"The economy changed and peoples' buying habits changed and unfortunately, we're I guess a sign of the times," Robert Last told the Queens Ledger in March, explaining why Fantasy Interiors would close. His family opened the home decor and drapery shop in 1951. Its blue and white storefront at 30-32 Steinway Street was one of the corridor's longest-running retail names, and Last said he would keep selling custom drapery from the workshop upstairs.

What came to Steinway over the next seven months was dinner, not more retail. Six new food businesses have opened along the street since August. Three of them sit between 30th and 34th Avenues, the stretch where the borough has funded decorative lighting to make the street feel safer and busier after dark. That lighting is still at the announced stage. The restaurants are already serving.

Six Openings Since August

Give Me Astoria's monthly dining roundups and a QNS report together list six Steinway Street newcomers between early August and mid-October 2026. In Queens addresses, the hyphenated prefix follows the nearest cross avenue, so reading these from north to south walks you down the corridor.

Namkeen is the most established brand on the list. It started as one restaurant in Chatham, New Jersey, and now has locations in New Jersey, New York, Georgia and Canada. The Astoria shop is its second in New York. "We're looking forward to becoming part of the Astoria community," CEO TJ Jiwan said in Give Me Astoria's October roundup. At the other end of the corridor, Ugly Chicken co-founders Razib Hasan and Sazzad Hossain told QNS that their house-made flour and water-based H2O fryers give a crispier result.

Two of the six are Thai restaurants that appeared in back-to-back monthly roundups: Thai'Niyom at 30-78 in September and Krua at 32-47 in October. They are roughly two avenue blocks from each other.

The Coffee Went Elsewhere

Steinway's six newcomers have one thing in common. Each one serves a sit-down or takeout meal. Astoria's other new openings from the same roundups look different.

• Nook Coffee, 33-10 31st Avenue, a minimalist café pitched to remote workers and students
• BirchBuilt Beanery, 30-08 37th Street, espresso, teas and pastries
• Truffle & Co., 25-38 Astoria Boulevard, a casual café
• Pho Astoria, 31-16 Broadway, banh mi and pho
• The Corner House Kitchen & Bar, 34-02 Broadway, cocktails and shareable plates

Every new café in these roundups opened off Steinway, on 31st Avenue, 37th Street or Astoria Boulevard. Broadway got a pho shop and a cocktail bar. The newest morning coffee spot on Steinway itself is Meadow Desserts at 31-12. It started as a ghost kitchen and held its grand opening weekend in late March 2025, according to QNS. Boathouse Rooftop came to 32-72 Steinway in fall 2025, taking over the former Luna Asian Bistro space. Counting those two, 31st Avenue to 34th Avenue on Steinway now holds a dessert café, a rooftop, a Mexican restaurant, a Thai restaurant and a fried chicken counter, all opened within about eighteen months.

The Blocks the Lighting Money Targets

In October 2025, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards stood on Steinway between 30th and 31st Avenues and announced $1 million for decorative street lighting and raised versions of three mid-block crosswalks. The money covers the stretch from 30th to 34th Avenues. QNS reported that locals described that block as especially dark at night.

Marie Torniali, executive director of the Steinway Astoria Partnership, the corridor's business improvement district, had gone to Richards two years earlier about declining foot traffic on the street. "We have several vacancies here on Steinway and we believe that improved lighting can be a factor here in the evening and can encourage more people to open up shops," she said at the announcement. DOT design work was to follow, and Richards said installation should take no more than 18 months. The plan sits alongside a larger $12 million city redesign of Steinway announced in 2023. That plan calls for mid-block curb extensions and new public spaces, including green space at the Landmark Clock and at Municipal Parking Lot #2. Both projects are still in the announced stage, with no public construction date.

Thai'Niyom at 30-78, Agave31 at 31-15 and Krua at 32-47 all sit inside the 30th-to-34th lighting zone, and Ugly Chicken at 34-23 is just past it. The BID hoped the lighting would draw new businesses that depend on the evening. Torniali spoke of "shops," and the newest arrivals on those blocks are restaurants, which do much of their business at dinner, the hours the lighting is meant to help.

Retail Hasn't Left Entirely

Retail still has a place here. JD Sports listed an Astoria Steinway Street store among its May 2026 openings, and its store locator now places it at 3101 Steinway Street, across from Meadow Desserts. The BID's Steinway Street Festival on August 9 filled 28th to 34th Avenues with more than 500 vendors, according to QNS. For one Saturday the street was a shopping corridor again.

Steinway also now meets a redesigned 31st Avenue. DOT finished Phase I of that redesign, from Vernon Boulevard to Steinway Street, in summer 2025. It added a two-way protected bike lane, more pedestrian space and shared-street features that support the 31st Avenue Open Street. DOT's May 2026 Phase II proposal carries the work east from Steinway to 51st Street, and city officials told QNS they expected it to begin later this year. The corner of Steinway and 31st Avenue, where Agave31 and Meadow Desserts face each other, sits where those two projects meet.

Two Late-October Evenings on Steinway

The new openings make for an easy evening on a few blocks, and the next two weekends have neighborhood events nearby.

1. Start at 30-78 or 32-47. Thai'Niyom and Krua are both on the lighting-zone blocks. Comparing them on back-to-back nights is the simplest way to try the new Steinway.
2. Cross at 31st Avenue. Agave31 has margaritas and mezcal at 31-15. Meadow Desserts is across the street at 31-12 if you'd rather have dessert.
3. Go north for seafood. Morjan Seafood at 25-40 has whole branzino and red snapper on its pick-your-fish menu. Namkeen is a few doors down at 25-21.

The fifth annual Ditmars Boulevard Halloween Parade and Block Party is Saturday, October 24. That morning, NYRR's free Open Run meets at Astoria Park from 8:45 to 11 a.m. next to the track comfort station. On Sunday, October 25, Central Astoria's Batty Over Halloween runs from 1 to 4:30 p.m. in Astoria Park. Torniali also leads the Central Astoria Local Development Corporation, so Steinway's business district and the park's Halloween event share leadership. The Astoria Farmers Market lists October 25 as its next date and closes for the season November 8. On Halloween, Socrates Sculpture Park at 32-01 Vernon Boulevard holds its Halloween Harvest Festival from noon to 5 p.m.

Further ahead, the Queens World First Amendment Film and Arts Festival runs November 13 and 14, with events at Sac's Place, the Museum of the Moving Image and Kaufman Astoria Studios, per QNS. More on the neighborhood's corridors is on our Astoria neighborhood page.

If you own on or near Steinway and want to understand how a changing corridor shows up in your building's day-to-day value, Lauren Schaffer is glad to walk the blocks with you and talk it through. Schedule a personalized consultation.