You are reading

Afghan Restaurant to Open on Vernon Boulevard This Summer

Sami’s Kebab House, other location at 35-57 Crescent St. in Astoria (Photo: Facebook)

March 12, 2021 By Michael Dorgan 

The owners of an Afghan restaurant in Astoria plan to open a similar venue in Long Island City this summer.

The restaurant, which will be called Sami’s Kebab House, is slated to open at 47-38 Vernon Blvd. in August–where the now-shuttered Four Winters ice cream store was located. The restaurant will operate under the same name as their Astoria venue and offer Afghan dishes such as kebabs, stews, dumplings and meat plates.

Sami Zaman, who co-owns the business with his wife Sharifa and son Yusuf, said that it will be the family’s third restaurant. They opened their Astoria restaurant on Crescent Street in 2017 and a location in Glen Cove, Long Island, last year.

Four Winters location at 47-38 Vernon Blvd. where Sami’s Kebab House is slated to open in August

Zaman, who immigrated to the United States in 1988 from Afghanistan, said he has worked in the food industry since he arrived in the country.

He started off by selling food as a street vendor.

He said that his family is excited to open their third restaurant but they have much work to do.

The family will be overhauling the space that was occupied by Four Winters, an ice cream store, which closed in March 2020.

The family will be installing a new kitchen and a dining area that will seat around 20 people, he said.

There are no plans for sidewalk dining, given the narrow frontage.

The restaurant will be open Mondays through Sundays from 11 a.m. to midnight and will also offer takeout and delivery.

email the author: news@queenspost.com

One Comment

Click for Comments 

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

MTA opens three new modernized elevators at the Queens Plaza subway station in Long Island City

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced the opening of three new modernized elevators at the Queens Plaza E/M/R subway station in Long Island City earlier this month as part of a larger accessibility and safety upgrades throughout the transit system.

The work included a full replacement of the cab and equipment within the cab, shaft and pit, along with two new elevator head houses located at street level. Crews also made modifications to the shaft and pit as needed to allow for new equipment. The elevator machine room and electrical and mechanical equipment received replacements and other modernization efforts for reliability.

Queens Together launches ‘Unofficial US Open Dining Guide’ encouraging fans to sample restaurants along the 7 line

Aug. 20, 2025 By Shane O’Brien

The US Open returns to Flushing Meadows Corona Park this Sunday, with more than 1 million attendees anticipated to take mass transit to the iconic annual tennis event. With hundreds of thousands of fans set to take the 7 out to the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, there is a world of delicious local eateries lying beneath the elevated train tracks should any fan wish to stop en-route to the US Open.

Can Queens’ food scene thrive with both trucks and restaurants?

Aug. 19, 2025 By Jessica Militello

In Jackson Heights at 4 p.m. on a Thursday afternoon, Roosevelt Avenue is buzzing with energy as commuters file in and out of subway cars and onto the street and cars and trucks grapple to get down the busy road. The street is filled with rows of shops and restaurants, along with food carts, street vendors and food trucks along the avenue. The almost-but-not-quite the weekend lag leaves hungry commuters faced with another choice to make throughout their day and the array of food truck options in busy areas like Jackson Heights offers customers convenience and delicious food without breaking the bank, two features that can feel vital, particularly with rising costs of living and pressure from inflation.