Yaya’s Bakery

Location: If you take Q, N subway, get off at 30^th Ave and one block away, you will see YAYA’S BAKERY. It does not stand out but when you get closer, you do find this place easily.
The store is very cafeteria styled, meaning, the small space is stuffed with all the goodies — cookies, bakeries and some coffee.
Food: Yaya;s bakery is not your traditional type of bakeries. It ‘s greek bakeries… I got a chance to try their donut sample, and some fried sweet stuff. yeah, it’s too sweet if you were eating the cold sweet thing. So i immediately looked for something else
I felt like everything made of extreme sugary stuff so I ended up with spinach pie. It’s very authentic, even though j have never been to Greece before. But the decent texture of spinach is captured well by their cheese and crispy shell
Price: 4 dollar for a pie. Huge bargain!
Service: they do have prewrapped cookie sets and other to-​go stuff to choose. The lady was apparently preoccupied that she was not nice. Kinda
3.5
A place worth to visit if you are at the neighborhood.

Feels like your at a bakery back home «Greece «
Pites, koulouria, tourekia, even mostokouloura the ones like we get in Markopoulo
Must try it all
My fav the koulouri OMG

The APPLE PIE is the BEST I have ever had. Buttery lattice crust, sweet with the right touch of cinnamon and perfect amount of apples. They serve it in large rectangular pieces.
Walk in, get a piece, take it home, enjoy. Repeat at least once a week. Simple and absolutely delicious.

Everything here is awesome. Family owned amazing people and service. Nothing can get more homemade than here. I recommend everything. Can’t even pick one thing that is my favorite.

Great place. Everything is fresh and authentic. Friendly atmosphere. I’m there for Café Frappé (Greek iced coffee) and they always make it the way I like it.

The woman who normally works there is extremely helpful and Baklava is the best in astoria. That’s saying alot! I can’t eat it from anywhere else now.

The cookies I purchased — fenekia, kourabiedes and almond cookies were dry and stale. I am Greek and it was a disappointment to me, my family and friends. As another reviewer commented, packaging was poor and the server was having a hard time making a smile and being helpful. My questions were responded to with brief mumbles. The Italian bakery around the block, a whole different experience.

Eh. Baklava was tasty enough but there was nothing special about the service, ambiance or packaging. Don’t expect pastries to be wrapped in a nice cardboard box with a string.

Best almond cookies I have ever tasted! Looking forward to trying the zucchini pie next time.

The woman who works here is so nice! Everything here is fantastic, truly cannot recommend it highly enough.

I stumbled across this place a few weeks ago — me and my dad absolutely LOVE their custard pie! Their spinach pie and baklava are also amazing. They have a large assortment things that I look forward to trying something new each time I go there!

This is one of best authentic bakeries in town. I go to Yaya’s for their delicious croissants almost twice a week religiously. The baklava and their breads are amazing which I have tried on a regular basis. The price is right and the Spinach pies are just phenomenal.

I don’t often purchase bakhlava, but when I do, I shall go to Yaya’s! Though it’s sweet beyond belief it is delicious, and when you purchase a box, you can get it wrapped in their signature blue and white ribbon, closing the deal on the authenticity of this Greek bakery. I also purchases the olive bread (DELICIOUS!) and the Spinach pie, and strongly recommend sticking them in the oven before consuming. Super delicious, inexpensive, and I’ll be back. Cash only.

Pretty good bakery in Astoria, although there are better bakeries out there. A hole in the wall place for sure, as only regulars and tourists will stop here. Located on a busy street next to Opa Souvlaki (check out my review of that) and a few bars. The employees do not speak much English, so try your best to communicate with them, or point to what you want. They do have a large selection of Greek-​American snacks and desserts at pretty reasonable prices. Absolutely rave the décor. Makes this hole in the wall place 10x cuter, even though it might seem boring at first. Love their baklava. Must try their Greek donuts which are huge and covered in powdered sugar. Everything food-​wise is fantastic, but watch out for all of the grease. Like their breads, but they do not have a huge selection.

Yaya’s Bakery it’s a piece of heaven on earth!
The smells are so good, the people are so friendly and the cookies and bread so fresh!
I just love everything, but if I have to choose one thing, it will be the galaktoboureko.
Can’t wait to go to Queens again.

Yaya’s bakery is the quintessential definition of a hole in the wall bakery. It may even look somewhat depressing from the outside at first glance. I have no idea how first timers know that it’s Yaya’s cuz the sign says Bakery O Tourno’s. What I do know is this diamond in the rough serves the best damn piece of baklava I’ve tried in Astoria — maybe even NYC.
If you are lucky enough to be served by the big muscular guy (my wife’s words) — who I believe is the baker — and ask for the baklava, he’ll ask you «triangle or square». The triangle is essentially half of the square and at $ 2.50 it serves 2 generously. Everything about this baklava hits the spot for me. It’s not drenched in honey, the top crust is super flaky and then there is the substantial, meaty center. It’s not just the right amount of sweet or the thickness that I loved but there are also these subtle savory notes that I haven’t tasted in other baklavas. I know I love something when I bite into it and there’s a bigger sensation than taste that I connect with. This was the case here and I went back the next day to make sure this wasn’t some freaky accident. It wasn’t. They were just as good the second time.
I also got a box of melomakarona cookies when I returned here for more baklava. These cookies are a new discovery for me ever since trying them on a recent trek to Artopolis. Since the melomakarona was already prepackaged in 1lb boxes I don’t think they came fresh out of the oven the same day so the texture was not as soft/​silky/​crumbly as I’d like but the taste was pretty much on par with Artopolis. I think I tasted more nutmeg and less cinnamon in Yaya’s version. At only $ 8/​lb vs. $ 15/​lb at Artopolis they are now also my go to spot for melomakorona! I think if I can time it and get my hands on a freshly baked batch they might be heavenly. I’m going to go back soon and see if there’s any way they can call me once they have put out a fresh batch. I hope they don’t think I’m coocoo.

I still haven’t tried baklava at this place yet, but tonight I stop by for some Galaktoboureko — Greek custard pie (), sweetened with honey. It is soft and amazing! You’ve got a big slice of custard pie for $ 4. It is not soggy and overly sweet. It’s just the way I like my dessert.

Fresh baked greek donuts are amazing here as well as the spinach pies. The people who work here are very friendly (especially Lukas the baker) and helpful if you have questions about their baked goods (as I’m unfamiliar with some Greek specialties but like to try different countries foods).
Its designed for take out, so don’t expect to sit down and enjoy coffee or anything. Close to the 30 ave subway stop makes it a good place to stop before train travels.

This place is amazing. A friend of mine who lives in Astoria told me about it. I never would have found it otherwise. I usually go to Titan Foods right down the street. Now I go to both places, each for different things.
If you go to Yaya, try their Greek honey cookies and Greek homemade yogurt.
This is an incredible hidden gem. I want to try everything here. Can’t wait to go back.

My SO and I were minding our business on a casual stroll from Astoria to LIC and were drawn in by the sweet aroma of fresh baked cookies. We inquired about the culprit of the olfactory ambush and the cashier pointed at the honey cookies on the shelf behind us.
«Fresh!» she proudly proclaimed with a smile.
Indeed.
Those cookies went home with us.