Dec. 4, 2015 By Michael Florio
A longtime Astoria bakery is set to reopen at a new location next week.
Lefkos Pyrgos, the popular bakery that has been in business for more than 40 years, will reopen next week at 33-02 Ditmars Blvd., according to manager Leandros Gkezos.
Gkezos said the owners, Petros and Wioly Pantazis, are targeting Monday for the opening but doors should be open by the end of the week at the latest.
“They [the owners] are very excited to be opening again,” Gkezos said. “They can’t wait.”
“They really wanted to open before Christmas, which is a very busy time,” he added.
Lefkos Pyrgos was previously located on the corner of 31st Street and 23rd Avenue, but was forced to move when the building owner decided to lease the space to Time Warner Cable. The bakery had been in business since 1970.
Originally, the owners were unsure if they wanted to open again, according to Angelo Haskis, a consultant with the bakery.
“At first it looked like they weren’t going to reopen,” he said.
However, the Pantazis’ live in Astoria and could not go out in the neighborhood without residents asking if they would reopen, Haskis said.
“They are back by popular demand,” he said.
Gkezos added that the bakery is their passion and they felt lost without it.
The new menu will be similar to the original, with some added items. The bakery will serve a wide variety of pastries such as apple turnover, tiramisu and strawberry shortcake. It will also have Greek pastries such as baklava, diples, ravani and kataifi.
All of the baked goods are handmade on location.
Gkezos said several organic pastries have been added to the menu.
The bakery will now have a greater emphasis on coffee, serving cappuccino, espresso, latte, Greek coffee and American coffee, Gkezos said. There will also be a variety of flavors such as coconut and caramel.
Along with the wide variety of hot and ice coffees as well as tea and soft drinks, the bakery is also planning to serve red and white wine, as well as beer and liquor, including Baileys Irish Cream.
“We will serve Baileys either in coffee or say a customer wants a shot of it along with their dessert,” Gkezos said.
The new Lefkos Pyrgos will also offer baking lessons once a week, where customers can learn to bake different items, such as cheesecake. Cost and schedule are still in the works.
The bakery can seat up to 60 people, which is larger than the 25 to 30 people it could seat at the original location. Gkezos also said that the owners are looking to set up 20 outdoor seats in the spring.
The hours are still being worked out, according to Gkezos, but it will open at either 8 a.m. or 9 a.m. until midnight, seven days a week.
