Sunnyside Shines hosts Taste of Sunnyside kickoff event with popular restaurant crawl set to return Sunday

The Sunnyside Shines Business Improvement District (BID) held a kickoff event for the Taste of Sunnyside restaurant crawl Wednesday evening, with the popular annual event set to return for a 15th year this Sunday.

The 2025 Taste of Sunnyside features more than 65 local restaurants and establishments and will encourage participants to go door-to-door through the neighborhood and discover the strength of Sunnyside’s dining scene. The restaurant crawl runs from 1-7 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 12, with participants advised to check in at 40th Street or 46th Street underneath the elevated seven line on Queens Boulevard.

The kick-off event, held at indoor volleyball center QBK Sports at 41-20 39th St. on Oct. 8, heard from some of the restaurant owners who will be participating in Sunday’s Taste of Sunnyside, which will feature the largest ever number of participating businesses at 68.

Roughly 1,200 tickets have been sold for the sold-out event.

Sunnyside Shines Executive Director Dirk McCall de Palomá said Wednesday night that the event will feature roaming musicians to help get people “hyped” in addition to art shows in two different locations.

Sunnyside Shines hosts its annual Taste of Sunnyside Kickoff event at QBK Sports in Sunnyside on Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025. Photo by Paul Frangipane

He said local businesses will also be adding to the color of the afternoon by providing cultural performances outside their storefronts.

“This is the biggest day for the merchants of Sunnyside and we’re only trying to make it bigger and better and get people more attention, more clients, more sales. We want to supercharge sales. It’s incredibly important,” McCall de Palomá said Wednesday night.

McCall de Palomá argued that Sunnyside has the “best restaurants in all of Queens” and said Sunday’s restaurant crawls provides local residents with an opportunity to discover new hidden gems throughout the neighborhood. He said Sunday’s event would also give attendees an opportunity to meet the people behind the food.

“We have some of the best merchants, some of the best restaurant owners you’re ever going to meet in your entire life, people who are just out there, who are the front of their business, the face of their business, who are constantly giving back to the community,” McCall de Palomá continued.

Daniel Astudillo, owner of Empire Sandwich Shop, is participating in Taste of Sunnyside for a fourth year since opening in the neighborhood in 2022 and said Sunnyside’s culinary scene has grown significantly since he first opened.

He said the annual restaurant crawl provides restaurants with an opportunity to make an impression on potential new customers.

“I feel like most people are getting to know all the businesses in Sunnyside, which is great,” Astudillo said Wednesday night.

The Sconery owner Sheila Connolly, who will make her Taste of Sunnyside debut on Sunday, will be offering a variety of different scones and pies on Sunday.

Connolly, who has lived in Sunnyside for 30 years, started the business by selling scones at farmer’s markets before opening her first brick-and-mortar location at 39-39 47th Ave. this August.

She said she has fulfilled a lifelong dream by opening the store in Sunnyside.

“It’s something that I’ve always wanted to do,” Connolly said. “I just didn’t know if I’d be able to do it. I didn’t want to sink hundreds of thousands of dollars into a new space, so it really depended on finding the right space, finding the right neighborhood. And I knew that I had a great product.”

See below for a full list of Taste of Sunnyside participants