The weather turned, the tents went up, and Brooklyn’s greatest outdoor eating ritual is back at full strength. Here’s your field guide to Smorgasburg’s biggest season yet — plus the borough’s other open-air markets — with the new vendors worth building a Saturday around.
Quick Bites
- Smorgasburg is in its 16th season, running weekends April through October across four locations — Williamsburg (Saturdays), Prospect Park (Sundays), the World Trade Center/Oculus (Thursdays & Fridays), and Central Park (Thursday–Saturday).
- This year’s lineup tops 70 vendors, with a class of newcomers heavy on Colombian, Korean, Indian, and Caribbean cooking.
- New names to seek out: Rogers Burgers, Garoso Colombian Bakery, Pizzeria Fantastica, Madrina Vegana, and Bingsoo.
- Out in Queens, the Queens Night Market is back on Saturday nights with food capped at $5–$6 a plate.
Smorgasburg Is Bigger Than Ever
If you only do one food-market thing in New York this summer, make it Smorgasburg. Now in its 16th season, the open-air food bazaar has grown into a genuine four-location operation, and 2026 is one of its biggest lineups to date — more than 70 new and returning vendors slinging everything from Korean shaved ice to Mexico City–style tacos to Colombian asado.
Here’s where and when to find it:
- Williamsburg — Saturdays, 11 a.m.–6 p.m., at Marsha P. Johnson State Park, 90 Kent Ave, Brooklyn. (No pets.)
- Prospect Park — Sundays, 11 a.m.–6 p.m., at Breeze Hill (enter at Lincoln Road), Brooklyn. Running through October 25.
- World Trade Center — Thursdays & Fridays, at the Oculus, 185 Greenwich St, Manhattan.
- Central Park — Thursday through Saturday, noon–8 p.m., at 36 Central Park West, Manhattan.
The Williamsburg and Prospect Park flagships are the classic experience — sprawling, sun-soaked, and best attacked with a plan and an empty stomach. The Oculus and Central Park outposts are the move if you work in Manhattan and want the Smorgasburg hit on a weekday lunch break.
The New Vendors Worth a Special Trip
Nearly half of this season’s new arrivals are immigrant-founded or built on multigenerational family recipes, and it shows in the depth of the lineup. A few standouts to prioritize:
Rogers Burgers — A Flatbush-born smash burger operation fusing American patties with Caribbean flavors like pikliz, Creole spice, and jerk. Its Creole Burger has drawn praise from The New York Times and Grub Street. If you eat one thing, consider making it this.
Garoso Colombian Bakery — Colombian comfort food reimagined as street-ready bites: buñuelos rellenos, ajiaco, and bandeja paisa sliders. Playful, generous, and a great gateway if you’ve never explored Colombian cooking.
Pizzeria Fantastica — Wood-fired Neapolitan pizza from classically trained pizzaiolo Joseph Marazzo, built on long-fermented dough and a properly charred crust. One of the more serious slices you’ll find at any market.
Madrina Vegana — Award-winning, chef-led plant-based Mexican food from founder Erica Munoz, known for crispy tacos and boldly seasoned fillings that don’t read as compromise cooking.
Bingsoo — A New York–born Korean shaved ice concept serving ultra-fine, snow-like bingsu topped with fresh fruit. The single best way to cool down between savory stops.
Other newcomers to keep an eye out for include Tacos Taurinos (Mexico City–style tacos), Kolachi Rolls (Karachi-style Pakistani paratha rolls), Humos BBQ NY (live-fire fusion barbecue), Chenzi (Fuzhounese potato balls), and The Aborrajao (Colombian cheese-stuffed fried plantain).
Beyond Smorgasburg: The Queens Night Market
If your weekend skews later and your budget skews tighter, get yourself to the Queens Night Market, now in its 11th season behind the New York Hall of Science in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park (47-01 111th St, Corona). It runs Saturday nights, 4 p.m. to midnight, with the season split into two stretches — April 18 through August 22, then September 19 through October 31.
The pitch here is unbeatable: more than 100 vendors representing dozens of countries, with most food items capped at $5–$6. It’s the most affordable way in the city to eat your way around the world in a single evening. One logistics note — parking is scarce and the adjacent lot charges, so take the 7 train to 111th Street and walk south four blocks. (Heads up for June 6: with Governors Ball nearby, the adjacent lot has no parking at all, so public transit is the only sane option that night.)
How to Do a Market Day Right
A few hard-won tips. Go hungry but go smart: split everything with whoever you’re with so you can taste five or six vendors instead of filling up on two. Bring cash and a card — most vendors take both, but lines move faster with cash. Arrive early at the Brooklyn flagships; the best vendors draw real lines by midday. And build in a sweet stop at the end — a Bingsoo shaved ice or a Garoso pastry is the right way to close out a Smorgasburg afternoon.
The Bottom Line
Outdoor market season is the best deal in New York dining: world-class cooking, no reservations, and a genuinely communal way to spend a weekend afternoon. Smorgasburg’s 16th season is its most ambitious yet, and between the four locations and the Queens Night Market, there’s a tent with your name on it almost every day of the week. Come hungry.
All locations, dates, and hours verified against Smorgasburg, Prospect Park Alliance, and Queens Night Market official sources.
