Astoria’s latest restaurant plot twist is playing out on 30th Avenue, where Nice Day Chinese has quietly taken over the corner storefront long known as Ma Lala. The New Haven-rooted takeout brand’s new outpost is keeping many of Ma Lala’s best-loved dishes on the line while layering in Nice Day staples like made-to-order dim sum and milk teas. Local coverage reports that Ma Lala’s original founder and chef is still working in the kitchen under the Nice Day name, so for regulars the new sign signals a rebrand more than a full disappearance.
New name on 30th Avenue
The locations page for Nice Day now lists an Astoria address at 42-02 30th Ave, along with a local phone number for the corner spot. The Astoria entry appears with an “Order Now” prompt, and third-party delivery sites are already serving up a Nice Day menu tied to the same address. Taken together, the official listing and active delivery pages point to an opening that is very much live instead of just aspirational. Anyone walking past will spot the change as soon as they see the new storefront where the Ma Lala signage used to hang.
Menu: Ma Lala favorites and Nice Day signatures
Local reporting notes that Nice Day has kept many of Ma Lala’s popular Sichuan dishes while mixing in its own signature items. According to QNS, the Astoria menu features housemade dim sum and handmade soup dumplings alongside Ma Lala holdovers such as dry pot. Delivery-platform menus for the address also show familiar American-Chinese standards like General Tso’s chicken and pork dumplings. The result is a lineup that straddles American-Chinese comfort food and regional Chinese flavors, a combination that could bring back Ma Lala loyalists while pulling in Nice Day fans from beyond the neighborhood.
Owners and origins
Nice Day is operated by Yong Zhao and Wanting Zhang, the team behind Junzi Kitchen, and the concept grew out of Junzi’s experiments with American-Chinese takeout. Eater NY chronicled how Nice Day spun off from Junzi and gradually expanded to locations in Connecticut and Long Island before landing in Queens. The owners have described Nice Day as an effort to update the classic neighborhood Chinese takeout model while keeping the familiar dishes that communities depend on. The Astoria shop marks the brand’s move into the outer boroughs after establishing itself in Manhattan and New Haven.
Local reaction and the mural
The refreshed exterior now carries a mural that mixes Queens touchstones like the 7 train and Mets imagery with Chinese design elements, a detail flagged in local coverage. QNS shared photos of the artwork, while neighborhood message boards have filled up with a blend of disappointment over Ma Lala’s name coming down and curiosity about Nice Day’s arrival. Ma Lala’s old listings are still visible in several restaurant directories, which adds to the sense that this is a handoff rather than a clean break. For many diners, the real test will be whether the spice levels and overall execution feel the same under the new banner.
Ordering and what to expect
The Astoria location is already live on the Nice Day site and on major delivery apps, so orders are an option even as the team finishes dialing in the space. The official site lists the 30th Avenue address and contact details, while third-party platforms display the current menu for the corner storefront. The rebrand shapes up as a practical middle ground: keep the dishes neighbors were already attached to, add some new headliners, and plug the operation into a larger company’s systems. Anyone cruising down 30th Avenue this week will have a hard time missing the updated sign and Queens-meets-Chinese mural marking the transition.
