If you’ve spent any time eating out in New York, you’ve heard the familiar refrain. “If you want good Thai food, you’ve got to go to Queens.” Korean barbecue? Queens. Tibetan momos, Uzbekistani shish kebabs, and authentic Chinese street food from an insular, little-known province? Yep, Queens. According to recent Census figures, nearly half the residents of that most sprawling, polyglot borough weren’t born on these shores. What this means, aside from being an Arizonan’s worst nightmare, is that Queens is home to New York’s largest Peruvian, Indian, Filipino, and Colombian populations—to name just a few. There are plenty more statistics we could toss around, but we’d rather talk food. In search of the unique and the delicious, we cruised Roosevelt Avenue and Northern Boulevard, traversed Broadway from Astoria to Elmhurst, and spent so much time pounding the Flushing pavement we considered booking a room at the Sheraton LaGuardia East. The sad if gut-busting and eye-opening truth: We only scratched the proverbial surface. You could spend a year—a lifetime, really—exploring the ever-evolving culinary landscape of Queens. Consider this an appetizer. read more [+]