Little Morocco - Best Merguez Sandwich in NYC

2439 Steinway St  Astoria, NY 11103

On the recommendation of some friends from Queens/Long Island, my wife and I headed to Astoria Queens last week to check out Little Morocco. Located on a corner of Steinway Street among an array middle eastern restaurants, grocery stores, and hookah bars, Little Morocco is a popular take out joint serving authentic Moroccan cuisine.

Our friends recommended we go here to try the burger, which they claimed was better than the burgers at the wildly popular "Crave Shack" just up the road (review to come at a later date). Before going, I did some homework on the place and discovered that the New York Times had declared Little Morocco's merguez sandwich to be the best in NYC. All I could say was, what the heck is "merguez?"


The Food


Merguez is a spicy Moroccan sausage made from beef and lamb. Naturally, I had to give it a try. In addition to merguez, Little Morocco serves a variety of kabab sandwiches and rice platters, soups, and an array of dishes from a hot buffet.

The Merguez sandwich is made with six sausage links stuffed in a soft hero roll, topped with lettuce, red onion, green olives, and an excellent hot sauce. The spicy merguez is cooked on a charcoal grill and has a nice soft texture. The hot sauce is not too spicy, but gives the sandwich an extra kick. I think what really brings this sandwich together is the slight bitterness of the green olives. The combination of flavors in this sandwich work really well. For $6, it's a sandwich I would definitely order again.

On a side note, the NY Times article mentions some kind of wine sauce. I asked the staff about it and they adamantly stated that there isn't a single drop of alcohol in the restaurant.

Again, the reason we went to Little Morocco was to try the highly recommended hamburger. I'll travel far and wide for a good burger. But unfortunately, this burger just didn't do it for me.

A good burger needs to have an element of fat to give it that real juicy burger flavor. This burger was just too lean and overcooked for my taste. It was a good sized burger, but size alone cannot overcome a helplessly dry patty. I wouldn't say it was awful, but I have definitely had better.

To my friends in New York, if this is your idea of a good burger, you guys are seriously missing out.  You need to come out to Jersey and visit Kabab Paradise. You'll forget all about the Little Morocco burger.

We ended our meal with a cup of the mint tea. This flavorful tea comes stuffed with fresh mint leaves, which was a nice soothing way to top off the meal.

The Experience


Little Morocco is a very small take out place with very limited indoor seating. On a nice night, you can sit outside and enjoy a cool summer breeze as we did. There are about 20 seats out on the sidewalk. The food comes out very quickly.

After your meal, you can walk directly across the street and offer Salah at this beautiful masjid which is always bustling given the area's vibrant Muslim community.