Bleecker Street and the surrounding neighbourhood is what makes Utica genuinely interesting to visitors. Waves of refugees — Bosnians in the 1990s, then Burmese and Somali communities in the 2000s — have settled here and opened restaurants and markets that have become a real reason to visit. It's one of the most diverse small-city neighbourhoods in the northeast, and the food scene reflects it.
The Bosnian restaurants serve hearty Balkan grills — ćevapi and pljeskavica — alongside excellent pastries. Burmese restaurants are rarer elsewhere in New York State than they are here. The neighbourhood is most active in the evenings and on weekends.