You know that dream you always have about discovering a separate wing of your apartment and you wonder, Why do I never hang out here? That’s how I feel about the stretch of Steinway between 30th Ave and Astoria Blvd. It is opposite the direction of the subway and, as a result, I never go there.
Well, I used to never go there. Now I will go there more than a probably should, specifically to hang out at Papa’s Empanadas, the greatest empanada shop on Earth.
With 40 or so styles of Empanadas (we *almost* got the Elvis Empanada, banana and peanut butter) there’ll be plenty of excuses to go back.
I had a pollo, pernil (chopped, marinated pork) and a Hawaiian Empanada featuring melted cheese, ham and pineapple. Ann had a beef and an Athenian Empanada featuring spinach and feta. They’re like a buck or a buck and a quarter a piece.
Empanadas don’t really photograph well, but here are some shots. The owner also gave us free rice pudding.
Is that right across from the mosque? I, too, never went near that part of Steinway … until I found out about the branch of the NY Sports Club at the end of your block. So now I head down that stretch of Steinway to get to the gym on the weekend. You have that heavily Islamic area for a few blocks — the mosque, the hookah/smoke shop cafes, the middle-eastern geared restaurants and delis. Looks like Papa’s is right in the middle of all that. Makes for a stange walk every week — especially if it’s right after afternoon prayers leave out.
But I’ll say this — that part of Steinway is vastly preferable to the few blocks of commercial zone around and south of 30th … which remind me of any crowded Walmart in rural America, i.e., not some place you’d ever want to hang out, unless you’re looking for the right gold chain the best accesorizes your sweat pants.
When do we get the Pita Pan write-up?
It is a little further south from the big Mosque, across the street.
The intersection of Steinway and Broadway is, yes, a very interesting place for anthropological studies. Especially at night near the Fashion Cafe, which is a Eurotrash Techno bar, the doorway to which is a giant 35mm camera lens.
Pita Pan is pretty good, except they put too much rosemary on everything.