Queens Together, a nonprofit restaurant association, was formed amid the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and its impact on this NYC borough’s food service industry. Throughout March 2023, the association is continuing to support the borough with a pilot program that will support local food relief initiatives.
The inaugural “Eats in Queens” will have more than 100 involved restaurants from across Queens involved in this dining discount initiative.
Interested diners can log onto this weblink and donate $25 or more to obtain a discount pass that can be applied toward placing orders at the participating restaurants. “Eats in Queens” will end on March 31.
Queens Together Executive Director Jonathan Forgash noted that the monthlong pilot program not only raises funds for supporting food relief but also supports these NYC restaurants during what’s known in the industry as a slow season.
“You can go to any of those participating restaurants, as many times as you’d like, and show them that the donation was [given],” said Forgash. “ We’ll take the discount off of your bill after the meal. And that’s it.”
Upon submitting their online donation, Forgash explained that donors will receive via email a digital pass from Stripe that they can show to the staff at the participating restaurant they’re dining at or ordering takeout from. Forgash added that the pass can be used multiple times and at all the restaurants involved with “Eats in Queens.”
The discount pass applies to a restaurant’s regular menu during their business hours. However, Forgash noted there are some restrictions with the pass. It cannot be applied toward dining promotions such as happy hour specials or orders through third-party delivery vendors.
“We want people to come in and spend their money in person,” added Forgash.
The restaurant list for “Eats in Queens” stretches up, down, and across Queens and represents places and cuisines as diverse as the borough’s population. They include the historic pub, Neir’s Tavern, in Woodhaven; the West African eatery, Nneji, in Astoria; the Mexican tamale shop Evelia’s in Corona; the Caribbean-Chinese bar and eatery, The Nest in Richmond; and Isan Thai focused Zaab Zaab in Elmhurst.
A full list can be seen here. Each restaurant has selected a specific amount for the discount that they offer through the program.
According to Forgash, after the promotion has ended, Queens Together plans to partly divide the proceeds among various community groups across Queens.
Founded in March 2020, Queens Together initially raised funds to pay Queens restaurants to provide meals amid the COVID pandemic related shutdown, and in particular given to frontline workers or people facing food insecurity. This is planned to continue with funding from “Eats in Queens” proceeds.
Forgash said currently this nonprofit organization supports nearly 400 associated restaurants throughout Queens by helping them in various business matters. They include translating and dispersing information from the Small Business Association into multiple languages. They’ve also hosted webinars such as one led by a restaurant owner who is an expert in accounting or connected businesses with legal services.
“We work with restaurants who don’t have any skills with Instagram or websites,” added Forgash. “We had a digital designer curate and create an Instagram page for a Sri Lankan restaurant in Jamaica, so they would have a digital presence. Because they were getting really good press but they had nowhere to show it.”
Community advocacy and support are also essential to Queens Together. For Thanksgiving 2022, the organization ran a food drive that Forgash said helped over 3,000 families.
For more information on Queens Together or “Eats in Queens,” visit this website.