Upon entry, first impression was it was a bit dirty. The place was vacant. There was a side business offering prominently displayed by the front door. Taking a moment, the decor was actually nice, which took me a minute to realize through the layer of grime.
Front of house (FOH) staff greeted us from the back of the cafe with a loud voice to sit anywhere, then to return to order at the counter. We were sort of handed 3 menus, one of which was in dire need of a wipedown, a samosa has been smashed on it in all likelihood (gross whatever it was). We ordered and paid in advance, likely a nod to their beginning as a foodtruck or to the local culture, which when we got there was shut down except for a bar that had outside seating with patrons yelling to one another despite being at the same table.
While we waited, another table seated and the other FOH member was yelling loud profanities with them, not at, but again, as part of a pattern of culture. We were not really wanting to hear profanities across the cafe, it was inappropriate for our party. The 2 FOH then stepped outside (just outside the front door) and smoked, yelled in a chimed in conversation with the patrons of the bar at the corner, smoked, came back in in without washing up.
The vibe felt like an 'F you' really. They were fine to us directly, but the general vibe was one that was outside the norms of dining, which is concerning. Food service needs boundaries, cleanliness and decency are among the cornerstones of food service and trust is right there with it, especially in a VF place. I think they need to decide if they want to be Astoria cool or a good cafe, because it has the makings of being good if they rein in the crazy, seem like they want to be there, and focus on the food and their customers in a healthy and safe way.
The food was mixed. We thought it was good initially, but we did not keep our leftovers, but those comments can negate a review so I will leave it at that.