SUNNYSIDE — The neighborhood's annual Restaurant Week is back for its fourth year — and it's bigger than ever, organizers say.
Dozens of eateries in Sunnyside will offer three-course dinners for $25 starting Monday, with the promotion lasting a full seven days this year, compared to just five days in the past. With 30 restaurants participating, it will be the largest number yet.
"It's hopefully a way for people who live here to, you know, find their new neighborhood restaurant," said Rachel Thieme, head of the Sunnyside Shines Business Improvement District, which launched the event in 2013.
The neighborhood's dining scene has changed a lot since then, she says.
"I think what we're really seeing is Sunnyside really turning into an exciting food hub," Thieme said. "It's food that really reflects the diversity of the neighborhood, and of Queens."
Newcomers participating in Restaurant Week this year include Boon by Moldova, which opened this summer on 40th Street off Queens Boulevard and specializes in Moldovan and Romanian cuisine.
Its three-course menu will offer appetizers like herring with potatoes or cabbage salad, and entree options that include fried chicken liver, Moldovan sausages or beef shish kebab.
Other participants include Punda Tibetan Restaurant, a Himalayan eatery that opened last year by the acclaimed chef behind Jackson Heights' GangJon Kitchen, and Lowery Bar and Kitchen, a new gastropub that opened at 43rd Street and 43rd Avenue in June.
"It's such an exciting mix," Thieme said. "It really spans the globe."
This year's Restaurant Week will also feature a contest, in which diners who eat at three or more of the participating restaurants during the promotion can win a free dinner for four at the eatery of their choice, the equivalent of a $250 meal.
"What we're hoping to do is encourage people to dine out multiple times during the week," Thieme said, adding that they also hope to draw diners from other parts of the city.
Restaurant Week will run from Sept. 19 to 25, and dinner menus for each participating location can be found on the BID's website, with many restaurant's also offering lunch specials.
A kickoff party with live music and free hors d'ouevres will be held Monday at Los Verdes at 46-26 Greenpoint Ave. from 6 to 7 p.m., according to Thieme.
