FOX 5 NY

By Christal Young

It’s the 12th annual Harlem Restaurant Week. It encompasses restaurants from 96th Street to 155th Street, river to river.

To give you an idea of how much diversity you can find, one block in East Harlem has a Thai place, a Mexican place, a French Moroccan place and a barbecue.

“You can literally travel around the world in Harlem without living the neighborhood,” says Nikoa Evans-Hendricks, the director of Harlem Park to Park. “East, West and Central Harlem come together to showcase the international cuisine that we have available in Harlem, and the wonderful vibes and experiences you can have.”

At Bar Goyana, Brazil and Belgium are attached. Owner Jaqueline Quieroz created a bar that features Brazilian feijoada on one side, and chocolate mousse on the other. “It’s fabulous to be part of these initiatives that bring so many people to Harlem,” she says.

Around the corner, you’ll find Lexington Pizza Parlour, which feels like a hidden gem. Says owner Charles Devigne, “We like people from other neighborhoods finding out about all the exciting things that are happening here.”

And when your sweet tooth calls, let Harlem Baking Co. answer. Located inside the pizza parlour, it offers desserts in jars to take home.

“The area around Lexington and the lower 100s, we’ve got everything,” says Carey King, director of Uptown Grand Central. “As you can see, Italian, Brazilian, Thai, seafood, everything you could possibly want. And up around 116th Street, we’ve got one of the largest concentration of Mexican restaurants, which a lot of people don’t know about.”