I moved to the neighborhood when I was just six years old, and since then I have grown very comfortable with my surroundings and will always remember this place to be home. Living in Woodside for almost 15 years, I remember the endless nights I spent outside of my house playing pickup basketball with the other kids in my neighborhood really, creating great relationships with these people who are still my friends today, the local deli which was not only somewhere that I went to buy lunch and snacks, but also just a place to hang out and talk to good people. Throughout the years I have slowly seen each part of the neighborhood and really been exposed to just how diverse the community is, and how we are all very different and the same at the same time.
Around Woodside, you can find a variety of different restaurants such as Chinese, Italian, Mexican, Indian, and many Irish pubs as well. The people of the neighborhood are very ethnically diverse, however, the two most common ethnicities tend to be Asian and White. Founded in 1869, Woodside mainly consisted of Irish Americans, and 80% of their population was of Irish descent, however as the 1990s rolled around many Asian Americans began to settle here with, Chinese, Filipino, and Korean. Not long after, South Asians began to settle here as well, and the Hispanic Immigrants did the same, really changing the ethnic landscape of the neighborhood.
Donovan’s Pub, which is located on the corner of 58th Street and Roosevelt Avenue, was founded in 1966 and has become a major staple in the Woodside community among Irish families, and other groups as well. Personally, I had lunch at the place during my 16th birthday and really enjoyed the food and dining as well. Honestly, I expected me and my family to be the only Asian people in the Irish restaurant, but surprisingly I was wrong and I really did see people of different races just enjoying the good food and music of the place. Donovans Pub has great history inside of it as their walls are tributed to the cops and firefighters who lost their lives during the tragedies of 9/11, as messages from those in the community are present in letters to those who are no longer with us. This restaurant continues to serve as an important landmark for the neighborhood of Woodside.
