astoria, queens · espresso bar
Pull up a stool two blocks from the Astoria Blvd N/W station and you'll find Nova pulling shots the same way cafés have for over a century — just served the way this neighborhood actually drinks it: over ice, most of the year.
Where Espresso Comes From
Espresso is Italian by birth and by name — "espresso" means "pressed out," and that's literally the method: hot water forced through finely-ground coffee at high pressure in under 30 seconds. The machine that made it possible was patented in Milan in 1901 by Luigi Bezzera, a factory owner who wanted his workers' coffee breaks to take less time. A few years later, Desiderio Pavoni bought the patent and started manufacturing La Pavoni machines, and the espresso bar — a place to drink your coffee standing up, quickly, in good company — became a fixture of Italian city life.
Italian immigrants carried that bar culture to New York in waves through the 20th century, and it's that same lineage — fast, strong, no filter, no fuss — that sits underneath every espresso-based drink on a modern café menu, Nova's included. What's changed since 1901 is mostly the glass it goes in: in Astoria, most of the year calls for ice.
Nova builds its whole coffee side around espresso, pulled to order and finished cold: an Ice Latte, Ice Cappuccino, Ice Americano, Ice Mocha, and a straight Espresso Tonic for anyone who wants the shot to do the talking. If you want it without dairy, the Coconut Water Americano swaps the water for coconut water. Cold Brew — steeped slow instead of pulled fast — sits on the same board for the days you want something mellower.
Every one of these is made at the espresso counter on the café side of the room, the same counter that opens the chalkboard every morning on 30th Ave.
Nova sits at 41-02 30th Ave, a short walk from both the Astoria Blvd and Astoria–Ditmars Blvd stations on the N and W lines — close enough that it's become the stop a lot of regulars make before or after the train, not instead of it. More on the neighborhood →
Espresso drinks start from a concentrated shot pulled under pressure in under 30 seconds, then get built up with ice, milk or water — that's an Ice Latte or Ice Americano. Our Cold Brew is a separate method: coffee steeped slowly in cold water for hours, no espresso machine involved, for a mellower, less acidic cup.
Nova's café menu is built around iced espresso drinks year-round, which is how most regulars order here — ask at the counter if you'd like something hot and we're happy to make it.
Yes — it's about a two-block walk from the Astoria Blvd N/W station, on 30th Ave.
41-02 30th Ave, Astoria, Queens — two blocks from the N/W train.
N