Little Egypt in Astoria: A Vibrant Hub of Middle Eastern Culture

Nov 14, 2025 0

Tucked along Steinway Street in Astoria, Queens, between Astoria Boulevard and 28th Avenue, lies one of the city's most flavorful corridors, known as "Little Egypt." This vibrant neighborhood is home to long-standing Middle Eastern restaurants, fragrant coffee shops, and lively hookah lounges, offering a rich culinary and cultural experience.

Steinway Street in Astoria, the heart of Little Egypt.

A Glimpse into Little Egypt

The roots of Little Egypt trace back to 1987 when Kabab Cafe opened its doors as the first Arabic-Egyptian establishment in Queens. Since the 1960s, Egyptians have been arriving in the New York region for better lives, finding new homes in Astoria, Queens; Bay Ridge, Brooklyn; and Paterson, New Jersey.

Today, Astoria is a haven for cultural diversity. If you zoom in on Astoria and narrow down even deeper between Astoria Boulevard and 28th Avenue, you’ll find yourself in Little Egypt. The area now has one of New York’s strongest Middle Eastern communities.

While the title ‘Little Egypt’ may imply that the neighborhood has a strong sense of community, some residents may disagree. The neighborhood stands in solidarity on political issues, such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Walking down Astoria Boulevard, most restaurants hang Palestinian flags or signs supporting a ceasefire.

Culinary Delights of Little Egypt

Little Egypt is seeing a boom in restaurants serving Eastern Mediterranean cuisine in the two-block corridor of Steinway Street between Astoria Boulevard and 28th Avenue.

Exploring Astoria, Queens | Little Egypt, Museum of the Moving Image, Astoria Park | HAVA MEDIA

Here are some culinary highlights:

Duzan: A perfect place for delicious, no-frills authentic Middle Eastern dishes without breaking the bank. The Middle Eastern eatery serves dishes like beef lamb shawarma, French fries, and a shawarma mix bowl.
Kabab Cafe: A long-standing family-owned restaurant that serves Persian grille, Mediterranean, and Middle Eastern cuisine. The restaurant is particularly unique in that the chef, Ali El-Sayed, prepares and serves each dish while interacting with guests as he prepares their meals. "Anything that walks, curls, flies or flinches, I eat,” he said.
Levant: A neighborhood favorite that serves authentic Middle Eastern cuisine with a modern twist. Some of the restaurant’s favorites include its baklawa, mix grill platter, and chicken shawarma feteer.
Mokafe: A spacious cafe that serves halal sandwiches, coffee, tea, and pastries. Some of their favorites include pistachio croissants and avocado toast.
Qahwah House: Serves Yemeni-style coffee, such as Sana’ani and Qishr coffee, as well as espresso, cold brew, and tea.
Sabry’s: This local seafood gem serves favorites like BBQ Branzino Egyptian style, grilled calamari, shrimp scampi, and more.
Sands of Persia: An upscale lounge and restaurant with a glamorous atmosphere. It serves food, decadent desserts, and hookah, including dishes like its Persian Masala chicken sandwich, halal chicken wings, and special masala fries.

A variety of dishes from Levant in Astoria.

Cultural Landmarks and Experiences

Beyond its culinary offerings, Little Egypt boasts several cultural landmarks and experiences:

Al-Iman Mosque: A significant religious site in the Little Egypt neighborhood on Steinway Street.
El Khayam Cafe: The oldest Arab-owned business on Steinway St, owned by Gamal Dewidar, who arrived in New York with the first wave of immigrant Egyptians in 1979.
St Mary & St. Antonious Coptic Orthodox Church: One of the oldest Coptic Orthodox churches in North America and the first Coptic Orthodox parish in New York, founded in March 1972 in Ridgewood, Queens.

The Vision of Kabab Cafe

According to Ali El-Sayed, the chef/owner of Kabab Cafe, the focus of his restaurant isn’t just on serving Egyptian comfort food as it is to preserve the “intellectual prowess of ancient Egyptian civilization” for the Little Egypt community, and more broadly, New York City. When he started the restaurant in 1989, it was one of the first Egyptian-themed businesses to open on Steinway Street.

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The cafe is decorated with historical artifacts, ancient maps, pharaonic statuettes, including those of Nefertiti and Hatshepsut. Illustrations depict the grandeur of early Egyptian dynasties infused with blurbs of preserved Arabic manuscripts - some written by ancient historians.

Community and Social Dynamics

The rise of cafes has shifted gender dynamics in the area. Historically, the block has been very male-dominant. In 2023, Rana Abdelhamid opened Malikah, a local nonprofit that provides Muslim and SWANA women with self-defense training.

Abdelhamid hosted the first Muslim Women’s Tea Time at Mokafe - and it won’t be the last. “If you were a young Muslim woman or a young Egyptian woman growing up in the neighborhood, it was kind of stigmatized to be out in the neighborhood, honestly," said Abdelhamid.

Little Egypt: A Misnomer?

Yet the term “Little Egypt” is a misnomer as the neighborhood diversifies. Local business owners hail from Morocco, Yemen, Tunisia, Algeria, and Bangladesh. Their restaurants have established the neighborhood as a beacon to the tri-state Muslim community for World Cup watch parties, Ramadan iftars, and solidarity gatherings focused on Palestine and Israel.

Shop owners along the strip, as part of their daily rituals, take comfort in their shared practice of savoring sweet delicacies from the bakeries and shops. They engage in conversation during breaks, enshrouded in the fragrant swirls of fruit-flavored hookah, while sipping on spiced Moroccan tea in the shared street that connects the array of Arab-owned shops and restaurants.