Queens Night Market — Attraction in New York

If you’re looking for a way to spend a magical New York evening, Queens Night Market is one of the best and tastiest ways to do it. Tucked behind the New York Hall of Science in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, this vibrant open-air market brings together the city’s dazzling cultural diversity in the form of one irresistible, delicious bite at a time.

There’s just something electric about the vibe here. Music floating in the air, kids running around with glowing toys, the smell of sizzling skewers and spices from all corners of the world and the hum of dozens of languages being spoken all around you. It’s a beautiful, chaotic, delicious kind of sensory overload.

Yes, it gets crowded. It’s popular for a reason. Food lines can get long, especially for the booths that have built a cult following, so the pro tip is: come early, come hungry, and come with friends so you can divide and conquer the lines. Most dishes range from $5-$15, so you get to try a wide range of food without spending a fortune.

Some fan-favorite booths that have made appearances in recent years include Moon Man with their addictive Indonesian coconut pancakes, Twisted Potato’s deep-fried spiral-cut potatoes, and Treat Yourself’s smoky jerk chicken. Mama’s Cupcakes delivers sweet nostalgia with Dominican bizcocho, while the Tibetan Momo Truck offers juicy dumplings with fiery chutney. Zaab Zaab Thai always brings bold Isaan flavors, and Nansense serves up mouthwatering Afghan mantu and kebabs. Don’t miss the gooey, crispy arepas from Arepalicious or the plantain-packed jibarito sandwiches from Jibarito Shack. Vendors rotate each season, so part of the fun is discovering what’s new and what you’ll come back for next time.

Queens Night Market is a celebration of people, community, and culture. You’ll hear music from all over the world, spot artists and small businesses, and experience an atmosphere that feels authentically New York diverse, vibrant, and full of life.

Despite the lines and the crowd, this place has a kind of magic to it. There’s a rhythm to the night, a shared joy in discovering flavors from countries you’ve never been to, and conversations with strangers over bites of something amazing. Bring cash, wear comfortable shoes, and show up ready to eat your way across the globe. You’ll leave full, happy, and already planning...

Coming here was quite literally one of the worst decisions I have ever made... yes it was that bad (for me at least). Beginning with parking. I can't really blame the night market as it's in the city and should be expected however I drove around for approximately 45 minutes looking for parking until finally finding a spot about a mile away after circling around over and over so that's definitely something to consider. Next, the crowds/lines. Another thing that's expected because you're in the city but I was severely unprepared for she sheer amount of people & lines. You can't walk a single step without bumping or walking into someone and it's a BIG park. Swarms of people everywhere. Hard to find a single inch of space where you can breath in peace without someone literally on top of you. Reminded me of Disney, yes that bad. I was thinking if there was a max capacity for this amount of space, they were about 3x over. This ultimately created unimaginable lines. Any and EVERY tent had about 30-40 people on line waiting to place an order which takes about 25 minutes, then another 15 minutes to get your food. Even the drink lines were 40 people deep. Next, the portions. Yes everything is $6 which is great however the portion is about 2-3 bites. Every single I got was a tiny sample. I unfortunately came hungry and was left waiting 45 minutes for 3 bites of food, over and over again. It's impossible to get full off 2 or 3 orders so you wind up spending a lot of money anyway even though there's a $6 price point, especially with 2 people. You have the option to split up and wait on lines alone to get food faster but what fun is that? I can't stress enough the overwhelming amount of people and lines. I instantly wanted to leave but stayed for the gf. By hour 2, I only got 2 things (bao bun that was lacking flavor, so small, and had slimy fatty chicken & ramen which was good but only a couple spoon fulls). A nice night out turned out to be an overwhelming hellscape you couldn't pay me to attend again. And to be honest these venders are serving hundreds and hundreds of people each night in such a short amount of time, how well do you think the quality of the food is..? I was severely unimpressed,...

Truly a gem.

Stay with me. I was kind of apprehensive when first deciding to go. Sometimes I feel that food markets are not great because you don’t get to try a lot of foods either because it’s not a good bang for your buck or it’s so much food at each place that doesn’t allow you to eat more.

However!!!!! Queens Night Market knows how to run a market. Firstly, majority of dishes are 6 dollars or less. Secondly, the portion sizes are perfect. They are big enough to share and still ear from more venders. For example, you may get 3-4 dumplings. To me, that’s fine because I just want to taste and move on to something else. I left feeling satisfied. Third, they had adult beverages to purchase - beer, wines, cider.

Okay - let’s talk about what I ate. The corn fritters were incredible. They were crispy, had a nice balance of salty and sweet, and the sauce on top was delicious (described as a sweet soy sauce). Next, the Tibetan momos were delish. I forget which flavor we got but it was so flavorful that I think they all are good. My friend got chicken and shrimp wontons and said they were great. The papusa was the only meh thing I got. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t the best I ever had. It last some flavor. I would try a meat style one next time instead of just getting the cheese one. The chicken skewers were good! Had a nice bbq style sauce on them. The shredded beef plantain boat was out of this world. The salty sweet combo made it so delightful. I would 100000% get it again…first….so I can eat the whole thing. I wish the ratio of meat to plantain was better though. My friends said the sesame peanut noodles were good! I couldn’t leave without getting the soy sauce pan fried noodles. I saw them all over TikTok and knew I had to get them. I loved how thin they were. It didn’t make them feel like a heavy dish. The flavor was spot on. I will 1000% get them again in a different flavor. To finish on a sweet night, I for the twister cake cone. I like that the cone wasn’t not a traditional cone and more doughy but still firm. The coating was sweet but not overly sweet. The ice cream was good.

Overall, a successful adventure. I can’t...