I Love Paraguay

This restaurant is my home away from home. Anytime I step in Queens, I make sure to stop at I Love Paraguay, especially on Tuesdays for their Vori Vori chicken soup which is delightful! The Sopa Paraguayas and Mbejus are just like those back in Paraguay, I can close my eyes at every bite and be transported back. The staff is always welcoming. I absolutely love this little gem and hope one opens in Manhattan soon!

I personally go for the chipa guazu. All else is a bonus! Like other reviewers said sometimes they run out of things but the authenticity of the food is spot on and you can’t really go wrong with anything in the menu! Love the alfajores too!

It was my first time experiencing Paraguayan cuisine… And it was sooo delicious!!! Honestly, it just exceeded all my expectations

I was worried they might be out of some of the specialties like another review mentioned and unfortunately they were. It doesn’t seem like it was an isolated event. Of the 7 or so dishes listed under Paraguayan specialties they only had two remaining– the Mbeyu and Sopa Paraguaya. While they were both excellent it was very disappointing to not be able to try so much of the menu– they were out of many of the empanadas as well.
We ordered a few dishes from the normal entrée section of the menu which were ok. They were overall very bland, especially the breaded chicken. If you can get the specialties they are good but it’s not worth a special trip out to Sunnyside since they are most likely out.

Excellent Paraguayan restaurant.
1) I got 3 dishes from «Paraguayan traditional» section of the menu.
2) I got chipa guazu, payagua mascada, and cheesy corn flatbread.
3) Ambiance is nice.

LA comida es exelente y El servicio maravilloso definitivamente regresare todos Los platillos son una delicia

Oh my yum. My childhood best friend is Paraguayan so I was spoiled with their delicious food from a very young age. Their alfajores and chipa take my taste buds back in time and make me smile from ear to ear. All of their empanadas are amazing and what I love most is that they are not overly greasy. The soups are hearty and there are different soups for each day of the week.

Great food and great people. Really like the environment, and the food is also good. Good selection of some basic Paraguayan groceries that are hard to find also. Looking forward to trying out the new branch in bayside when I can get out there.

A Paraguayan restaurant in Sunnyside? Count us in!
My enthusiasm fizzled out when we learned that I Love Paraguay was basically out of the majority of its menu, including the entire traditional dishes section which was one lure for me. The waitress said they didn’t anticipate as many people as they had prepared for. Since we were already there and seated, I decided to just forge ahead.
Because my pickings were slim, and at the waitress’s suggestion, I ordered the popularv sandwich de lomito «I Love Paraguay» which was a steak sandwich with cheese, a fried egg, lettuce, and tomato. Fries came as a side. The fries were standard issue. The sandwich was pretty good but I couldn’t help wondering what other fare I could have been consuming.
Fun fact: I didn’t know what lomito meant, so I just consulted Google. It looks like a lomito is a South American sandwich, popular in Chile and Paraguay. There may not be a standard lomito, but it appears that steak and cheese and runny eggs are popular components.
I did also get a palmito empanada with hearts of palm and it was super cheesy and yummy.
The space is pretty home-​like and casual, with soccer on the TVs, and guests seeming like regulars. The servers were all polite and checked on us regularly.
It sounded like this was a one-​off occurrence, so I hope so. I would check out I Love Paraguay again, though a phone call before showing up to see what’s available would be a requirement.

A great place to try this gem of South America’s delicatessen. Love the empanadas and any of the soups of the days are delicious. Servers are very kind. I love Paraguay too that’s why I come here every time I’m in the area.

The food was good, though I’ve expected more…
The waitress did not speak English, which is great at the authentic place, though a bit annoying when you need recommendations.
The food was good, nothing amazing, mere good. Which is fine for occasional lunch, but not a special occasion

Wonderful food! I love going there with friends. There are many tempting things to eat. Hard to go if you’re on a strict diet. My favorite is the cheese Empanada and the Terere tea. It is worth it to go there. The only reason I give 4 star instead of 5 is because its deep in Queens and isn’t close to the train.

Now I gave this place a 5 star because I am biased, born in Paraguay and adopted as a baby. But this place also does the rating justice! My guy friend brought me here so I/​we can experience Paraguyan food and culture to there and I am forever thankful. Upon our arrival we were greeted by the beautiful and courteous waitress. Since we didn’t really know what to expect and what to order we left it in her hands.
We started with chipa guazu and mbeju which were super flavorful and great traditional starters. The chipa guazu is almost like a corn soufflé and the mbeju is a tortilla with cheese.
After our apps we order our meals which we left up to the waitress as well. We ended up sharing each other’s meals. My friend got the sandwich de lomito which was amazing! The steak and egg and cheese were great! I ordered the pechuga de pollo al grilled with was a grilled chicken with yuca which is sort of a potato. My vote is def the steak. Any steak down there is super tasty. Now I am always one to make room for dessert so we went with the waitress recommendation again with the lemon pie. To my surprise it was light, tasty and super flavorful with lemon.
We will absolutely be back, I can’t wait to experience it again.

Empanadas here are just unbelievable, some of the best I’ve ever had in Queens! I love how they have all these obscure little flavors. I mean who has ever heard of Chilean or Heart of Palm empanadas before?! My favorite though was the classic beef empanada, as well as the delicious corn empanada with melted cheese inside. I loved the chipa so’o, the delicious, calorie-​laden meat cake. Mbeju was also very tasty, it was like a really thick tortilla-​crêpe thing which I couldnt even describe. Also try the yerba mate, which is like the South American version of the green tea. The two cornbreads they had were interesting, but not something I would want to eat often
Being one of the only few Paraguayan places in NYC it’s worth going here, but I recommend not eating anything before, as this place is a calorie bomb!

There isn’t just one guy I love. I Love a Pair-​of-​guys. So, apparently, does the person that opened this restaurant. This type of polyamorous problem is common in South America. But then so are kidnappings. Not that I’m comparing kidnappings to loving more than one person. What was I talking about again? Oh yes. My pair-​of-​guys.
What to get: Chipa Guazu
What else: It’s a Chipa off the old Guazu
This is a delightful little Paraguayan restaurant in a quieter part of Queens south of all the action in Jackson Heights and Astoria. My first impression was how tiny it was (that’s what she said). It’s very cozy inside though and they’ve done a great job on the décor.
Upon walking inside, every single person stopped what they were doing and looked up at me. I think because it was shocking to them that someone non-​Paraguayan, and unfamiliar to them, had entered their establishment. I found it really cute actually.
I was also struck by the number of spectacular looking girls inside. From the server, to the owner (I think), to several of the customers. My conclusion is that there is something in the water in Paraguay, and I want some. Wow.
I ordered the world-​famous Chipa Guazu which is thick, dense, filling, and something like corn bread, but not quite. It’s very corn-​y in any case, much like my jokes for that matter. It has sweetcorn bits inside it or something resembling them. It’s not savoury, but it’s not sweet either. It’s a little dry, ands extremely filling.
They also have an excellent selection of imported sodas, so I ordered a Guarani, which is the most popular soda in Brazil — maybe in Paraguay too. It was just as delicious as I remembered it from Brazil. The girl that went to Brazil with me was very jealous when she saw I’d been drinking Guarani. But she need not be jealous of the stunning girls in this establishment since she’s even more stunning.
Based on the Chipa alone, I’d give it a 4, because it’s not something I’d go back for, but was still very interesting and filling and tasty. However I will try something different next time I come in, and for the excellent soda selection, the beautiful and friendly and lovely employees, for the awesome décor, and the fact that it’s a Paraguayan restaurant — I mean how unusual is that! — this place scores 5.
And by the way, we should do some kind of sky-​surfing sometimes. Because I Love Paragliding. And also, that song «CrushCrushCrush» is awesome, but then I Love Paramore. OK I really don’t but it worked for the review.

First, I’d like to say Jando if it weren’t for your review I wouldn’t know what the hell to order.
This place was so. so. good. I mean 5 years and I’ve never had their empanadas. 5 FRICKIN’ YEARS! I’ve been deprived and I didn’t even know it!
Thanks for shedding some light! I’ll be back for their weekly specials. This place rocked my socks!

First, I’d like to say Jando if it weren’t for your review I wouldn’t know what the hell to order.
This place was so. so. good. I mean 5 years and I’ve never had their empanadas. 5 FRICKIN’ YEARS! I’ve been deprived and

I gotta say a friend of ours from Paraguay took us here and wow was I inlove. The cocidito after was the best the sopas and the sand which was amazing. I’m coming back for sure

Came in here a 30 minutes before close with a group. I was pretty hammered after happy hour, but ate whatever I was given.
Since then I have returned sober and tried mostly everything on the menu.
Good stop for a light meal also.

To be quite honest, I don’t know the first thing about Paraguayan cuisine. Thankfully, I have one Paraguayan friend, a rare ethnicity to find in NYC surprisingly. My friends and I ordered the chipa guazu, something like a corn bread/​polenta hybrid, solid on the outside but creamy on the inside with whole kernels of corn packed in there. The vori vori soup is a dish that gives that home-​y, comfort feeling. The only thing my friends and I weren’t too delighted with were the croquetas. They tasted fine but were extremely dense. All in all, if you want authentic Paraguayan food, this is really the only place to go other than someone’s house. This was even proved when my friend ran into an old family friend while there.

Having a Paraguayan girlfriend automatically mandated we come to I Love PY.
Fantastic food. According to my gf — authentic. No fake fillers here.
Chipa is awesome Paraguayan cheesey bread. Yerba Mate is awesome. If you’re in the mood to try something that (you most likely never have had), definitely visit I Love Paraguay!

Love the empanadas (fried and baked), the various daily soups (sopa pescado is the best!), and the paraguayan grill. Also winners are the steak sandwich and the grilled chicken sandwich.
The waitress is quite friendly and very helpful. At their peak they seem a understaffed but they definitely try their best to keep up.

So far. las mejores empanadas de queens!!! Especialmente las empanadas chilenas… unas delicias, y las croquetas que son exkisitas! Toda persona que extrania el sabor de Paraguay no tiene que dejar de visitar este restaurant que es digno de 5 star.