Coffee Pro

The desserts are made in-house, and they're not the ones you've already had a hundred times. Coffee Pro runs a Middle Eastern dessert program with San Sebastian cheesecake, Mohalabia, and Dubai Cheesebombs alongside the more familiar pastry case, and the menu is halal-friendly across the board. That alone makes it a different kind of Astoria cafe than the dozen others within walking distance.

The room is clean and sunny, south-facing, with big comfortable tables, loveseats, and the kind of natural light that makes a long work session feel less like a punishment. The owner and staff let regulars camp out all day, which sets the unspoken contract for everybody else who walks in: stay as long as you want, order another coffee when it feels right, this is your office now if that's what you need. Quiet enough to work, social enough to feel inhabited rather than empty.

The 24k Gold coffee is the showpiece drink, the one ordered for the spectacle and the Instagram photo. Order it once. The iced Vienna latte and the pumpkin chai are the workhorse named drinks for the daily rotation. On the food side, the smoked salmon sandwich and the turkey cheddar sandwich do real meals if you came in hungry, and the almond croissant is the safe pastry play for anyone who isn't ready for the Middle Eastern dessert case.

The Mohalabia and the Dubai muffin are the things to order if you've never had them and you want to expand the breakfast vocabulary. The San Sebastian cheesecake is the closer that earns its reputation. Outlets, reliable wifi, comfortable seating engineered for the long haul. One of the better remote-work cafes in the neighborhood, and one of the few places in Long Island City worth a detour specifically for Middle Eastern pastries done from scratch.