Café Shangrila, a new Nepalese and Himalayan fusion café offering a variety of traditional breakfast and lunch options, has opened its doors on Queens Boulevard.
The restaurant, opened by Suraj Malla and former Newa Chhe co-owner Kunchok Sherpa, celebrated its grand opening at 42-15 Queens Blvd. on Monday, Oct. 20, at the site of the former Zio Luigi Ristorante in Sunnyside, which had been left vacant for several years.
The new location, which celebrated its soft opening ahead of the annual Taste of Sunnyside on Oct. 12, promises to bring authentic Himalayan cuisine to the neighborhood, including momos; thukpa, a traditional Tibetan noodle soup; keema noodles, a popular Nepalese noodle dish; pulao rice, a popular one-pot rice dish; and an array of chillies.
Café Shangrila will open from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. daily and will primarily offer breakfast, lunch and early dinner options, including a traditional “Himalayan breakfast” consisting of a deep-fried bread called puri, scrambled eggs and chickpeas.
Sherpa said the new restaurant will accommodate guests with different levels of spice tolerance, while Mulla forecasted that the café will bring “Himalayan heat” to the neighborhood.
“We will bring Himalayan heat to the city streets and are very eager for you to visit and check out our menu,” Mulla said.
The recent Taste of Sunnyside restaurant crawl provided the new business with an excellent opportunity to meet potential new customers, Mulla added.
“It was so amazing,” Mulla said, stating that the restaurant offered traditional lentil pancakes called bara during the crawl. “We served more than 500 people and everyone had a good response.”
Sherpa, who co-owned Nepalese restaurant Newa Chhe prior to its closure in May this year, said the new restaurant represents a shift toward cuisine from the Himalayan region.
“It’s not just specific to one culture,” Sherpa said.
Dirk McCall de Palomá, executive director of the Sunnyside Shines Business Improvement District, described Monday’s grand opening as “huge” for Sunnyside, stating the Café Shangrila is reactivating a space that has long been vacant on Queens Boulevard.
“Café Shangrila participated in the Taste of Sunnyside and was a huge hit among attendees who delighted in the flavors and the ambiance of the new space,” McCall de Palomá said in a statement.
Elected officials also welcomed the new restaurant, describing it as a “wonderful addition” to the community.
U.S. Rep. Nydia Velázquez said Café Shangrila is representative of the diversity of Sunnyside’s small business community, adding that she looked forward to stopping by in the future.
“Café Shangrila will be a wonderful addition to the community, and I look forward to stopping by to enjoy their Himalayan flavors,” Velázquez said in a statement.
Council Member Julie Won said the new restaurant is further evidence that Sunnyside is a “melting pot” of global flavors.
“A special thank you to Sunnyside Shines for continuing to support local business owners and helping them thrive in our district,” Won said in a statement. “We are thrilled to be their local partners in the city government. I wish the team many years of success.”
State Sen. Mike Gianaris said Café Shangrila is a “fantastic addition” to the neighborhood, while Assembly Member Claire Valdez said the location bolsters Sunnyside’s “diverse and delicious” food scene.
“To dine out in Sunnyside is to take a culinary trip around the world,” Valdez said in a statement.
Anatole Ashraf, chair of Queens Community Board 2, said the restaurant would bring “rich Nepalese food” to the neighborhood.
“One of Sunnyside’s greatest features is its diversity of cuisine. I am excited for Café Shangrila to bring even more rich Nepalese food to the neighborhood,” Ashraf said in a statement.
