If you love great barbecue, you need to be here. This is such a wonderful event . Award winning…read morebarbecue pit masters come to NYC from all over the country. This Big Apple BBQ Party takes place all around Madison Square Park, so as you walk around the circumference of the park, you have fabulous BBQ to enjoy. Madison Square Park is a few blocks long, at Madison Ave & 23rd Street to 26th, thru Fifth Ave, but you will usually also find more BBQ on Madison & 27-28th Streets. So there is A WHOLE LOTTA BBQ-ING GOIN' ON...and it is some of THE ABSOLUTE BEST BBQ. This year, I had some of the most delicious baby back ribs from MEMPHIS RIB CO of Mississippi (MS). Fall off the bone , perfectly WONDERFUL, ribs. That sauce...OMG, fantastic, with a perfect sweetness. THESE WERE PERFECT!! (Emoji with heart eyes) Next year, I want these delicious ribs again!! If you are planning to visit NYC, and you're a foodie, I suggest you plan your visit around the Big Apple BBQ. Check the dates on THAT WEBSITE. It is always on a weekend. I believe it is usually in JUNE. I want to attend next year, for sure! Last year was great & all the other years that I was able to attend--they were all great. My point is, this is ALWAYS A GREAT TASTING BBQ. So, try to attend, you'll be glad you did . AND--There is GREAT LIVE MUSIC, TOO!!! Free live music. Please check out the big Apple bbq website for more info. This is a fun, happy, yummy event & you should be there if you love great food & great live music. Mark your calendar....now, for next year...so you don't forget.

Absolutely delicious food from many great vendors. Definitely an experience that you shouldn't miss…read morewhen you are in NYC

Hester Nights is a super chill place to go for dinner on a Thursday night, especially when the…read moreweather is warm out. The overall feel of the place is like a giant happy hour venue, mostly due to the fact that there's a brick-and-mortar joint (whose name I can't remember right now) serving drinks. There's music playing and lights hanging in the trees. Eventi Plaza also has tons of seats and ledges to sit on, so no need to worry about finding somewhere to sit. The vendors change every week, so it's hard to say what'll be good. When I was there, I tried: 1) Khao Man Gai - If you've ever had Hainanese chicken rice, this is bascially what they serve ($8 for a platter). The guy gave us free samples as we stopped to see what it was, and after tasting it we were like, "OMG let's get this." The chicken was served on a bed of rice with some cucumber slices, and a side of some very salty soup (for sipping between bites) and a container of what tasted like semi-spicy fish sauce. It was good - probably my favorite of the night. They were also selling different types of Thai teas for $3 each. 2) Randalls BBQ - Got a pulled pork sandwich from here ($10). It was all right. 3) The Deviant Chef - Out of all the vendors that night, I thought they had the most intriguing menu - interesting sandwiches like kalbi, curry chicken, etc, served on your choice of bread/bun and sauces ($8 per sammie). We got a kalbi with Asian slaw sammie on brioche, which was pretty good, though it took a while to make. 4) Minnie's Bake Shop - Their cakes caught my eye - tiny double-layer cakes in 5 or 6 different flavors. For bite-size cakes, they were very expensive ($3 each!) but the red velvet one I got was so delicious. Totally recommended as a small dessert to finish off dinner. As with a lot of other street fairs of this kind, the food can get pretty expensive, but it's fun to go with a friend or two to try some of the different vendors!

A food festival plopped right in the middle of the city. For those of you who have been, like a…read moresmaller version of Madison Square Eats. Behind on the hotel in an open seated area, every Thursday this summer from 5-10PM. The crowd is mostly people trickling in after a long day of work. They have a great beer selection inside and even serve some really tasty sounding cocktails. As for the bites, Little Muenster's three crostinis for $9 was a bit too pricey for me to order again, but you get a variety of three (recipes I will be stealing, like combining cheese with grapes) and the ingredients are top notch. The empanada spot had small refried empanadas that weren't bad, but not really exciting either. My favorite was inside where they have a kitchen and grill. They had a variety of burgers and dogs, but I went for the seafood station. I ordered an Oyster Po'boy for $9 and they gave me a beeper to alert me when my order was ready. It was packed with at least 5-6 large fried oysters and topped with mayonnaise. I also saw people walking around with platters of fish and chips. With the better equipment inside, this was churning out better food than what I saw from the stands.

Today Jen and I went to the 9th Avenue Food Festival. This was my first time in many years that I…read morewas attending. The sun shone brightly and it was hot. Jen had a watermelon juice and I drank a Horchata which was the first time I had it. Both refreshing and delicious. $7. The majority of the food stalls were Mexican and Caribbean. We both had the peril empanadas which was stuffed with meat so for $5 it was a steal. Jen took a kielbasa and I had a single cheese burger from 5 Napkin Burger. The meat patty was tasty but the bun was cold. Lots of restaurants had set up open air seating or table grab and go. We walked all the way from 42nd to 57th Street. From what I remember this festival used to be chock a block with lots of food stalls. Nonetheless, we enjoyed ourselves. Port a Johns were at every block which made it convenient for those who drank a lot. Music at some food stalls was lively and who can resist shaking one's hips to the stellar music from Michael Jackson?

Every plate that comes from this kitchen impresses. I was impressed when I didn't expect to be. The…read morerestaurant shows its character through its food. The team was friendly, accommodating, and explicit. 9th Avenue Food Festival staff shows sincere friendliness.

I've been going to the original location of the dead rabbit for jingle jangle for years now and…read morewhen I heard they opened up this semi permanent pop-up, I knew I had to come! Definitely worth a visit, great drinks, amazing food with an even better view. I would definitely look into renting one of the little cabins outside. They're heated & right off of the Ice-skating rink that they put up for winter! Definitely get the chicken pot pie dish that they have. I have been dreaming about it since I left left, so comforting and absolutely del

Fantastic experience on the rooftop cabin here - it was so beautiful! The drinks and food were…read moregreat; only complaint is that the hot drinks came in a paper cup, I wish it was presented prettier like the other cocktails - perhaps in a mug?

This year was the 100th year celebration Feast of San Gennaro!!!…read moreA feast that I anticipate coming at the end of summer. This is definitely not a festival you want to attend if you're watching your figure! The Italian food is next level! This year I had baked, stuffed clams from Umberto's! They were absolutely delicious, loved the fresh lemon that came along with the clams. Definitely check out their restaurant! Never was a clam person until tasting baked, stuffed clam. Not sure what they were stuffed with, had a couple of glasses of Pinot, memory was foggy! Ended up with several cannoli's, and my adorable friend bought a cronut, not sure from where. We shared so we could kind of watch our greediness! After over eating, over drinking, plain over indulgence, we crawled up Houston, and found our way to Spring St in SoHo to a no name, watering hole that does not have a name for me to Yelp.

Been here a few years over the past 10!…read more Positives + ability to try different things if you come in a group as the fair stretches 5+ blocks + try $13 Lucy's sausage and peppers on hero! Reasonable and solid. Not too salty or oily! + best to try as a 1 time thing! Not as fun after a while with the crowds and prices Negatives - There is a lot more AI slop posters this year unfortunately - prices are super high for some items (ie: $9 arepa con queso, $20 per pound for torrone (italian nougat), $10 for 3 small meatballs) - floors are super dirty and gets crowded on weekends - some places have stale items so its hard to determine which are the better ones - many of the stalls have similar items

I attended this huge street fair this year in 2026 and had a great time. The weather was…read moreexceptionally hot but we still walked up and down the fair from start to finish. It was very crowded but we were able to walk around and check out the local vendors. They had some local entertainment for the children and adults. There was every type of food you can imagine. We opted for a Mexican restaurant (Fatty Daddy) so we could sit down and eat in the AC, lol. I bought some little "Brooklyn" souvenirs and some sweets. I actually enjoyed this fair better than "Atlantic Antic" because it wasn't overly crowded. Definitely something I would check out again.

I typically hate NYC street fairs, but the Fifth Avenue lived up to its name!…read more Unlike some other fairs, where it's all the same sausage and peppers on every block, the Fifth Ave Fair puts a big emphasis on local businesses, with most of the food options coming from those storefronts! There was also a live band, lots of random stuff to buy (mostly jewelry and clothes). I set up station by the Letter of Marque Theater space and watched/participated in some awesome soundpainting and improv performances! Go support them! Also devoured a ton of pizza, and had more than a few beers from Nunu Chocolates. I love drinking in public! The fair also extended pretty far down! From almost Flatbush all the way down to the numbered streets!

This was my first time attending the Chile Pepper Festival and it ended up bring one of the best…read morelive music shows I've seen all summer! The festival occurring beforehand in the beautiful Brooklyn Botanical Gardens really made this one of the best festivals I've been to in years too. This year was different from events past in that they kept the garden open late, until 8pm. They also had four New Orleans legends of music play an incredible two hour set. We marched in second line fashion to the stage, led by costumed stilt walkers, where we got to see John Papa Gros, Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, Walter Wolfman Washington, and Irma Thomas. Any one of these performers on their own is a master, but together they were an amazing force of energy and talent and got the crowd up and moving. All ages too, it was so incredible to see little kids jamming out with their parents because Wolfman played the guitar with his tongue! Along with these main acts, the festival had at least three other live musical acts playing throughout the day: The Garvin Blake Ensemble (Trinidadian steel drummers), Buyu Ambroise & The Blues in Red Band (Haitian jazz), and the Plezi Rara Band. There were also live cooking demos from the chef at Lowerline, the phenomenal Cajun restaurant located nearby, a how to make your own hot sauce demo, a pepper tour of peppers from around the world in the herb garden, kid focused activities with free peppers to take home in the discovery garden, a pepper eating contest, farmers markets selling peppers, and cultural exchange booths to learn more about the communities represented in the neighborhood and at the festival. I think the only area that needed improvement were the lack of access to food and beer. I didn't eat or drink anything (besides some samples) because there was only one tent to get these things from and it was both overwhelmed with a long line and didn't have a great selection. I would have loved to see local restaurants serving up their own food instead! I would eat before coming, and bring a refillable water bottle (there are water refill stations). There was a LOT going on, and it was done extremely well, without being too crowded, on a beautiful day. Serious kudos to BBG for making this an amazing farewell to the summer season! Also, with seven musical acts to support, the price of the ticket was extremely reasonable at $30. For a nine hour event that managed to include epic live music acts not usually seen in this city, educational talks and tours, cultural exchanges, AND a ton of delicious hot sauce and condiment vendors - this was an amazing experience and well worth the price of admission.

it was my first time here, and I throughly enjoyed it! I loved that they separated the hot salty…read moreand sweet side into its individual section. I liked the different chocolate vendors they had which ranged from chili ice cream to Mexican hot sweets! My favorites were the chocolate bar vendors like Taza and Cacao Prieto. They were nice and informative about the chocolates they made and were generous with their samples. I also liked New Yorkina's offering which had a range of Mexican goodies. I eventually snagged a chili/sugar lollipop for $3. I was pretty satisfied with all of the samples I had so wasnt even deterred by the lack of food trucks or offerrings there. Def would recommend going! I also went through the garden which was a plus afterwards! so beautiful!

Rib King NYC was such a whole vibe! Industry City was the perfect backdrop for a day full of BBQ…read moregreatness, and every vendor pulled up with their A+ game. The ribs? DELICIOUS. Fall-off-the-bone, saucy, smoky, sweet, spicy--whatever your rib style, it was there and it was hitting. The energy was high, the cocktails were flowing, and the weather came through. It honestly felt like the kickoff to a perfect NYC summer. Already looking forward to doing it all again next year. If you love BBQ, music, and good vibes, put this on your radar ASAP!

It was my first time at the Rib King festival and it was a fun. On a slightly cold day, I headed…read moreover the VIP entrance and saw a long line (12pm, open and 1pm open to general public ticket holders). You check in and collect your (dried) beans, then off you go. There were multi lines of people trying different booths... but the general consensus was one continuous line starting on the right side and it eventually turns/curves to the left side. If you don't want something from a certain booth, you can skip and move on (hence the multi-lines but that looks like skipping lines)... so I usually just step slightly to the side but still on line- allowing those behind me to get closer to the booth I'm not interested in. There were many different vendors proudly showcasing their booths and most have some awards on display from previous festivals. Looks cool! If you love their ribs and wish to vote, you drop a bean in their pile. It is an all inclusive eating/drinking festival once you are inside. At a suggestion of a friend ("bring tupperware") and seeing multiple people bringing service trays (easier to carry more food to sample), I brought a large disposable aluminum pan to hold all the food I collected. I wanted to feast at the same time rather than just standing in line- but that did mean some food got cold. That's alright with me. It was getting crowded and more so, once they open to general public ticket holders at 1pm. I was in there roughly from 12:09pm to 1:15pm because of the long lines. I only went back twice to 1 booth and they turn out to the winner! I visited every food booth and sampled 1 beverage booth. Food was delish! I'm glad I also brought my "outside food festival gear"- zip lock bags of utensils, plates, napkins and gloves. I use the gloves to rip the meats off the bones and ate (no dirty sauce hands) at a table on the side (outside the festival gate). Also thank you Mike's Hot Honey! There was a swag bag of shirt, hat, free hot honey and stuff. There were bags of chips but I didnt get them