Jason F.
Yelp
Who knew that downtown Detroit, Michigan has a charming little family owned and operated pastry and coffee shop that specializes in Greek pastries, especially baklava? Well, Astoria Pastry Shop proves that you can go home again no matter where you are. Located on the bustling Monroe Street directly across the street from the Greektown Casino, Astoria Pastry Shop was founded by the Teftis family back in 1971 in the Greektown neighborhood of downtown Detroit and is generally considered the preeminent bakery in the metropolitan Detroit area and definitely the few places to get your sweet tooth cravings satiated when visiting downtown. I didn't even know that Astoria Pastry Shop was located here in the heart of the Motor City, until I just happen to be walking around town after my Sunday dinner and I noticed a plethora of activity happening outside of their storefront and as I peered inside I knew that this place was for me to step through and see what they had to offer!
Upon entry, one will see a charming café and bakery reminiscent of the many cafés seen in the heart of New York City with its tiled interior, plenty of café seating, and most importantly case upon case filled with a wide variety of single-serving pastries. Seriously, if you have a craving for a certain pastry, no matter the type or ingredient that one wants specifically with it, then I guarantee you that you will find it here. There was a fairly large crowd inside Astoria Pastry Shop despite the fact that it was Sunday night and we had about an hour remaining until they closed. After looking over all of the remaining pastries they had for sale, I knew I wanted to order two things: one of their signature baklava pastries and a tiramisu, which at Astoria Pastry Shop instead of serving it by the slice, they serve it in a plastic cup in a single serving ready to go. Since there was a line to order my pastry, I got the chance to see all of the other things that Astoria Pastry Shop has to offer and among the other pastries that looked amazing were their cannelloni, slices of cheesecake, macarons, cake pops, cupcakes, crème and mud pie served in aluminum tins, and meringue cookies. But out of the corner of my eye I saw that they were selling Black & White Cookies, and rather large ones at that for a reasonable $3.75, so I was sold.
With this cookie, a serving of Tiramisu, which was sold at $5.75 and a chocolate covered Baklava sold at $3.95. My total bill was $14.26, which was fairly reasonable considering I received three large pastries each of which was big enough for me to enjoy as a separate dessert course. Upon my return back to my hotel room, I realized that I ordered a cup of Tiramisu and realized that I forgot to ask for a plastic utensil, so imagine my surprise when I opened my white takeout box neatly tied with a perfect string to see that their helpful crew already put in a plastic fork and spoon in there for me. Now that's service! My cookies were delightful treats, especially their baklava which was an ooey gooey mess of sweetness that weren't overly indulgent, but the real star of my dessert trio was their Tiramisu, which was light and airy without being too sweet. This lovely dessert only made me want to come back for more of their packaged cakes and pastries served in plastic cups. That and the fact they serve both cold and drinks, such as espressos and and frappes, but the fact that they also sell ice cream and smoothies, well the hard working team doesn't need to convince me to come back for second and third helpings. At Astoria Pastry Shop they are a bakery, pastry shop, coffee shop, ice cream shop and smoothie shop, so there's a little something sweet for all who want and need a little sweetness in their lives, who doesn't want to celebrate and support that? After fifty years in business, they certainly know what they are doing and here's to fifty more years of success at Astoria Pastry Shop in downtown Detroit!