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Eating in Rockaway Beach, Queens

Food vendors and restaurants in the Rockaways have only gotten better over the years. Here’s where to eat this summer, and beyond.

For New Yorkers, hitting the beach on sunny summer days offers some much-needed wide-open, saltwater respite from the urban jungle we call home. But when it’s a beach you can take public transit too, we are rightfully a little smug. Rockaway Beach, right off the A train, the Q22 bus (among other lines), and the unbeatable NYC Ferry, with its gorgeous endless boardwalk, hotel rooftop bars, and great and varied eateries, is the perfect example. Who needs the Jersey Shore with this Queens beach a stone’s throw away?

Don’t get me wrong—I’m a Jersey Shore native. But I’m also a 15-year Queens diehard (and food tour guide) Queens diehard, and last summer our family finally made the leap to a Rockaway Beach staycation. Renting a bungalow near the beach 35 minutes from our home proved a brilliant idea that let us experience the Rockaways in a whole new way: not as repeat day-trippers, but as neighborhood locals.

Naturally, between hours at the beautiful beach, we ate a lot. We learned that within the span of a few blocks, you can have Jamaican food for breakfast, Nigerian for lunch, and Uzbeki cuisine for dinner. Then there’s the summers-only taco and ceviche spots, the ice cream shop that’s a must, and the hotel rooftop bar with some of the best views in NYC.

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  Palm wine

  Nigeria
  justicefischer
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  Spinach stew

  Nigeria
  justicefischer
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  Afang soup (gnetum)

  Nigeria
  vickypree
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  Jollof Rice in Nigeria and Beyond

  Nigeria
  favourrichard

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