Vesta
“We topped our night off with the famous "baby Jesus cake" there is no doubt in the name, I just tasted Jesus and it was amazing!”
“We tried:
A Warm Bankie (fried eggs over polenta, asparagus, mushrooms & truffle oil)
– This was extremely satisfying, creamy and earthy.”
“We also went splitsies on the hangover pizza, a really delicious and protein-rich option.”
Vesta
Takes Reservations: Yes
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Happy Hour: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
PokéStop Nearby: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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I'm still hoping to find an Italian spot in Manhattan that is as good as Brooklyn's al di la and now Queens' Vesta. Tucked away in a quiet corner in Astoria, a few blocks down from the above-ground 30th Avenue stop, Vesta became fully packed on a slow Sunday in July. I had made a reservation for 6 pm and felt slightly foolish announcing that fact when we came in and the place was completely empty, but if you come later, make a reservation to be on the safe side.
I guess we were all in a pasta mood, because we ordered 3 of the 4 pasta dishes on the menu and split them family-style. Out of the lasagna, the shrimp spaccateli, and the rye trumpets, I was torn between the spaccateli and the trumpets. There are no mushy or crunchy pasta here, everything was cooked perfectly al dente. The sweet corn was good as a side dish, but I think I'll try one of the salads next time to get my vegetables in.
It's not an exceedingly large menu but the dishes they do, they do very well, and the ingredients come sourced from the local Greenmarket.
NEXT TIME: the baby Jesus cake (with a name like that, I refuse to believe it's anything short of awesome); the hangover pizza; the meatballs
Super tasty and affordable brunch in Astoria. Vesta is relatively unassuming in location and ambiance but the food is great.
Being the growing girl that I am (okay, not true) I read the description of The Hangover Breakfast Pizza and deemed myself up for the challenge. My dining companion left me hanging and opted for the daintier (but delicious) L'Italiano, but our kind server reassured me that I could handle the pizza alone.
It was HUGE! I was shocked but our server was right: though packed with tons of flavor, the pizza had an ultra thin crust and was surprisingly delicate, making it easy for me to polish off slice after slice. The tomato base was tangy and delicious with a hint of spice, the cheese and meats zesty but not overpowering; the potatoes were a hearty complement to the sauce, and the egg atop the pizza was perfectly cooked and miraculously did not run/drip all over the pizza. This guy was a great value and fun to eat too. Only one thing I'd change: season or cook the breakfast potatoes more instead of leaving them plain — but this is minor.
All in all, a very good meal made complete by high quality coffee/lattes and generous refills. A must-try, if only for this pizza!
Great service! We went back to have the baby Jesus dessert and of course we devoured it and had to order another one. After inhaling our two dessert portions we decided to order some appetizers. Our great server recommend the meatballs and arancini. The meatballs here are amazing!!! The meat is super tender and it's just the right amount of spicy. We were not even hungry after stuffing ourselves with dessert but the food was soo good that we had to make room for it. The arancini was also delicious!!!
Awesome brunch. Fair prices. Ambiance is definitely nice if you're into that sort of thing. Rustic wooden tables, lots of natural light, chalk boards on the wall… everything you'd want for a nice Instagram with your best betches on a Sunday morning.
Poached eggs were perfect. Believe me, this is an art, I've messed up many a poached egg and even my best don't have the look & shape of these… yet.
Herb Polenta bowl ($12) was unreal in both flavor and texture. Comfort food for brunch in a bowl. The L'Italiano is also a great choice at $10.
Came here for brunch on a Saturday. It's not in the busy area of Astoria where most restaurants are so there was no wait, attentive service, and noise level wasn't too loud. The food was also really yummy and really cheap.
The menu for brunch isn't very long but there was a bit of everything. Brunch specials, sandwiches, soups, pizzas. My friend and I both got the l'italiano as recommended by the waiter. $10?! What a deal.
The bread was crunchy but not too hard. Perfect amount of ricotta that added that creamy and salty flavor. The soppressata (Italian sausage) was delicious. Poached eggs were done just right. And home fries came with bits of onion in them, which really added that extra layer of flavor. I wish there was more sausage on it and the home fries could have used some more salt. Those were my only cons.
Service was on point. Our water cups were never empty. They were very polite and welcoming. I want to come back just for the l'italiano and great service. I also want to try their dinner menu.
Decent food here. My friend and I split the butternut squash soup and salad and then the margherita pizza and the shrimp pasta. The pasta was not as al dente as I like it. And the pizza was cracker thin. I like thin crust pizza, but this was too thin. The soup was okay. Salad was actually the highlight.
ehhhhh, coffee was burnt, there was no heat when I came to eat. Food took FOREVER to come out but I did enjoy their hangover pizza as the crust was so thin- it is my fave. I will not be coming back though.
I had walked by Vesta so many times, but never really considered to pop in as it is a bit off from all the other restaurants on 30th Ave. One early evening I figured I should try something other than my go to diner or bar.
Before our food was served we were given some kind of bread with chcolate on it, nice touch and a little bit different. I had the pizza which to my delight was a thin crust, which is my preference, it was close to paper thin, so with that said not too filling if that's what you're looking for. The polenta was also quite good. The menu was very limited, I'm not sure if that's how it always is or just on that particular day of the week.
It's kind of small and has that rustic look with the brick wall. I don't care much for that myself, but can see why some people would like that. I was considering giving Vesta four stars, but it was just not memorable enough, but definitely go check it out at least once if not more.