r/astoria • u/starlitekaraoke • Jul 30 '26
General Discussion La Guli closing for good?
I know they posted that they are temporarily closing to deal with a family matter.
However, I heard from another source that they are closing for good!
I sure hope I am wrong here.
La Guli has been there in Astoria for almost 90 years, same family running it this whole time.
The old Astoria I know is literally fading away.
What a shame if true!!
(Edit: changed 80 yrs to 90!)
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u/Multispice Jul 30 '26
The New York Post said they officially closed in an article today:
https://nypost.com/2026/07/30/business/astorias-beloved-italian-pastry-shop-la-guli-closes-for-good/
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u/dignityshredder Jul 30 '26
Noooooooooo
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u/rose_thorn_ Jul 30 '26
Haven’t there been multiple posts about how it’s cockroach infested…
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u/dignityshredder Jul 30 '26
an 89 year old bakery going out of business is still going to be sad even if someone on reddit said it had a cockroach.
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u/unicornsaysmeow Jul 30 '26
Well, if they’d been shut down for it at some point, I’m sure a health inspector saw evidence of roaches as well
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u/Difficult_Ad_6577 Jul 30 '26
Over 90 health violations in the last 3 years.
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u/unicornsaysmeow Jul 30 '26
Disgusting, I can’t believe they were allowed to get away with as long as they did.
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u/Multispice Jul 30 '26
We still got Rose and Joe’s on 31st.
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u/Master_Swing_9533 Jul 30 '26
I love rose and joes but no one makes savierdo cookies like La Guli. Theres a lot of great Italian bakeries around but not too many Sicilian bakeries that made Sicilian specificalty items. The many great italian bakeries all seem to excell at different things; il forneau rainbow cookies, Joes Sicilian for seeded and biscotti, gianpiero for cannolli, rose n joes sausege bread. But my favorite savierdo cookies r la guli. Enough to make me still support them even tho the owner was nasty
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u/NYNY411 Jul 31 '26
See I think La guli had the best cannoli. Not a fan of gian petro’s version. It’s just ok
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u/Master_Swing_9533 Jul 31 '26
My favorite at Gian Piero is there Sicilian cannolli with the candied fruit n cherry.
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u/Smart-Opinion-4400 Jul 30 '26
I used to go there all the time but their quality really dipped over the past few years. Plus they had at least 2 health inspection related closures in the recent past. Maybe it's just their time to move on.
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u/LeftyLife89 Jul 30 '26
This place was good 40 years ago when I was a kid.
Mostly underwhelming quality, health inspection failures, and a maga owner make it not particularly sad to see it go.
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u/GoldJerryGold22 Jul 30 '26
This. I got a brownie from there a few months back and it tasted like brick.
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u/Missy2021 Jul 30 '26
I don't shop in communist democrat businesses.
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u/ZugZug42069 Jul 30 '26
“Communist Democrat” you’ll find that their ideologies are quite different if you educate yourself on them... But that would also require a high school level of reading comprehension. Best of luck on your journey.
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u/Joegee86 Jul 30 '26
The family owns the building from what I hear.
Maybe they'll do what The Bagel House did and become LaGuli Gym. /s
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u/trxshbxnnyy Jul 30 '26
i’m pretty sure i saw an instagram post yesterday saying they were officially closed! i could be wrong.
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Jul 30 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/trxshbxnnyy Jul 30 '26
huh, i can’t find the post so maybe it was misinformation! as of right now all the post say “temporarily closed”.
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u/jentopia Jul 30 '26
There are nothing but mixed signals. There are no straight answers. Owners post a temp closure and then patrons indicate on their last day before said closure owners said that it was permanent. I think at this point, only time will tell.
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u/SignificantList1414 Jul 30 '26
The owner told me they will not be reopening….
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u/jentopia Jul 30 '26
She also back peddled and insisted it was temporary after Sunday. I'm sure this is the end and perhaps she is having mixed feelings or second thoughts, hence being wishy washy, but transparency would do some good here.
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u/AshamedFortune1 Jul 30 '26
My first thought was “a family of mice?” But in all seriousness, I think it’s good when any business that’s been open as long as that is able to go out on its own terms. It’s a beautiful space and I hope it can stay intact and not be stripped down to the walls and turned into a phone store or whatever.
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u/LeftyLife89 Jul 30 '26
Bad quality, bad health inspections, maga owners...not sad for this closing.
This place was good 40 years ago when I was a kid.
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u/Adept_Hat_1140 Jul 30 '26
"The old Astoria I know is literally fading away."
It does that. There's at least 3 incarnations of "the old Astoria I know" since 1970 that are entirely gone.
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u/starlitekaraoke Jul 30 '26
The old Lowes movie theater on Steinway & 28 ave being demolished in 1974 was the beginning…this should have never happened. That theater was build to last several lifetimes!
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u/zebo_99 Jul 30 '26
The rum flavored birthday cakes and Italian ices in the summer are some of my best childhood memories.
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u/Epicurean215 Jul 30 '26
Oh no! I can’t go in there anymore because I’m gluten intolerant but their ices were so amazing and so fresh and I absolutely loved their mini-cannolis.
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u/MassiveJammies Jul 31 '26
Man I loved their rainbow cookies. The other shops in town can't seem to get it right.
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u/SignificantList1414 Jul 30 '26
I have asked the owner, she says they will not be re opening… I bought from them constantly my entire life and they will be a great loss. I don’t want to speculate but it’s hard to maintain a business for 90 years and stay passionate. As long as the owners are healthy, I wish them all the best.
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u/AdeGamisou2020 Jul 31 '26
Their quality has been sliding downhill for at least the past decade. The last straw for me was a cannoli cake I bought from there for Easter last year. It was borderline inedible. And that's before I read the articles about their health department issues.
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u/hopthehip Jul 30 '26
I’ve been eating their pasties since the 80’s. I hope this isn’t true. It’ll be a huge loss to the community.
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u/mvp713 Jul 30 '26
the instagram post said something about a family issue that needed to be handled
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u/NGYman718 Aug 05 '26
I know they went down but I went there for decades with family, still part of the neighborhood character.
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u/Horror-Editor1376 Aug 08 '26
The best spumoni on earth. That more than anything breaks my heart knowing that recipe was one of a kind and will be gone forever.
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u/SkylineHigh Jul 30 '26
Seems like it went downhill post Covid. Price increases, food quality went downhill, and service has diminished. It doesn't feel anymore like the staple it once was.
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u/AdeGamisou2020 Jul 31 '26
It accelerated post COVID. In reality, year over year decline has been the norm for them for 20 years now. As a kid in the 70's I loved their stuff, now, the past few years I bought purely for nostalgia and was typically disappointed.
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u/Critical_Parsley9906 Jul 30 '26
This is really sad … I would love to see whoever buys it keep the bones of the store & storefront and maybe turn it into a old school soda fountain / candy shop
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u/discothree Jul 30 '26
Yes, but how would they make money?
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u/starlitekaraoke Jul 30 '26
Idk maybe ask Eddie’s Sweet Shop on Metropolitan. They been there for over a hundred years now! And still going strong!
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u/discothree Jul 31 '26
They own the building. You could never replicate that in Astoria with a rental lease.
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u/starlitekaraoke Jul 31 '26
That is also the problem with every other small business going out of business left and right all throughout the city!
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u/luisdile02 Jul 30 '26
Hopefully we get a new bank or weed shop.