Arsi’s Pateseria

You don’t need to be impressed by the décor because you’ll end up being in awe of what you can get here for the taste and value. This is terrific food baked by people who must have done this for years and put their love into their baking. Yes, the place looks faded indeed, but that may be because the owners are busy concentrating on their baking. $ 3 gets you a huge piece of spinach pie, loaded with flavor and cheesy, spinach goodness. It was hot; the cheese was melty, and it was amazing. I had a mushroom bureka also, crispy flaky puff pastry stuffed with a delicious mushroom filling. $ 1 gets you a small baklava that to me was quite perfect, crunchy with its nuts, crispy with its layers of pastry, and sweet with its chopped nut and honey filling without being overly sweet. The woman who served me was welcoming. I left already thinking of what I would try on the next visit.

It’s pretty hard to find good croissants in Queens or Manhattan. These are fresh (usually — it depends on when you get them like any bakery) and huge. I go here several days a week. I’m surprised that at 2:00pm the croissants are sometimes the best… must just depend on their baking schedule and how many they sell. The spinach pies are of course great too (I assume many people have talked about them already). The vibe is pretty darn friendly (I don’t usually interact with the man though).

This place is great, the reason I didn’t give it all 5 stars is their turnovers. The apple and cherry were average everything else was beyond this world! Their baclava is some thing to die for if your not into super sweety stuff.

The pastries are amazing but the inside of the bakery could use a make over. The person who helped us was not very friendly but we forgot one of our pastries and he ran after our car. We did not pay for that car. I would recommend this place for the food not the atmosphere. The lobster tail was out of this world.

Great little place friendly service and excellence in how they make there spinach pie! Cheese pie! Baklava and amazing croissants.

Hmm. Mixed feelings about Arsi’s. I bought some cookies, which were quite good, but plain, nothing special. They don’t have a lot of fancy cookies that you might want to bring to someone or anything. They put them in a floppy box that had oil stains on the outside and didn’t tie the box, and I had to ask for a bag. I also got a cheese pie and a spinach pie. The cheese pie was fresh out of the oven and spectacular, with crispy phyllo. The spinach pie was stone cold… not room temperature like it was baked that day, but ice cold from the fridge, totally ruining the flakiness of the pastry and making me question the freshness. The staff is weird. They act almost as if they are completely bewildered by the transaction of taking money in exchange for their product. I will try them again, but will ask first if the spinach pies are fresh.

I want to love this place since it’s around the corner from our apartment. However, the staff is very rude and actually yelled at my two year old. I have a very spirited child, but he was only looking though the case to see what he wanted and the man working there came by and apparently didn’t like children. I will never step foot in here again. This neighborhood is full of families and we need places where we can go and be greeted with at least respect. Shame on that man!

This place is a hidden jewel in Sunnyside. They do a lot of catering. I usually buy a tray of their spinach pies cut into appetizer size for parties. Its a perfect blend of spinach, feta cheese, and green onions between flaky filo dough. My family and friends loves these appetizers and expect me to bring this to every family gathering. Their croissants, and pastries are really delicious too. Its a great place to pick up breakfast, everything is just so fresh. I have to say they are always busy! The man who does work in the store lack personality because he is really busy but I always make him laugh a little :-) It a small family operation with a couple of hired people working there. If you are looking for ambience this is not the place, but if you are looking for great fresh croissants, spinach pies, baklava etc, this is a great place to try.

Perfect for breakfast

If I were just rating the croissants alone, I would give them stars to infinity. They are cheap but huge, filling and tasty. Normally I hate croissants — the extreme amounts of butter gross me out. But these seem to be what croissants are meant to be — light and flaky instead of heavy and greasy. They are also filled with delicious ingredients. I keep coming back for the mozzarella and tomato, and normally I despise mozzarella. The ham and cheese are amazing too.
I only docked a star for the service and the other baked items. I l have a huge sweet tooth, but I’m pretty underwhelmed by their selection, both in variety and quality. I had an éclair today that was somehow bland but overly sweet.
Lastly, the folks who work here are extremely gruff, but since it’s not a sit down place that relies on friendly waitstaff, it’s not a huge deal.

for miles and miles around the Greatest middle eastern/​Turkish bakery.
Fantastic pastries and baklava.
A real mom & pap’s store, do’sent get any more authentic than this…
Fresh, right out of the ovens every day…
a little bit odd location, but well worth it.
great selections… Good coffee…
Go, dont put it off any longer, you will thank yourself you went.
Trust me.
Hugs

i was looking forward to liking this place after reading the rave reviews. The outside of the place is foreboding and looks closed. I went in and they have pastries etc. on display behind the counter but nobody there. A man came out from the back to help me. He really was not happy or helpful. I bought an assortment of pastries to try as I was sure they would be good.
After I left the store, i started tasting everything I bought as I walked. I was disappointed. there is nothing to rave about here. Very average stuff. I have not returned.
I dont understand the rave reviews at all.
This area is about 2 miles from mid town Manhattan. It is amazing to me how the standards for goods and services just plummets (not just this bakery, to be fair) once you cross the bridge into Queens. And even more amazing is that New Yorkers in Queens accept it.

Ah… The most amazing delicious croissants and cheese pies on the world. I can’t have enough of them. All the goodies are baked on the premises. This is one amazing bakery that I can’t resist going back! Highly recommended!

Delicious spinach & cheese pies. Great coffee. Pastries are so tasty. It’s a small family business and it’s worth to invest in their goodies!

Oh my word! Went back and tried their lobster tail pastry! It was one of the most amazing experiences I’ve had with food. Everything about it was done right. They were really generous with the filling and the shell was so crispy and flaky! Good thing I shared it with two other people because it was very substantial.

Arsi’s interior is nothing to rave about. It’s clear that their main focus is the food. The service was not great. No one was behind the counter to greet me and a customer had to inform me to ring a bell to summon someone.
When I rang the bell, a not polite but not rude man served me up a croissant I ordered. But he did seem rushed. Plain croissant is $ 1.50.
While the customer experience was lackluster, the croissant itself was heavenly. I’d put up with average service for a fresh, delicious, crispy on the outside, soft on the inside buttery croissant any day! And it doesn’t seem that they sell out as quickly as Nita’s. And everything looked fresh.
Yummy.

Delicious homemade chicken Bureka ($ 1.25) and balava ($ 0.75) in the old neighborhood of Sunnyside, Queens.

They were almost never open whenever I was in the area, but for the one weekend day I chose to visit this desolate residential stretch in Sunnyside I was in for a treat. While in the midst of baking a fresh batch of crossaints, I was greeted warmly by owner and apparently masterbaker Annie, who let me peruse a wide array of goods which all looked fresh and ready to be eaten.
The aroma in the place was overwhelming. Overwhelmingly good. For every «mmmm» intake, I had an «ahhh» reaction as I saw trays of baklava and burekas on full display. The aroma stimulated a few thoughts in my head — why can’t this be the default odor for cigarette smoke? Or a men’s locker room? A public bathroom perhaps? Ok, let’s not go that far.
That odor, was a batch of fresh crossaints straight from the oven. They were stuffed with cheese and were only $ 2. Burekas (
), which looked something like a Chinese Dim Sum Char Siu Sou (
), were stuffed with random meat and veggie fillings for about $ 1. Mine had ground beef in it and it was delicious. The baklava was better than most of the restaurants I’ve had it in, and for $ 3, was far cheaper than what I expected. According to the folks over at Superior Market on Queens Blvd claim their house favorite spinach pie (
) is from Arsi’s. I knew there was a reason why I liked it.
This place is small and as noted before, the hours are not terribly convenient for those who live outside the area. There are no tables, just a large counter space where most folks order coffee and a pastry and then go about their day. I plan on making return trips here to try their entire arsenal of reasonably priced, fresh baked goods.

The best baklava I ever had. Period. Food porn.

Cash only
Cheese croissants are the best!!! OMG!!!
The staff or owner are not friendly at all… but you can’t beat that croissant!
Gotta try it!!!