Elite Pastries Cafe
“Their pastries are amazing, I especially love their fruit tarts better than Martha's Bakery!”
“And what I love about it is that the sweetness is not over-bearing like with other bakeries in the city (like Martha's) it's just right.”
“I highly recommend the chocolate covered baklava.”
Elite Pastries Cafe
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
PokéStop Nearby: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range Moderate
8 reviews
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All the desserts here aren't that memorable from the cheesecakes to the napolean to the tiramisu. The "better" option might be their fruit tarts if anything.
Elite pastries is one of the better bakeries in Bayside in my opinion. I've been coming here for the past 3 years, usually around holidays to pickup their delicious mocha cake. There's also another one, but with caramel. I like the mocha one just fine. The sponge and cream is delightful. The cake is not tooth aching sweet. It's a really fine cake and a good price too. The bakery is pretty large and have quite a wide selection of pastries, cookies, cakes, and more. The staff is nice and friendly and I'll certainly be back again this holiday season for more of their mocha cake!
Verdict – I'm glad to see Elite Pastries Cafe is still alive and well, while every other bakery or cupcake shop near Martha's has shut down entirely. Everyone in Bayside seems to line up and cram themselves into Martha's Country Bakery and never consider going to other bakeries in the neighborhood. Elite Pastries offers the same quality, perhaps even higher along with better customer service. I found the cakes at Martha's to be way overpriced and too sweet for my taste. Over here at Elite, I feel at ease when making my order. The people are nice, it's never too crowded, and parking seems to be much easier on this side of Bell Blvd.
I'm glad I gave this spot a try! I like their wide selection of cookies and pastries, and the atmosphere was relaxed when I walked in yesterday (a Tuesday night). A lot of the tables were empty, except for one that was occupied by a group of colleagues/friends working on a project.
I got the Kourambiethes (say: "koor-ahm-bee-EH-thez"), the almond shaped / powdered sugar cookie that a previous reviewer suggested, and a mini fruit tart (topped with custard cream, some berries, and kiwi).
I enjoyed the texture and taste of both. The Kourambiethes had a crumbly texture with slices of almond inside, and of course, the powdered sugar dusted on it added some zest to the flavor.
The fruit tart was interesting– the crust on the bottom was golden brown and super dense, the berries had a coating of syrup on it (no complaints there but I didn't expect that), and the kiwi slice didn't look fresh– it looked too dark. I didn't like this as much as the almond cookie.
I wish that the pastries were all labeled with their names and prices, because I had to point and ask what certain desserts were multiple times. Also, their menus (which are blackboards and high up on the walls) are easy to miss. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that they offer waiter service to people who eat in– I appreciated that a staff worker brought my pastries over to me.
Paying the check got confusing, though: after checking up on other customers eating in, that staff worker quickly passed my table and didn't ask if I was finished / if I needed the check, so I went up to the counter to pay it. I didn't mind that, but I wish the protocol for that would be clearer in a place like this (that you wouldn't expect includes waiter service). Those are the only drawbacks of this place. Otherwise, Elite Pastries struck me as a relaxing dessert spot to go to, with a wide range of cookies and desserts to choose from.
Among the best bakeries and cafes of this kind in this neighborhood. They're open late (which is a plus because I love a late night sweet fix outside of Manhattan!)
Delicious fruit tarts, delicious canollis and delicious cookies. Love this place for ocassions too, because everything looks as great as it tastes.
Might I add that the girls that work here are super duper friendly and accommodating to their customers? WIN !
Excellent Greek bakery (with some non-Greek goodies too).
Fruit tart is AWESOME!
Reasonably priced, awesome service, clean.
Can't really go wrong.
I was in the area for another reason and my husband and I were just casually walking by. The curb appeal and the sweet scent of baked goods was enough to lure us in. After glancing around for a bit we decided to give them a try.
We were greeted by two young ladies who served us our pastries. I told them I would just grab the pastries and sit down but they insisted on bringing it to us. They allowed us to sit anywhere we wanted but we were the only customers there at the time. We were unsure of how long we would stay because we had our baby with us and if he began to get fussy we would have to take him on a walk to calm him down.
The overall ambiance of the place is warm, dimly lit, and spacious yet cozy. There's large wooden tables and chairs with plenty of seating. It's the kind of atmosphere where I could imagine sitting down at a restaurant for dinner. It was pretty quiet as well.
I tried the lobster tail and my husband tried a mini blueberry tart. The tart was a little larger than an average mini but it was also on the pricier side. This place seems a bit expensive overall but the quality was pretty good. The total came up to $6 and I usually pay $3 for a lobster roll at other bakeries so it's hard to beleive that the mini-tart was $3 but who knows may be it was or it could be that their lobster rolls are more expensive. I have no idea because none of the prices are posted near the items. It would be helpful if they were. The only price I saw in the displays was for the cookies.
We sat and enjoyed our desserts and were provided plates and forks, not plastic ones either. It was actual silverware and ceramic plates like I real upscale cafe. I personally didn't think it was necesarry as I could have just eaten it right out of a paper or napkin but I guess this is why they are elite.
The desserts were great. They have a very interesting take on their lobster tail. It's not as long as a standard tail and it's open on one end allowing the whipped cream filling to be exposed but the real surprise is if you start eating at the smaller end you will soon discover the other half is filled with a custardy pate-choux. I prefer mine with the standard whipped cream French Patiserrie style but this version gives you the best of both worlds. I notice that many Italian bakeries choose to fill with the pate-choux. The dough was also more on the firm side and less flaky but still good without all the crumbs. It held to form very well even upon being cut into.
My first impression of the place is that they are slightly overpriced but compensate in terms of service and quality. My biggest issue with them is that the prices are not posted.
Came here on an impromptu date and I honestly didn't expect much. The place was entirely empty when we walked in at early evening, but a few people trickled in and out getting stuff to go. They feature a nice assortment of pastries but more in the cookies realm. I got a slice of regular cheesecake and my guy got a fruit tart. I'm not a fan of tarts (except for the crust) so I can't comment genuinely on that though I tried a bit of it, but I do like cheesecakes, and theirs was pretty decent. The only letdown was the lack of crust (do you see a theme now).
Another minor downside was the use of disposable plates which made me bristle a little as I took pictures. I figured it's more convenient but definitely not eco-friendly.
Overall, a nice place to shield from the cold with a decent cup of joe and some sweets.
Bakery/Cafe located conveniently on Bell Blvd.. has a large selection of pastries and desserts. Their variety of choices and different flavors rivals Martha's Bakery. Taste, however, is a whole different matter.
I came in here one day cuz I was craving cupcakes, and my go-to cupcake bakery, Teaspoon, had closed for the day. Elite Pastries does not have a large selection of cupcakes..only about 6 flavors to choose from, including red velvet, chocolate, vanilla, carrot and some others. I asked the ladies working there, "When were these made?" They replied that the cupcakes just came out fresh like 15mins before I walked in. Okay cool. I bought 4. Now these aren't the small cupcakes that Teaspoon makes; these are fairly large cupcakes.
Back in my car, I started on the vanilla cupcake. First the cream icing on top. HOLY CRAP, that sh!t was sweet! Now.. I have a sweet tooth. I LOVE cupcakes! At Teaspoon, I can easily eat a dozen on my own! But the icing on top of that vanilla cupcake was so sweet, it was borderline disgusting ((I'm not sure how to word it..hopefully that makes some sense..loll)). I couldn't finish it. So I used my spoon and scooped out the icing on top and proceeded to the cupcake itself. Dry as fcuk. Not good. Disappointing start.
Next I try the chocolate cupcake. Same deal with the overly sweet icing. Scooped off the icing and proceeded to the cupcake. Not too bad. Moist, good chocolate flavor. So vanilla is crap. Chocolate cupcake tastes good.
Now, I'm not trying to say this bakery is crap. This review is based solely on my experience with the cupcakes, and it only warrants 2 stars from me. I will definitely go back and try some of their other pastries and cakes. But no more cupcakes for sure!