Over the years Astoria has served as a home for many of European descent including, particularly those from Greece, Italy, and Ireland. In 2000, 4,669 individuals, being 25% of all foreign born individuals, were from Europe. The 2012 numbers decreased slightly  to 4,211. The 1970’s are considered the peak of Greek immigration and still by 1984 a New York times article estimated that 45,000 of Astoria’s 100,000 were Greek-born or of Greek descent. By the mid 1990s Greeks accounted for just under half of Astoria’s population. While as of recently Astoria has been growing more and more diverse, is still very well known for when both Italian and Greek immigrants filled the neighborhood and influenced everything about it, including the cuisine.

WWI significantly harmed the economy of Italy and most other European countries. Additionally, after WWI, fascism was rising in Italy, and the nation had severe internal tensions. This prompted many Italians to immigrate to Astoria, and the USA in general both during and after the war. Italians moved into the residential Astoria to take up factory jobs in industrial Long Island City as well as jobs in Manhattan. Ever since, an Italian population has been prevalent in Astoria.

After the Italians, Astoria witnessed its second big wave of immigration from the Greeks. “After the Second World War Astoria was largely Italian. Greek residents rapidly increased in number after 1965: one third of all Greeks who moved to New York City in the 1980s settled in the neighborhood, and by the mid 1990s they accounted for slightly less than half its population. St. Demetrious, one of the eleven Greek Orthodox churches in the area, is probably the largest Orthodox church outside Greece.”

It’s difficult to quantify and statistically express the Greek wave of immigration. Under Census data, Greeks fall into White non-Hispanic, but that statistic wouldn’t properly show the Greek immigration to Astoria and the ethnically Greek population that has been there until today. The Greek presence in Astoria increased after the Greek Civil War of 1945-1949, which pushed many Greeks away from Greece. Their presence quickly increased in number after 1965, thanks to the Immigration and Nationality Act, or better known as the Hart-Celler Act of 1965, which reduced the restriction of immigration the United States, allowing for a new wave of mostly Greek and also Italian immigrants to settle in Astoria.

The 1970s is considered the height of Greek immigration . According to Astoria.org, in the 1980s, about one third of all Greeks who moved into New York City settled in Astoria. In a New York Times article published in 1984, the author, Maria Eftimiades, writes that “a short walk in almost any direction will lead to some of the better Greek and Italian restaurants in New York.” John Rather, for the New York Times in 1996, wrote that Astoria is a “Greek American stronghold in northwestern Queens… For Greeks, Greek-Americans and lovers of Greek cuisine and culture from throughout the metropolitan area, Astoria is a siren song and the place to be” and that “Greek is heard as often as English along Ditmars Boulevard.”

FOODS TODAY

Due to the large Greek population and influence, Astoria was at one time known as “Little Greece,” and for years dining out in Astoria meant choosing between stalwart Greek and Italian places. While today there are many other ethnic choices available, you will have no trouble at all finding Greek or Italian cuisine.

Greek:

“Think Astoria and most people immediately think Greece,” wrote Myra Alperson in her 2003 book Nosh New York. Akropolis is one of the many stores that built Astoria’s image. It is an Astoria mainstay for meat lovers. “Akropolis Restaurant is your place for authentic Greek food” . With their comfortable dining, delicious food, and professional service, they strive to provide customers with the complete Greek dining experience. One of their specialties is loukaniko, a sausage which is prepared in burgundy wine and then mixed with either oranges or scallions.

Taverna Kyclades, named after famous Greek islands, is another prominent Greek eatery,  “considered one of the best destinations to taste authentic Greek food in Astoria NY.” They seek to serve fresh food, made with the best ingredients cooked traditionally based on original Greek recipes, such as fried calamari, Greek sausage, and Greek souvlaki. To add to their authentic Greek setting, one of their rooms is painted with designs of the islands their named after.

According to Alperson the United Brothers Food Market offers “the best produce for Greek cooking.” Astoria is abundant with many other Greek cafes and bakeries. These include Athens Café, as well as Lefkos Pirgos, which serves “outstanding, rich Greek pastries.” Another such bakery is Atropolis, literally meaning “city of the breads,” which even got covered by the New York Times in an article title “The Pastries an Aromas of Greece”, by Sylvie Bigar. One can find baskets of “pistachio shortbreads, kritsinia studded with sunflower seeds, sesame ladokoulouros, cinnamon biscuits — sat alongside shiny braids of bread sprinkled with sesame seeds, puffy spinach-and-cheese pies, twisted golden fritters and eight kinds of baklava” as well as some of the darkest coffee the author had ever seen. One of the owners, Regina Katopodis, used to lead the American Women’s Organization of Greece, and her husband, Angelos Katopodis, used to be the vice mayor of Ithaca. She seeks to improve the authenticity and traditional aspect of her food by mining old cookbooks and her friends’ grandmothers’ memories to discover more familial recipes.

Italian:

Authentic Italian food is not hard to find either. One eatery, Piccola Venezia, opened since 1973 on 42nd Street and 28th Avenue describes itself as a “fine-dining Northern Italian restaurant specializing in fresh home-made pastas, the freshest seafood, prime meats and game and world-class wines” and is one of the “most critically acclaimed restaurants in the NY metro area.” Another restaurant, Ponticello Ristorante, on Broadway between 46th and 47th street, which is always ready to serve classic Italian food and do everything they can to “perfect the Northern Italian dining experience.”

There are also plenty of pizza and pasta joints, ready to serve not so much authentic Italian fast food to whoever walks and needs a bite, like Tasty Fast Food. And then, there are those in the restaurants in the middle, in terms of both price and authenticity, like Ornella Trattoria, serving those who don’t want to pay so much for Italian food but want a little more authenticity in their food than that that which is offered at Tasty Fast Food or Napoli Pizza and Pasta. Ornella Trattoria serves Italian pasta dishes such as Penne al Pomodoro e Basilico, which is penne with San Marzano tomato sauce and basil, or Spaghetti con polpette, which is homestyle meatballs. Yet, instead of listing traditional Italian dishes, at the bottom of their menu they write, “If you like, ask for traditional dishes, like chicken parmesan, fettuccine Alfredo, lasagna, penne ala vodka, and more.”