Nestled in the vibrant neighborhood of Corona, Queens, La Espiga restaurant stands as a beacon of Mexican cuisine, where this family-owned establishment has been serving the community since 1992. Committed to authenticity, La Espiga offers a menu rich in traditional flavors and culinary heritage where many found home.

Tomas Gonzalez, one of the owners of La Espiga, came to New York City with his family in 1985 from Guerrero, Mexico with a desire to cook and keep his Mexican traditions alive. Despite running a successful business that he is planning to pass off to the next generation, the journey was not an easy one.¹ When first settling in NYC, Tomas and his family were living in the Bronx trying to sell churros. However, there was simply not enough demand and that is when he moved to Queens where his churros flourished. Eventually, his churro stand evolved into his restaurant now known today as La Espiga.

Today, La Espiga is dedicated to the Mexican flavor, often employing chefs who come from all parts of Mexico. Besides your usual well-known Mexican tacos, Tomas and his family wanted people from all over the world to truly know what Mexican cuisine was, including the seafood that Acapulco was known for, and by making all their tortillas by hand. In earlier years, Tomas would even package and sell his tortillas by the pound, a practice that he generally stopped over the years due to the restaurant’s growing popularity. As for his Pozole Blanco, his dedication to authenticity is displayed even more by using his own family recipe back from Guerrero.²

Being what it is, La Espiga has become a place of familiarity for the Mexican community as they get a taste of back home.

1. “Our Story,” La Espiga Restaurant, accessed April 1, 2025, https://www.laespigarestaurant.com/ ↩︎
2. Jared Cohee, “La Estancia de la Espiga: Barbacoa Pioneer,” Culinary Backstreets, February 4, 2020, https://culinarybackstreets.com/cities-category/queens/2020/la-estancia-de-la-espiga/ ↩︎