Where to Get Doubles in NYC
What doubles are, the bara and curried channa that make them, how to order tamarind and pepper, and where to find the best Trinidadian doubles in Queens and Brooklyn.
Doubles are the greatest cheap breakfast in New York and most people have never heard of them. Here is what they are, how to order, and where to get them.
Doubles are a Trinidadian street food. Two pieces of fried flatbread called bara wrapped around curried chickpeas called channa, topped with sauces and eaten with your hands. They cost a couple of dollars, they are usually vegan, and they are perfect. The name comes from the two pieces of bara, so you order doubles, plural, even for one.
What Is Actually In It
Simple parts, big flavor.
- Bara, a soft fried flatbread turned slightly yellow and warm from turmeric. Two of them per double.
- Channa, chickpeas stewed down with curry, cumin, and pepper until soft and a little saucy.
- The toppings, which is where it comes alive.
The Toppings Matter
When they ask how you want it, this is what they mean.
- Tamarind sauce, sweet and sour and dark. Say yes.
- Pepper, meaning scotch bonnet hot sauce. This is the big question, and slight is a safe first answer.
- Cucumber chutney, kuchela, or mango, depending on the shop.
The classic answer to how you want it is slight pepper with tamarind. Say that and you will get a proper double. Go with plenty pepper only if you mean it.
Where to Get It in Queens
Richmond Hill in Queens is the Trinidadian heart of New York and the doubles capital of the city. The area near Liberty Avenue is where to go, and morning is when doubles are freshest since they are traditionally a breakfast food.
Where to Get It in Brooklyn
Brooklyn's Little Caribbean, along the Flatbush, Nostrand, and Church Avenue corridor, has doubles too, folded into the wider West Indian food scene there.
How to Order and Eat
Doubles have a rhythm to them.
- Order by number. Two or three doubles is a normal serving.
- Answer the pepper question. Slight, medium, or plenty. Start slight.
- Say yes to tamarind unless you have a reason not to.
- Eat right away and eat over the paper. They are soft, saucy, and meant to be messy.
Doubles are a morning thing traditionally, so early is best, but plenty of spots sell them all day. Grab two or three from a spot in the lists above and eat them warm on the sidewalk. That is the whole point.
Written by See The Five · kept current from the directory, last checked 2026-09-07