Queens / Long Island City
Long Island City
Restaurants
The only Michelin star in Queens, four waterfront rooms, and one that lost its star in 2023.
Court Square Diner is open right now — it is open every hour of every day.
- 15 verified restaurants
- 1 Michelin star in Queens
- 4 waterfront rooms
- one open 24/7
Looking for a drink deal instead? → Long Island City happy hours
The best restaurants in Long Island City right now are Meju, which holds the only Michelin star in the borough of Queens, Hupo, which holds the neighborhood’s only current Bib Gourmand, and SHI and American Brass on the waterfront. This is a food page. Drink deals and happy hour windows live on our Long Island City happy hour guide instead. Two things to get straight before you book anything. Casa Enrique is not a Michelin-starred restaurant. It held a star from 2014 to 2022 and lost it as of 2023 — its own homepage still advertises the star, and so does most of the coverage. And the waterfront is four rooms sharing one view: they all look at the same skyline from the same block of Center Boulevard, so the only real question is what each charges for it. We answer that below. Every venue was checked against its own website in August 2026.
The short version
- The starMeju — the only Michelin-starred restaurant in Queens. Eight seats, four nights.
- Best valueHupo — a current Bib Gourmand for modern Sichuan, open from noon.
- Best view for the moneySHI — same river as the other three, priced like a neighborhood restaurant.
- Every price publishedBeebe’s — margherita $19, burger $21. You can budget the evening before you leave.
- The correctionCasa Enrique is not Michelin-starred. It held one 2014–2022 and lost it. Its own homepage still says otherwise.
At a glance
Strongest first within each group. Tap a number on the map to place it.
| Restaurant | What to order | Days | Hours | $ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meju | Korean fermentation tasting · one Michelin star | Wed–Sat | 6:30–9:45pm | $$$ |
| Hupo | Modern Sichuan · current Bib Gourmand | Daily | from 12pm | $$$ |
| Casa Enrique | Chiapas Mexican · brunch $13–$25 | Daily | 5–10:15pm, weekends from 11am | $$$ |
| Tournesol | Old-school French bistro · weekend brunch | Daily | 11:30am–3pm, 5:30–10:30pm | $$$ |
| SHI | Pan-Asian · one menu, no service gap | Daily | 12:45–9:45pm | $$$ |
| Maiella | Pastas $28–$38 · Restaurant Week 3-course $45 | Daily | 5–10pm, weekend lunch | $$$ |
| American Brass | New American · 100 outdoor seats on the water | Daily | brunch 11am, dinner 5pm | $$$ |
| Blend on the Water | Latin fusion · daily brunch 11am–3pm | Daily | 11am–3pm, 5–10:30pm | $$$ |
| Takumen | Japanese izakaya and ramen · daily lunch | Daily | 11:30am–3:45pm, 5:30–9:30pm | $$$ |
| Westville Long Island City | Market vegetables · brunch Sat–Sun 10am–4pm | Daily | 11:30am–10pm | $$$ |
| Cafe Henri | French café · crepes, breakfast from 8:30am | Daily | 8:30am–3:45pm, 4–11pm | $$$ |
| Cyclo | Banh mi and pho · French baguette | Daily | 12–3:30pm, 5–9:30pm | $$$ |
| Beebe’s | Margherita $19 · burger $21 · bolognese $28 | Daily | 8am–10pm | $$$ |
| Yumpling | Taiwanese dumplings and rice boxes | Tue–Sun | 11:30am–8pm | $$$ |
| Court Square Diner | Diner, all day breakfast · open 24 hours | Daily | 24 hours | $$$ |
Map: where these 15 restaurants are
Most of this is walkable from the 7 at Vernon-Jackson or the E/M/G at Court Square. Beebe’s is the outlier — that one is up in Dutch Kills, a real walk from the water.
Pins are numbered to match the table above – tap any pin for directions.
The four worth booking
The only Michelin star in Queens, the only current Bib Gourmand in the neighborhood, and two rooms that were here first. For the wider list see our best restaurants in NYC guide.
Meju Open now
The only Michelin-starred restaurant in the borough of Queens, which is a sentence worth sitting with. Meju is a Korean fermentation tasting counter with eight seats, four nights a week, tucked behind the Little Banchan Shop on 49th Avenue. It publishes no price on its own site and this guide will not print the figure circulating elsewhere. The honest caveat is simply the arithmetic: eight seats times four nights is thirty-two covers a week in a city of eight million. This is a reservation-or-nothing restaurant, and there is no walk-in version of it. Book the moment the calendar opens.
mejunyc.com · See our best tasting menus in NYC
Hupo
The affordable half of Long Island City’s Michelin recognition, and the more useful one: Hupo holds a Bib Gourmand in the current 2025 guide, cooking modern Sichuan across two rooms, and it opens at noon. Between this and Meju, those are the only two live Michelin distinctions in the neighborhood — a fact that matters given how many guides still hand one to a restaurant up the road that lost it in 2023. The honest caveat is data rather than dining: Hupo’s own site publishes only “closes at 10pm” and no day-by-day schedule, so this page gives it no live open sign. Call before a late table.
hupo.nyc · See our best Chinese restaurants in NYC
Casa Enrique Open now
Read this before you read anyone else on Casa Enrique, including Casa Enrique. It is not a Michelin-starred restaurant. It held a star from 2014 to 2022 and lost it as of 2023, and Michelin’s own writing now says plainly that Meju is the only starred restaurant in Queens. The restaurant’s own homepage still advertises “Michelin Rated” and six stars in six years, and most guides repeat it uncorrected. What is true: Cosme Aguilar has been cooking Chiapas food on this block for over a decade and it is still the warmest room in Hunters Point. Brunch runs $13 to $25 and is the value. No weekday lunch.
casaenriquelic.com · See our best Mexican restaurants in NYC
Tournesol Open now
On Vernon Boulevard since before anyone was calling this a neighborhood, and it still does the thing a bistro is supposed to do: be open, be reliable, be there on a Tuesday. Lunch Tuesday to Friday, brunch both weekend days, dinner every night to half ten. No prices published. The honest caveat is small and specific and catches people every time: there is no lunch on Monday. Monday is dinner only, from 5:30, which is the one day of the week you would assume a French bistro was serving at noon.
The waterfront, and which views are worth paying for
Four rooms on Center Boulevard share one East River and one skyline. They do not share a price list, and that is the whole decision.
SHI Open now
Of the four waterfront rooms on Center Boulevard, this is the one to send someone to, and the reason is pricing rather than the view — all four have the same East River and the same Manhattan skyline. SHI is priced like a neighborhood restaurant instead of a destination, and it runs one menu from 12:45 in the afternoon straight through, with no gap between lunch and dinner, which none of the others manage. Pan-Asian, sushi and Sichuan. Two caveats: it publishes no prices, and the 12:45 opening is genuinely odd and catches people out by three quarters of an hour.
Maiella Open now
The best view in Long Island City, straight, no argument: you are directly beneath the Pepsi sign with the whole skyline off the terrace. It is also the most expensive room here, and the published prices tell you what you are actually buying — $21 calamari, pastas $28 to $38, mains up to $165. Those are Manhattan numbers charged in Queens for the privilege of looking at Manhattan. The kitchen is competent and the view is real, so this is not a warning, it is a framing. The local move is the $45 Restaurant Week three-course, which is the honest way in. Note its own hours and OpenTable’s disagree; trust the restaurant.
American Brass Open now
The kitchen the other three waterfront rooms should be measured against, in the space that used to be Riverview, with something like a hundred outdoor seats facing Manhattan and Gantry Plaza. The move here is weekend brunch, eleven to a quarter to three, when you get the terrace and the water without the evening machinery. That machinery is the caveat: dinner runs on a seating-time model and the midweek last seating is 8:45pm, which is a lot of structure for what most people think of as a relaxed waterfront evening. No prices published, and its own site and OpenTable disagree on the ZIP.
americanbrasslic.com · See our best brunch in NYC
Blend on the Water Open now
Real patio, real river, real skyline — and this is the one where the view is doing most of the work. That is not a reason to avoid it, it is a reason to go at the right time and order accordingly. The daily brunch, eleven to three, is the honest version: you get the water, the patio and a Latin-leaning menu without paying dinner prices for the same square footage. It also runs a notably long weekday happy hour, which is on our Long Island City happy hour guide rather than this one. The caveat: a dead two hours between three and five, which catches people wandering over from Gantry Plaza mid-afternoon.
Lunch and all-day
Where to eat at noon, and at four in the afternoon when the waterfront is shut between services. More in our best lunch in NYC guide.
Takumen Open now
The most reliable lunch in Hunters Point: eleven-thirty to a quarter to four, seven days, which nothing else on this page matches. Japanese izakaya food and ramen, plus a coffee bar, in a room that works equally well for one person at the counter and six at a table. No prices published on their own site. One data note worth knowing because it affects when you turn up: OpenTable lists different hours — noon to three — and the restaurant’s own site says 11:30 to 3:45. This guide uses the restaurant’s. If you are cutting it fine at 3:30, that difference is the whole question.
Westville Long Island City Open now
Open continuously from half eleven to ten, seven days, with weekend brunch from ten — which makes it the answer at four in the afternoon when the waterfront rooms are shut between services. The vegetable sides are the reason to come: a plate of four of them is a better dinner than most entrees in this neighborhood. Now the honest part, and a guide that will not say it is not worth reading: this is the eleventh Westville. It is reliable rather than distinctive, and if you have eaten at one you have eaten at this one. That is a fair trade for the hours. No prices published.
Cafe Henri Open now
The earliest proper opening in Hunters Point at half eight, doing crepes and a French cafe menu, and it is the room this neighborhood defaults to for a weekend morning. It is also cheap by the standards of everything else on Center Boulevard, four blocks away. The caveat is a trap and it is worth stating flatly: there is no dinner on Sunday. The room is packed at noon on a Sunday and completely dark at seven the same evening, which is exactly the sort of thing that ruins a plan. Every other night it runs to eleven.
cafehenrilic.com · See our best breakfast in NYC
Cyclo Open now
The banh mi is the order, and the reason is the bread — a crusty French baguette rather than the soft supermarket thing most places settle for, which is the whole difference between a good banh mi and a sandwich. Pho too. It is cheap, it is a short walk from the 7 at Vernon-Jackson, and it publishes no prices, which is the only frustration. The honest caveat is the schedule shape: Monday to Friday there is a hard shutdown from 3:30 to 5, but Saturday and Sunday it runs straight through from noon. So the weekend is when this becomes a mid-afternoon option and the weekday is when it does not.
cyclolic.com · See our best cheap eats in NYC
Cheap, quick and around the clock
Counter food, published prices and a diner that never closes. See also our best cheap eats in NYC guide.
Beebe’s Open now
The best-documented menu in Long Island City, and after a page of restaurants that publish nothing, that is worth something on its own. Margherita $19, roni $21, the burger $21, pappardelle bolognese $28, skirt steak $40, eggs any style $14. You can plan an evening here to the dollar before you leave the house. Thin-crust New York pizza and Italian, from eight in the morning to ten at night, with weekend brunch eleven to three. The honest caveat is geography: this is Dutch Kills, up by the Boro Hotel, a genuine walk from Vernon Boulevard and nowhere near the water. Know that before you set off.
beebesnyc.com · See our best pizza in NYC
Yumpling Open now
Started as a truck, ended up on Vernon Boulevard, and is still the cheapest good lunch in Hunters Point. Taiwanese dumplings and rice boxes from a counter with minimal seating, so treat this as takeout with the option of a stool. Two caveats and they are both about the clock: it closes at eight, which is early enough that it does not really function as dinner, and it is dark on Mondays. Get it at one in the afternoon and eat it in Gantry Plaza with the skyline, which is free and better than paying for the same view four blocks west.
yumpling.com · See our best cheap eats in NYC
Court Square Diner Open now
Open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, in a chrome railcar under the Court Square subway — and the only restaurant on this page that is serving at four in the morning. That is the recommendation. Be honest about what it is: this is a diner, and you are here for the hours, the room and the all-day breakfast rather than for cooking that will change your week. It publishes no prices. But at 3am on a Sunday after everything on Center Boulevard has been dark for five hours, there is no competition and the eggs are fine.
courtsquarediner.com · See our best breakfast in NYC
Union Square restaurants: FAQ
What are the best restaurants in Long Island City?
Meju at 5-28 49th Ave holds the only Michelin star in Queens — an eight-seat Korean fermentation counter open Wednesday to Saturday. Hupo at 10-07 50th Ave has a current Bib Gourmand for modern Sichuan. On the water, SHI at 47-20 Center Blvd is the best value and American Brass at 2-01 50th Ave the most food-forward. Tournesol on Vernon Blvd is the long-running French bistro.
Is Casa Enrique still Michelin-starred?
No. Casa Enrique held a Michelin star from 2014 to 2022 and lost it as of 2023. Michelin’s own coverage states that Meju is the only Michelin-starred restaurant in Queens. Casa Enrique’s own homepage still advertises "Michelin Rated" and six stars in six years, which is where most of the error comes from. It is still a very good Chiapas restaurant at 5-48 49th Ave — just not a starred one.
Which Long Island City restaurants have a Manhattan skyline view?
Four, all on Center Boulevard at Gantry Plaza State Park: Maiella at 46-10, Blend on the Water at 45-40, SHI at 47-20 and American Brass at 2-01 50th Ave. They share the same river and the same skyline. Maiella has the best sightline, directly under the Pepsi sign, and the highest prices. SHI is the best value. Restaurants further inland that claim skyline views generally do not have them.
Where can I eat lunch in Long Island City?
Takumen at 5-50 50th Ave serves lunch 11:30am to 3:45pm seven days, the most reliable window in the neighborhood. Westville on Hunter St runs straight through from 11:30am with no service gap. Cyclo does banh mi and pho from noon. Cafe Henri opens at 8:30am. Court Square Diner is open 24 hours a day.
Which Long Island City restaurants have closed?
M. Wells Steakhouse closed at the end of 2024 after 14 years. Mu Ramen, Alobar, Bella Via, John Brown Smokehouse and Sage General Store have all closed. Adda left LIC and reopened in the East Village. Corner Bistro’s LIC branch closed in 2020. Riverview closed and the space is now American Brass. Piatto is listed as permanently closed but still appears in current waterfront roundups.
Last updated: August 2026. Menus, prices and hours change – confirm with the restaurant before you go. Spot something out of date? Let us know.
