Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters

Take your next trip with Atlas Obscura!

Our small-group adventures are inspired by our Atlas of the world's most fascinating places, the stories behind them, and the people who bring them to life.

Visit Adventures
Trips Highlight
Puglia Italy - Matera
Italy • 8 days, 7 nights
Southern Italy: Castles, Caves & Coastal Treasures in Puglia
from
Turkmenistan Gates of Hell Darvaza crater
Turkmenistan • 10 days, 9 nights
Turkmenistan & the Gates of Hell
from
View all trips
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »

Countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan

Cities

  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
Pinal Airpark
Note the chrysanthemum crests.
Hachiman Bridge
Clarendon War Memorial.
Clarendon War Memorial
This fried chicken is one of Bangkok’s most famous.
Gai Tord Jae Kee
Latest Places to Eat & Drink
View All Places to Eat »
Everything at Li’l Dizzy’s Cafe is served in takeout containers.
Li’l Dizzy’s Cafe
The fried green tomato sandwich comes on jalapeño cornbread toast.
Café Reconcile
BBQ shrimp braised in beer are a popular menu item.
High Hat Cafe
The pastries at Lagniappe Bakehouse are worth waking up for.
Lagniappe Bakehouse
Peter Vazquez has been quietly making a name for himself for years.
The Appetite Repair Shop
Recent Stories
All Stories Video Podcast
Most Recent Stories
View All Stories »
Haleakalā National Park’s summit region, shrouded in the pre-dawn fog.
Beware the Legends Behind These National Park Souvenirs
13 days ago
For Aguilar-Carrasco, nature is a powerful reminder of the interconnectedness of all life.
How Can National Parks Be Made Accessible to All? AO Wants to Know.
14 days ago
Podcast: Finding ‘The Great Gatsby’ in Louisville
15 days ago
Here’s which treats you can safely lug home without risking a fine.
Dear Atlas: What International Food Can I Legally Bring Into the U.S.?
16 days ago

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All the United States New York State New York City Queens Cassinelli Pasta
Cassinelli Pasta is permanently closed.

This entry remains in the Atlas as a record of its history, but it is no longer accessible to visitors.

Gastro Obscura

Cassinelli Pasta

The oldest pastificio in Queens offers visitors fresh noodles and a peek inside the macaroni-making magic.

Queens, New York

Added By
Reina Gattuso
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
  Cassinelli Pasta/Used with permission
  Cassinelli Pasta/Used with permission
  Cassinelli Pasta/Used with permission
  Kat L./Used with permission
  Cassinelli Pasta/Used with permission
  Cassinelli Pasta/Used with permission
  Cassinelli Pasta/Used with permission
  Cassinelli Pasta/Used with permission
  Cassinelli Pasta/Used with permission
  Athenais Altzibar/Used with permission
  Cassinelli Pasta/Used with permission
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

With a nondescript green awning, tucked away on a strip that includes an accountant’s office and a barbershop, Cassinelli is a legend in pasta. Founded in 1912 in Manhattan and later relocated to New Jersey, the pasta shop moved to Astoria in the 1930s. It's been turning out fresh noodles from its mesmerizing collection of small pasta machines ever since.

Visitors to the small shop, including some locals who've been relying on its fresh macaroni for their Sunday dinners for more than half a century, don't just get to bring the tender semolina noodles home. They can also gaze into the open kitchen as the owners and pasta makers knead, press, and squeeze the yellow dough into ornate shapes of carbohydrate bliss.

In 1957, young mother Nella Costella regularly walked her baby carriage past Cassinelli Pasta, stopping in to chat. Like so many residents of the heavily Italian-American neighborhood, she had emigrated from Italy a few years before with no knowledge of English. She took night classes and became friendly with the proprietors of the neighborhood pasta shop, eventually starting a part-time job. More than 50 years later, Costella co-owns Cassinelli, alongside Tony Bonfigli, who also emigrated from Italy in the 1950s. While now in their late 70s, the two continue to work in the storefront alongside their small crew, guarding the legacy of the oldest—and, some would argue, best—pasta shop in Queens. Today, their regulars include upscale Manhattan restaurants as well as even pickier customers: Italian-American grandmothers.

Visitors to Cassinelli will find a bustling shop full of playful conversation in Italian and a rotating array of regulars looking to buy fresh ravioli, spaghetti, and gnocchi. The shop produces up to 4,000 pounds of pasta a day, including less common pastas such as squid-ink linguine and bucatini, a long, tubular noodle with a hole in the center, traditionally eaten by Sicilians on St. Joseph's Day. Machines crank out these shapes and more from endless sheets of dough, which unspool like fabric in a sewing machine and are pressed through thin holes into long, squiggly spaghetti. Visitors can also purchase spinach, meat, or cheese ravioli—or, if they're feeling ambitious, buy thin, cornmeal-dusted sheets of the pasta to fill and cut into ravioli at home. Midday visitors shouldn't be surprised if the shop is briefly shuttered around noontime, however: The Cassinelli crew has their priorities in order, and makes sure to take a break for their daily lunch.

Related Tags

Pasta Macaroni New York City Italian

Know Before You Go

Throwing back to an earlier, more chilled-out time, the shop has limited hours, usually 7:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. from Monday to Friday. Check their website and Instagram for closures before making the trek. 

Community Contributors

Added By

Reina Gattuso

Published

July 8, 2019

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Cassinelli Pasta
3112 23rd Ave
Astoria
Queens, New York, 11105
United States
40.773989, -73.91255
Visit Website
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Steinway Piano Factory

Queens, New York

miles away

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Cemetery

Queens, New York

miles away

The Welling Court Mural Project

Queens, New York

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Queens

Queens

New York

Places 76
Stories 12

Nearby Places

Steinway Piano Factory

Queens, New York

miles away

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Cemetery

Queens, New York

miles away

The Welling Court Mural Project

Queens, New York

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Queens

Queens

New York

Places 76
Stories 12

Related Stories and Lists

13 Places for Feasting on Pasta, History, and Italian-Americana

List

By Sam Lin-Sommer

Related Places

  • Escudella, a ham bone broth with snail-shaped pasta, is traditionally reserved for Christmas.

    Barcelona, Spain

    Can Culleretes

    It’s Christmas every day at Barcelona’s oldest restaurant.

  • Las Vegas, Nevada

    Italian American Club Restaurant

    This supper club is a slice of old Las Vegas.

  • The old town square.

    Seborga, Italy

    Principality of Seborga

    This small village claims to be independent from Italy because it was left out when the nation was unified.

  • American Italian Heritage Museum

    Albany, New York

    American Italian Heritage Museum

    The largest museum dedicated to Italian Americans on the East Coast is located in a 100-year-old church.

  • Courtesy National Gallery of Art

    Washington, D.C.

    'Ginevra de’ Benci' Portrait

    The only Leonardo Da Vinci painting in the Western Hemisphere.

  • The interior dining room with the glass-windowed kitchen.

    Brooklyn, New York

    Bamonte's

    Dine on old-school red sauce fare at a former mob hang out and film set for The Sopranos.

  • The knife and grill fork.

    Boston, Massachusetts

    North End Street Utensils

    Silverware in the sidewalk outside a grocery store cements this neighborhood’s Italian culinary history.

  • Sacramento, California

    Corti Brothers Grocery

    The last of a gourmet supermarket chain, this store helped spark California's Food Revolution.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.