Waheyo, opening at 27-16 Queens Plaza South, the former site of the Sun Thrift Shop
Nov. 14, 2017 By Nathaly Pesantez
A modern Mexican restaurant is heading to Long Island City into a small space in Queens Plaza.
Waheyo, the name of the restaurant, will be serving modern Mexican-inspired dishes at 27-16 Queens Plaza. The spot, just off the Queensboro Bridge, was formerly occupied by the thrift store Sun Thrift Shop.
The eatery will offer a breakfast, lunch, and dinner menu, with staple items including tacos, burritos, quesadillas, guacamole based dishes, and other “comfort foods”, according to Willy Quinones, the owner of the forthcoming restaurant with 31 years of experience in the industry.
The mural painting inside Waheyo at 27-16 Queens Plaza South. (Photo courtesy of Samuel Hagag, the muralist)
While the menu, priced between $3 and $10 for main meals, will be largely based on Mexican dishes, a blend of items from other Latin American countries will be available, like mofongo cups, a fried-plantain dish from the Caribbean. A guacamole bar is also expected at the restaurant.
A menu of frozen cocktails and beers, served from mid-afternoon through the day, is also planned for the restaurant.
At a modest 800-square-feet, the restaurant has room for 16 chairs. There will be no bar, save for a blender that will prepare the frozen drinks.
The restaurant, which will also offer delivery within the area, is set to open 7 days a week, and will likely have an early 6 a.m. start. It’s expected to run no later than 2 a.m., a time put forth by Community Board 2’s City Services and Public Safety Committee on Nov. 8.
Waheyo, the English phonetic pronunciation, with a slight twist, of the guajillo chilli pepper, has been in the works for the past five months. “I’ve set my eyes on the area for quite some time,” Quinones said, noting the influx of development in Long Island City when he used to work on Borden Avenue.
The restaurant hopes to open its doors next month.
Waheyo, opening at 27-16 Queens Plaza South
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9 Comments
Welcome !!! WAHEYO Mexican restaurant !!! A Comer Bueno se a Dicho yummyyyy
Great cute little place to grab a quick bite and drinks after work or a quick date. food is good vibe and energy is good great people running this establishment .
Ate at Waheyo this afternoon for lunch, food was very tasty, true Mexican food for an affordable price, I highly recommend it. Will love to find out who built it.
I have owned my own home and lived here 37 years and I have yet to eat really authentic Mexican, Chinese, French or even Italian food. Growing up in Manhattan we had hundreds of choices of great and reasonably priced authentic food….even back in the 1950’s. Great Mexican, Pakistani and Chinese food were favorites of my Irish mom.
One wonderful treasure here is Cannelle patisserie on Fifth Street in Hunters Point. It is truly the BEST French bakery and Pastry shop in ANY part of NYC. The Mexican place on Northern Blvd and steinway serves fake tourist Mexican food….the drinks are large and fun, but the food is just gross mush. That seems to be the norm.
The Italian food I have experienced here is mostly red sauce cliches. Most of the Italian restaurants around here offer muck, with glue like sauces…quantity over quality. No one eats like that in Italy. To eat in Rome, one is served smaller portions with very delicately prepared, extremely fresh food.
If Cannelle can be so wildly successful and they surely are, without trying to “Americanize” their fares, then why cannot other restaurants in LIC offer more refined and authentic food? Afterall the population living in Hunters Point is a very highly educated, well traveled, even international group.
The same people who bitch about bicycle lanes are the same ones who resent improvement or any change…even though we continue to need better amenities, like more authentic restaurants.
Diner food is NOT enough.
One establishment that offers very nice simple but excellant Bar food is Dutch Kills Centraal in the Dutch Kills section of LIC. And they too are busy every night.
Glad to see things opening on Queens Plaza here and wish then lots of success but it’s a bit crazy to think we’ll now have 3 Mexican restaurants here, Momento’s, Gordo’s and is this place. Also, a Dunkin’ Donuts on either side!
Well alright welcome yes! 3 to 10 bucks sounds great!
Oh great another place for HIPSTERS to get overpriced food. More proof that DumBlasio is in the pocket of Big Tacos. What kind of fatcat can afford $3–$10 for main meals?
These prices are caused by the evil greedy luxury condo developers that don’t care about the low-income families in LIC. So I vote for them for president.
When are you starting your Presidential campaign MRLIC? What’s the name of the Super PAC to which I should make my check out?
do you on food stamps? $3-10 is a deal.