Shauna Eats Sunnyside

Tropical Fruit at Smiley’s

Ah, the last hurrah of summertime…

Korean family-owned Smiley’s Fruits & Vegetables is wedged directly in the heart of Sunnyside fabulousness on archwayed 46th St. (b/w Queens Blvd. and Greenpoint Ave.), a strip that also contains a bank, a cigar shop, a beauty discount store, a 99-cent store, a pet shop blaring 70s rock music from overhead speakers near its sidewalk parrot dispay, a passport photo service, and an infamous chicken shack. The street, on weekends, is usually flooded with old heads chillin on park benches, vendors hocking the likes of educational workbooks, handmade jewelry, and churros, and occasionally, this guy playing drums across the street. The very embodiment of Queens livin’.

The sorbet lady parked on this block (it is sorbet she’s dipping, right?) wins popularity points for the sheer number of children—and apparently, old guys—she sends away on any given weekend smeared from cheek-to-cheek with brilliantly-hued fruit stickiness.

Smiley’s produce displays are colorful and abundant, and there’s usually a diverse stock of non-gnat-infested fruits and veggies on hand. Even just walking by and inspecting their wares (these pics were taken a few weeks ago) makes me feel better about not being paid enough to take that vaca in DR… no, not really.

I’d never seen a mamey in the flesh before, just on Colombian juice bar menus.

Spelling aside (um, “cactus pear”), these fuckers looked cheap and tasty.

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Smiley’s Fruits & Vegetables
45-20 46th Street (b/w Queens Blvd. and Greenpoint Ave.)
Sunnyside, NY 11104