One of the first questions I get from buyers seriously considering Forest Hills isn’t about square footage or maintenance fees. It’s simpler than that: “What’s the food scene like?”
The honest answer is that Austin Street punches well above its weight. For a neighborhood commercial strip serving a largely residential community in Queens, the dining and café scene here is genuinely excellent — diverse, independent-minded, and surprisingly deep. I’ve been walking these blocks since 2007, and what exists today is noticeably better than what was here when we arrived. New spots have opened, the quality bar has risen, and a few fixtures have become neighborhood institutions in their own right.
This is my personal guide to the best of it in 2025. Not a ranked list from an algorithm. Not a compilation of Yelp aggregates. Just what I know from nearly two decades of living here, eating here, and recommending these spots to every buyer who asks.
☕ The Coffee Shops
Coffee Shot
107-06 71st Rd, Forest Hills, NY 11375 📞 (347) 561-4315 🌐 coffeeshotny.com 🕐 Mon–Sun: 8:00 AM – 7:00 PM
If I had to send someone to one coffee shop that captures what Forest Hills has become — neighborhood-spirited, quality-conscious, genuinely welcoming — it would be Coffee Shot.
Just off Austin Street on 71st Road, this relatively new addition to the neighborhood has quickly become a community staple. The interior is clean and modern with black-and-white décor that feels intentional rather than corporate, and the outdoor seating makes it one of the better spots in the area for people-watching on a warm afternoon. The coffee is excellent — proper espresso drinks made with care, specialty lattes that rotate with the seasons, and a matcha with lavender that regulars order on autopilot.
What sets Coffee Shot apart is the food program. The pastries are made fresh, the sandwiches are built on housemade bread, and on any given morning you might find a caprese panini that’s significantly better than it has any right to be at a neighborhood café. The owners are hands-on and know their regulars — a quality that matters more than people admit when choosing where to start their day.
Best for: Morning coffee with a real breakfast, laptop work sessions, weekend brunch before hitting Austin Street.
Azal Coffee
107-27 71st Ave, Forest Hills, NY 11375 🌐 azalcoffeeusa.com 🕐 Open daily — check website for current hours
Forest Hills has always been a diverse neighborhood, and Azal Coffee is a beautiful expression of that diversity on the coffee front. Serving authentic Yemeni and Arabic coffee just steps from the 71st Avenue subway station, Azal brings a coffee tradition that most New Yorkers simply haven’t encountered — and once you try it, you’ll understand why it’s been the subject of excitement among neighbors since it opened.
The signature Yemeni coffee — made from beans sourced directly and roasted using traditional methods — is something genuinely different from the standard Italian espresso drinks that dominate the city’s café scene. Complex, aromatic, and served with Middle Eastern hospitality that makes you feel like a guest rather than a transaction, Azal is the kind of discovery that makes you glad you live in a neighborhood where the world shows up.
The specialty drink menu — featuring options like a Dubai Chocolate latte and strawberry matcha — has drawn lines of curious newcomers. The pastries and breakfast items round out a menu that works whether you want a five-minute grab-and-go or a long sit-down morning.
Best for: Coffee adventurers, anyone curious about Middle Eastern coffee culture, remote work in a warm and welcoming space.
Gregorys Coffee
107-28 71st Ave, Forest Hills, NY 11375 🌐 gregoryscoffee.com 📞 See website for current location details 🕐 Check website for hours
A well-regarded New York City chain with strong local presence, Gregorys Coffee on 71st Avenue serves the neighborhood’s commuter crowd with efficiency and consistency. The house drip — known internally as the Gregs House — is a reliable, smooth cup that earns regulars who don’t want to think too hard before their train.
The seasonal specials, including a pumpkin spice latte that manages to feel less clichéd than the competition, and a cappuccino program that outperforms most chains in the city, make this a genuinely useful option for coffee drinkers who want quality without the small-batch ceremony.
It’s not the most characterful spot on the strip, but it’s consistently good, well-located, and exactly what it promises to be.
Best for: Pre-commute coffee, a reliable fallback when you need something fast and consistently good.
🍽️ The Restaurants
Agora Taverna — Best for a Proper Dinner
70-09 Austin St, Forest Hills, NY 11375 📞 (718) 793-7300 🌐 agora-taverna.com 📸 Instagram: @agorataverna.foresthills 🕐 Weekdays: 11:30 AM – 10:00 PM | Weekends: 10:30 AM – 10:30 PM
There is a short list of Forest Hills restaurants I take visiting friends to when I want to prove the neighborhood’s dining scene deserves genuine respect. Agora Taverna is always on it.
Established in 2011, this family-owned Greek seafood restaurant at the heart of Austin Street has become one of the most consistently excellent dining destinations in Queens — not just on this street, but in the borough. The focus is on fresh, locally sourced seafood and produce interpreted through traditional Greek recipes, and the kitchen executes on that promise with rare consistency.
The grilled octopus here is remarkable — tender, perfectly charred, and worth whatever you paid to get here. The branzino is one of the better whole fish preparations in the neighborhood. The lamb shank falls apart the way it’s supposed to. And the mezze spread — hummus, fresh bread in olive oil, dolmades — makes the wait for a main course feel like less of a sacrifice.
The room is bright and welcoming, the service is genuinely warm in the way that family-run restaurants often are, and the outdoor seating during warmer months turns a dinner into an event. This is a date-night restaurant, a special occasion restaurant, and a Tuesday-for-no-reason restaurant simultaneously.
Don’t miss: The grilled octopus, branzino, and any of the daily fresh fish specials.
Cabana — Best for a Party Atmosphere
107-10 70th Rd, Forest Hills, NY 11375 📞 (718) 263-3600 🌐 cabanarestaurant.com 🕐 Mon–Sun: 11:30 AM – 11:00 PM
Cabana has been serving Nuevo Latino cuisine in Forest Hills since 1995, which in restaurant years is roughly the equivalent of a neighborhood institution. Nearly three decades of mojitos, churrasco, and skirt steak have earned it a loyalty that newer arrivals sometimes underestimate.
The room has a particular energy — neon-lit, colorful, unabashedly loud on a busy weekend night — that isn’t for everyone but is precisely right for what Cabana is. It’s a party restaurant in the best sense: a place where you go to have a genuinely good time, eat food that is bold and satisfying, and drink cocktails that are stronger than they have any right to be.
The Parrillada — a mixed grill platter of steak, spicy sausage, and sweet plantains — is the order if you’re undecided. The ceviche mixto is excellent and travels well as a starter. The red snapper, a longtime favorite of regulars, has its own devoted following. And the mojitos, which reviewers have reliably called “rocket fuel” for thirty years, remain exactly that.
Just under 25 indoor seats means the space fills fast on weekend evenings — arrive early, especially if you don’t have a reservation.
Don’t miss: The Parrillada mixed grill, ceviche mixto, and the house mojito.
Spy C Cuisine — Best for Sichuan Food
72-06 Austin St, Forest Hills, NY 11375 📞 (718) 263-0357 🌐 spyc7206.com 🕐 Mon–Thu: 11:30 AM – 10:00 PM | Fri: 11:30 AM – 10:30 PM | Sat: 12:00 PM – 10:30 PM | Sun: 12:00 PM – 10:00 PM
The Infatuation, New York’s most respected restaurant guide, called Spy C Cuisine the best Chinese food in Forest Hills and compared it favorably to top Sichuan spots across the entire city. That assessment is not an exaggeration.
In a neighborhood that has historically been underserved by serious Chinese cooking, Spy C fills the gap with a menu that is thoughtful, authentic, and considerably more ambitious than the standard neighborhood Chinese takeout it has nothing in common with. The kitchen specializes in the bold, layered flavors of Sichuan cooking — chili oil, Sichuan peppercorns, fermented black bean, cumin — and deploys them with confidence.
The smashed eggplant in chili oil is silky and addictive. The cumin lamb is assertively spiced and fragrant in a way that keeps you going back for one more bite. The beef noodle soup is a deeply satisfying bowl that earns its reputation. The fish simmered with soft tofu and chilis builds heat gradually and expertly — this is one of those dishes you find yourself thinking about a week later.
Note that the heat indicators on the menu are accurate — three chilis means genuinely spicy. The room is calm and unpretentious, with murals of flowering trees that contrast pleasantly with the intensity of the food. Service is efficient and friendly.
Don’t miss: The smashed eggplant, cumin lamb, fish with tofu and chilis, and the lunch specials for excellent value.
Forest Hills Station House — Best Bar and Pub
106-11 71st Ave, Forest Hills, NY 11375 📞 (718) 544-5000 🌐 fhstationhouse.com 📸 Instagram: @fhstationhouse 🕐 Mon–Wed: 12:00 PM – 12:00 AM | Thu: 12:00 PM – 1:00 AM | Fri–Sat: 12:00 PM – 2:00 AM | Sun: 12:00 PM – 12:00 AM 🍺 Happy Hour: Mon–Wed, 12:00 PM – 6:00 PM
The Station House has been the neighborhood’s premier bar since 2013, and it has maintained that status by doing what good bars do: staying genuinely good at everything it promises.
Located steps from the LIRR platform and two blocks from the subway, it’s the logical first stop after stepping off the train and the last stop before catching it. The craft beer program runs fifteen rotating taps and a well-curated bottle list. The whiskey collection — over 100 options — satisfies everyone from the casual bourbon drinker to the serious rye enthusiast. The cocktails are genuinely creative: the smoked old fashioned with a rosemary stem is one of the better drinks in the neighborhood.
The food goes well beyond standard bar fare. Short rib kimchi empanadas, truffle fries, skirt steak, buttermilk fried chicken, brunch brisket hash — the kitchen treats the menu with the same seriousness as the bar program. Weekend brunch is busy for a reason.
The barn-wood interior is warm and inviting, the outdoor patio extends the season considerably, and the staff manages the balance between efficient and friendly that busy neighborhood bars so often get wrong.
Don’t miss: The smoked old fashioned, the short rib kimchi empanadas, and weekend brunch.
(aged.) Steakhouse — Best for a Special Occasion
Near the intersection of Austin Street and 70th Road, Forest Hills, NY 11375 🌐 agednyc.com 🕐 Check website for current hours — open for brunch, lunch, and dinner
Founded in 2009, (aged.) Steakhouse has been the neighborhood’s go-to destination for a proper celebratory meal for over fifteen years. The specialty is exactly what the name promises: expertly prepared steaks — filets, ribeyes, a well-regarded porterhouse — with the precision and sourcing that the format demands.
The brunch program, which has developed a loyal following separate from the dinner service, offers a creative weekend menu that shifts the experience considerably from the steak-focused dinner. The signature burger appears on both menus and has its own devoted fanbase. The seafood options — branzino, salmon, crab cakes — provide a genuine alternative for non-steak eaters at a table of mixed preferences.
The room is handsome and comfortable, making it a reliable choice for the kind of occasions — birthdays, closings, anniversaries — that Forest Hills residents want to mark with a good meal.
Don’t miss: The filet, the porterhouse, and the signature truffle burger.
The Street as a Whole
What I find most remarkable about Austin Street in 2025 is not any single restaurant or café but the cumulative effect of the whole. Within a few walkable blocks you can find serious Sichuan cooking, a thirty-year-old Latin institution, a Greek seafood restaurant that belongs in any serious conversation about Queens dining, an excellent independent café, and one of the neighborhood’s best bars. That range — that genuine diversity of quality options across styles and price points — is relatively rare in residential neighborhood corridors anywhere in New York City.
It’s one of the things I tell every buyer who asks about life in Forest Hills. The food situation is genuinely good. Not good for a quiet Queens neighborhood. Just good.
Come see for yourself. And if you have questions about the neighborhood — the housing market, the schools, the parks, or what block is best to live on — I’m happy to talk about all of it. That’s what I’m here for.
Always call ahead or check directly with each restaurant for the most current hours, as schedules change seasonally. All addresses and phone numbers were verified at time of publication.
Frederic Sandy Licensed Real Estate Broker & Owner, Orion Homes Realty 📍 87-23 69th Ave, Forest Hills, NY 11375 📞 (718) 825-1940 🌐 orionhomesrealty.com
Thinking about buying or selling in Forest Hills? Reach out — I’d love to help you find your place in this neighborhood.
