By Ashirah Newton
For over five years, York College has lacked a permanent cafeteria. As a public service to students, staff, and faculty, Pandora’s Box is sharing a list of our favorite nearby restaurants. This guide is for students looking to explore more food options beyond what York College offers—while staying within budget and close to campus for a delicious and satisfying meal during their lunch break.
Beijing Dumpling House, 88-38 Sutphin Blvd, Jamaica, NY 11435
Faisal Anwar via Google Maps
The Beijing Dumpling House is a perfect place for those who prefer Chinese cuisine on their lunch break. This restaurant serves a wide array of Chinese dumplings (i.e., chive, mushroom, and pork flavored), pancakes, Dan Dan mein noodles and wontons with spicy sauce and much more.
Their beverage selection includes bubble tea in the milk tea, honey black tea, or magic mocha variety, smoothies: passion fruit, strawberry, and peach. Plus they serve Pepsi, Sprite, Fanta, and Snapple.
Delicias Caleñas, 94-18 Sutphin Blvd, Jamaica, NY 11435
Jim Ryan via Google Maps
Delicias Caleñas is a casual bakery and restaurant that offers Colombian comfort foods for breakfast and lunch, whether you are looking to grab a quick bite or treat yourself to a delicious meal of Latin American origin when you enter this restaurant.
Menu selections include Huevos al Gusto con arroz (scrambled eggs with white rice) or Arepa con queso (Corn cake and cheese) can be eaten for breakfast, and Ensalada Pollo (Chicken salad) or Pechuga a la Plancha (Grilled chicken breast served with rice, salad and fried plantains) can be eaten for lunch or dinner.
To get a full experience of what the restaurant entails culturally, there are beverages like Soda Postobon Lata, an apple-flavored Colombian soda or Hit Lulo, a drink made from lulo pulp, which is a small acidic tropical fruit from Colombia. If you do not want that, you have a variety of other beverages to choose from at this restaurant: water, Gatorade, and regular American sodas like Canada Dry.
Jamaica Market, 90-40 160th St, Jamaica, NY 11432
Sledge Williams via Google Maps
Jamaica Market is a dining hall that when you enter the establishment, you will notice an array of mini businesses relating to cuisines and beverages you can indulge in.
At Ash’s Cafe you can order a drink from an assortment of coffee beverages, which is beneficial if you are a student who needs a coffee fix or a little pick-me-up before class to get through the day.
One of the places where you can receive a hearty meal for lunch is Bella Lulu’s. This is an Italian American restaurant where you can order Fioretti Bosciaola, Seafood Lucia, green salads, desserts and many more dishes where you are receiving a mix of different meats and vegetables providing a healthy meal experience.
Another place where you can receive a variety of flavors and ingredients from the provided dishes is New Sakura Japan. This establishment is run by a husband and wife who specialize in Hibachi Cuisine, where Japanese cuisine is cooked on a grill while you wait for your order. Which spans from Chicken Teriyaki, Shrimp Teriyaki and Vegetable Delight but there are other dishes you can also savor on the menu.
If you are craving genuine Central American food, Miranda’s Pupuseria is the place to be. It is a Salvadoran restaurant that serves pupusas, tortillas, tamales, along with soups of beef and chicken flavor. For drinks, there are dozens, but to name a few, you can buy Horchata, Tamarindo and many more Central American beverages, or you can have a regular Coca-Cola or Snapple alongside your order.
The number of food options that you can get at this special place is not limited to these four spots. Overall, Jamaica Market is a good place to be if you want to eat varied dishes from
multiple cultures while also being able to buy cosmetics like makeup, and accessories such as purses and jewelry from non-restaurant businesses in this establishment before or after having taken a bite to eat.
Margherita Pizza, 16304 Jamaica Ave, Jamaica, NY 11433
zo maq via Google Maps
Margherita Pizza is a restaurant offering different variations of pizza to its customers. In the form of straightforward slices and whole pies which can be ordered plain, or with beef pepperoni, broccoli, black olives, or spinach toppings. You can even order hero sandwiches and hotdogs if you are not up for the main course.
You can also savor these meals with Pepsi, Sprite, Red Bull and other beverages available. This is a place that is good for students who are looking to relax and/or hang out with friends while fulfilling their cravings with non-heavy meals.
Smile of the Beyond, 8614 Parsons Blvd, Jamaica, NY 11432
John Choe via Google Maps
The Smile of the Beyond is a diner that has offered vegetarian-style breakfast and lunch since it opened in 1972. It is currently run by the former students of late spiritual leader, poet and philosopher Sri Chinmoy (1931-2007) who was originally from what is now Bangladesh. He lived just half a mile from the restaurant and had considerable influence on the landscape of this eatery, encouraging his followers to eat a vegetarian diet as he believed it increased spiritual growth.
This diner offers an array of vegan options. Such as egg and scrambled dishes, omelets inspired by diverse cultures (including the Mediterranean), the choice to make one of your own, and several types of sandwiches. To go with this, you can choose to drink fresh juices, smoothies, or vegan milkshakes.
Sybil’s Bakery & Restaurant, 159-24 Hillside Ave., Jamaica, NY 11432 Sybil’s
Sherwayne Morrison via Google Maps
A family-owned restaurant that has been serving classic cuisine from Guyanese and Jamaican cultures for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks since 1976. At this restaurant there are many varieties of freshly baked bread, rolls and buns you can eat if you are a fan of Caribbean baked goods.
This ranges from Guyanese plait bread, pan bread, tennis rolls, butter flaps, white eye buns, and more made with simple premium ingredients using traditional Guyanese techniques. If you want to experience added flavor to your baked goods, you have the choice of ordering Halal chicken and beef along with pine, guava, coconut, and other fillings set inside a delicious crust. Along with Guyanese and Jamaican patties, pine tarts, guava tarts, Chinese (black) cakes, cheese rolls, currant rolls, and more.
You can choose from a variety of drinks to make your Caribbean food experience complete. Which includes but is not limited to, Carrot Juice, Guyana Soda, Peanut Punch and Sorrel.
Beijing Dumpling House
(718) 297-2935
Delicias Caleñas
(718) 206-2262
http://www.deliciascalenas.com/
Jamaica Market
718-291-0282
info@gjdc.org
Margherita Pizza
(718) 657-5780
Smile of the Beyond
(718) 739-7453
Sybil’s Bakery & Restaurant
(718) 297-2359
