubles, a Trini street snack of curried chickpeas sandwiched between bara fry breads. Enjoy the music and dig in.

One of the few Bhutanese food spots in NY also doubles as a pool hall. To get a true taste of the tiny nation’s fortifying and fiery cuisine, order the national dish, ema datse, chile peppers slathered in spicy cheese sauce. Pair it with Bhutanese red rice, whose nutty flavor provides a cooling contrast. The datse also come with potatoes, mushrooms, vegetables or meat. For a winning meal, rack up an order of momo, South Asian dumplings, as well.

Opened in Jackson Heights in 2019, Angel has enjoyed its months of celebrity, and has moved down the street. We visited several times for the likes of dahi batata puri (yogurt and potato-filled wheat puffs), kale pakora (chickpea fritters), vegetable dum biryani (a slow-cooked mixed rice dish) and lassuni gobi – garlic cauliflower never tasted so good.