Cafe Soleil

Checked out this place on July 16, 2009. The windows were covered with newspaper and the door was locked in the middle of the afternoon.
Update:
Sadly, this place was closed. Its relative out-​of-​the way location on the end of the Steinway strip away from the busier cross streets of 30av and Broadway and near the expressway probably was a factor. Still, would have been a welcome alternative to Starbucks and the Brooklyn Bagel Co.

I am afraid that Soleil has gone out of business, which breaks my heart.
The owner was charming and sweet, the baked goods were fresh, the prepared dishes was super-​yummy (the mushroom omelette with potatoes was amazing!), the coffee delicious, and the space thoughtfully decorated. Stepping into the shop was like entering a lovely little oasis on Astoria Boulevard. It was also such a fabulous thing to have a free wi-​fi hot spot so close to my apartment.
I am going to miss this place tremendously.

Ambience: ³⁄₅
— Cozy, home-​y, ethnic feel
— dark lighting
— small outdoor seating area in back
— no air conditioning
— some couches, hard chairs, tables
— really loud music — very obtrusive
— not crowded
Location: ⁴⁄₅
— very close to Astoria metro station
— no other free WIFI cafes around for several blocks
Food: ³⁄₅
— standard issue café fare: pastries, sandwiches, etc.
— Mighty Leaf tea and coffees, cappuccinos, etc.
— fairly expensive ($ 3 for a cup of tea? for real?!)
WIFI
— «free» with $ 3 purchase person, otherwise $ 1/​hour
— scattered electrical outlets throughout café
Other observations
— polite service
— family owned
— can pay for tab at end
— very clean
— working restroom
Basically, I’d go back since there’s nothing else around. But, this café didn’t really stick out in my mind as anything noteworthy.

I was in Astoria for three days over this past weekend visiting my handsome son. After stopping in to see his land lord to pay his rent we stopped into Soleil on a whim. He had been there before once or twice and had enjoyed it. I ordered the bacon and eggs special with a cappucino and my son had the pumpkin loaf. The special was delicious, plenty of scrambled eggs and terrific bacon that was cooked perfectly and actually tasted cured. The feature wthough was the ‘hash brown’ side included in the meal. It was savory and spiced just right, crispy and a little morrocan. My cappucino was one of the best I have ever had. I had the same breakfast for the next two days. Now that I am home I am wondering what I will have for breakfast tomorrow.
My son had the morrocan mint tea and it was also wonderful.
The place is clean, kitchy and warm and the individual seating areas are very nice. It seems like they have an outdoor seating area in the back which was not yet opened but which would isolate you from the noise of Astoria Boulevard.
The couple who own the place are warm and friendly and their vibe runs through the entire place. I recommend this place without reservation (I wonder if they take reservations?) and I can’t wait to get back to NYC to go there again.

where the hell did this place come from? srsly i’m moving in like a week and i didn’t find it until now? balls
sandwiches are good. great drink selection. free wifi. lots of tables. not crowded. music isn’t loud.
it’s perfect.

this place is cozy and not owned by a corporate entity. patronize it and be rewarded with happy mellow times. a decent selection of coffee, tea, fruit beverages. apparently there’s sandwiches. i’ve only enjoyed coffee and blueberry muffins– which are sliced into bite sized appropriate quarter sections.

I’m just visiting some friends who live around the corner, so I’m sad to say that this is not my local haunt.
Café Soleil is the cleanest nicest coffee shop I have ever been in. It looks like a bunch of different cute little living rooms. It’s quiet and great for chatting with friends, but most people seem to be there to study and freelance.
The staff is friendly and the food and drink are great café fare. And there’s no need to pull out your wallet when you order, you just pay off your tab when you’re ready to go.

As a recent Austin transplant I had been searching high and low for the local, young, coffee hotspot (with free wifi!). I found it in Café Soleil, which is happily within walking distance from my Astoria apartment.
The baristas were friendly from the moment I walked in the door and were patient as I decided what new drink to try. I was presented with a plethora of choices ranging from teas, to coffees, to sandwiches, paninis, chocolate and chips! I settled on an iced vanilla latte and was told I could take a seat while they prepared it — I didn’t even have to pay yet.
The atmosphere is cozy and inviting. A TV was on in the corner, with an eccentric collection of couches and coffee tables scattered throughout. The music had a Moroccan vibe and was soothing. When my drink arrived I noticed that an «iced» drink really meant slightly blended — which was great! It gave it a Frappuccino type consistency. The barista even curled the straw paper on top to make it fancy.
I also tried a panini, which was delicious and served with a side of sliced bananas drizzled in chocolate!
I was a bit worried to see the place shut down with a sign saying it was operating without a permit, but from recent reviews — looks like it’s back in business. This is great news for Astoria coffee and wifi lovers such as myself.

Perfect chill workplace. I’ve only been once, on a weekday afternoon. I ordered a cappuccino from the very nice barista, then found a sweet spot on one of the sofas and plugged in the laptop. The cappuccino was wonderful, and the barista delivered it to my table along with ground cinnamon. This is definitely better as a solo spot good for reflection, study or work. It’s quiet, and not conducive to loud convos without looks from the other patrons. I’d say that was the only drawback. The afternoon I visited, there was one couple in business suits, the male half of which spoke loud and proud in his very Queens-​y accent.

As only a recent resident of Astoria, I rejected EVERYTHING out of Manhattan. I moved into a cozy, safe, clean neighborhood where i thought i would get my share of restaurants but never imagined, that i could «go hang out» and entirely love every minute of it in a café in Astoria Queens.
I stumbled upon Café Soleil on my way to doing laundry. I thought I would drop by for a quick cup of java while the delicate cycle would run its course. Although the front doesn’t leave much to be desired, once you get in, the space unfolds into a very eclectic, and unique assembly of artifacts, warm colors and enticing aromas.
The loose leaf tea selection is limited, but it’s superb. i absolutely love Bombay chai. You pick your pot, you pick your tea, and you hand it to the owner/​manager and they fill it for you and bring it to where you decide to sit. $ 3.50 for about 3 – 4 cups of delicious tea. They also offer grilled sandwiches and wraps, fruit and drinks. The coffee cups are humongous!!! Each corner offers something different, you have leather couches and an ottoman next to the plasma TV, and you have wicker chairs and patio table for two, cozy couch with cushions as if it came from «Country Home» magazine and various lampshades and chandeliers that despite being so different, dancing n’sync with the décor.
The music they play is mostly ambiance with an eastern flair. LOVE it!!!
i LOVE Soleil, I am definitely a convert! :)

I used to think this place was great, until recently. They gave me a vegetable juice drink that had waaayyyy to much ginger. When I asked for a bit more carrot juice, the manager said he would charge me for it! Any manager should know, customer service is key. And obliging me on this request should have been done with courtesy. Unfortunately, this was a big customer relations faux pas. I don’t recommend this place for food or drinks. I do have to add, though, that the place is cozy and decorated well.

I will write more after I go there more often, but I LOVE this place the first moment I walked in. I love cafes with sofas, relaxing atmosphere and good food. This place is perfect. And the staff there was friendly. It’s defintely a great place to go on weekends, with your laptop!

My friend and I are regulars here — if you can call every saturday 10 am a regular visit. I live «almost» upstairs, so it is very convinient for me.
As I saw, last year the café had a different management, and it lasted only for about three months. They were closed for a while, and reopened late summer.
I’m very happy with that fact, ‘coz the place is not only super comfortable, but has a nice atmosphere and large selections of quality food and beverages as well.
I love this place, kind of «part of my social life».
The stuff are very friendly, and they brew up just the right tea/​coffe you crave for.
Although I’m giving five stars, ther eis a little down-​side:
the service — regardless the friendliness — is a little slow, specially if they have 3 costumers at the same time.
Don’t get me wrong, I know: this place is full of peace, kind of out of NY. But still … sometimes we have to wait ten-​fifteen minutes for a coffe, and so on.
But it’s might be just me. I’m working as a server, so in as opposit situation I would want the as fast service as I give to my costumers.
Then again.
As I said: the place is peaceful, so: no rush, just enjoy life (here) one tea/​coffe at a time.

I love this place. After moving out of Jackson Heights, I was sad about losing easy access to Espresso 77. Now I have found another good coffee/​tea destination. The owner is very nice and they have the best chai latte ever. They actually take out the spices in front of you and grind them up to flavor the chai. It is awesome.

Great Coffee, nice calm atmosphere and friendly staff. The free wifi is a welcomed surprise. Great place to go with a book or a with a girl that you want to show your spohistication to. Recommend the cheese danish.

great gem in Astoria.
single complaint is the lack of large tables, for two people to use their laptops, for example. there is a wide food selection. i got a latte, which was good though not amazing. but what are you looking for? the ambiance is nice, quiet but good for chatting. i see an outdoor space, which i wouldn’t use in December (today) but is a nice touch.

This is the only coffee house with free wifi that I’ve found in Astoria. And it’s a real café — meaning several couches with coffee tables and lots of people using laptops, reading books or newspapers, chatting with friends — a real café! And the décor is really cozy and eclectic. There’s a little backyard outdoor seating area too. Five stars for filling a huge void in my life (I’m from Seattle where beautiful cafes aren’t so hard to come by). Also, it’s not crazy crowded like some downtown cafes I’ve been to — there’s the perfect amount of people in here. And my hot chocolate is delicious. :)

The food selection has expanded indeed to meal-​worthy dishes. There are also more juices and cold bottled drinks available for the picking.
The Coffeehouse also offers Wi-​Fi and I regularly see people chilling with laptops.
Though the cold weather is here, they also have a patio area in the back that looks just as comfy and chill as the inside.

A welcome addition (re-​addition?) to the neighborhood. It’s great to have a coffee house that finally straddles the line between independently owned but not a «coffee and hookah» place and not Starbucks.
Their drinks are quite delicious. I question putting chocolate sauce in a Iced Vanilla Soy Latte, but alas– it’s still good. Unlike starbucks, they blend everything together so you have a full 16 ounces of drink, rather than 7 ounces of drink and 9 ounces of ice cubes. If anything, their iced drinks could use a bit more ice. They also have all of your coffeehouse staples on the menu in addition to tea, sandwiches, bagels, and sweets.
The indoor is a tasteful mesh of Ikea (try and spot the creatively used Lack entertainment center) and second hand furniture. It’s very cozy inside. there’s a patio out back too. The staff is friendly as well, which just contributes to a pretty nice place, if in a location where you may not expect it. At least it’s on my walk to the subway in the morning (and many others’ along Astoria blvd.)
I hope it stays in business because it’s a pleasant alternative to Starbucks in the veritable coffeehouse desert that is the south side of Astoria Blvd.

I saw a review of this place on Joey in Astoria (
) this weekend and decided to trek over. I’m so glad I did.
This is the kind of place you instantly sink into one of their many, haphazardly arranged couches or armchairs and sigh. The iced coffee, prepared to instruction, was served up in a ball jar (v. cute) with an assortment of sweetener options. When we ordered a piece of cake, the guy picked up the pan and said «I don’t know… they just brought this in today… I think it’s apple?». It was apple. It was delicious.
Two complaints: the living room feel is well-​achieved, but they should try to keep the place a little neater and they have free WiFi (yay) which makes it hard to tell if it’s ok to chat with friends or if it’s a library kind of place.
Overall, great spot for a semi-​quiet visit.