Cancel

    Open app

    Search

    Nova Alianca

    4.4 (25 reviews)
    InexpensiveCafes, Bakeries, Portuguese
    Closed 5:00 am - 7:00 pm

    Nova Alianca Photos

    NOVA ALIANCA ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?

    You might also consider

    Recommended Reviews - Nova Alianca

    Your trust is our priority, so businesses can't pay to alter or remove their reviews. Learn more about reviews.
    Yelp app icon
    Browse more easily on the app
    Review Feed Illustration

    Reviews With Photos

    Croissants and multi grain croissants
    Melodie M.

    This little Portuguese cafe and bakery is busy! I enjoy seeing most of the signage in Portuguese, indicative of the Ironbound neighborhood Nova Alianca is anchored in. The lunch buffet was busy when I came midday, and a line built up quickly during a morning visit with locals picking up coffee and breakfast sandwiches. They have wonderful multi-grain croissants with seeds all over it; so delicious! They carry bread loaves and rolls, and I tried their 75-cent multi-grain roll. Their Portuguese egg custard tarts though are to die for. I could eat one of these every day! Light but rich, flaky and crispy on the outside, creamy but firm on the inside.

    People eating and watching tv.
    Ziair R.

    Very good service.Food is ok not very flavorful but no worries they have seasonings. Filled with very nice people and and good workers. It's kind of loud and the chairs are very noisy when moved. Good place deserves a 4 but from the ups and downs I believe 3 matches just right I would recommend eating here.

    Bernadette B.

    Ever since I got back from Lisbon, Portugal, I've been craving some Pastel de Nata. Being in Newark, there is a Portuguese neighborhood with many bakeries to be had. So I am on a Pastel de Nata tour! This one is my third stop. As Pastel de Nata go, this was exactly in the middle for me. The crust is good but the custard part was just fine. It's still good, but maybe a double if we're going to stay with the baseball analogies. Again, I've only eaten one thing at each bakery, so that's what we're rating.

    Irving R.

    Cool spot full of locals, which is always a good thing. I normally come here for dessert because I really love the pasteis de nata which are amazing here. Had ones with blueberry for the first time and it kinda changed my life crunchy flaky crust, blueberry bottom with custard, yes wipe the drool off your chin. The cage con leche had a little more milk than I would have liked but the espresso is delicious.

    Salad bar
    Julio G.

    I love this place! The coffee, the baked foods, the delicious fish for lunch. This place draws you in from the moment you walk by on the street. The smell of the baked goods and sweet smell of coffee attract you like a moth to a flame! One of the best things to do is get a galao with a roll or panini and then sit down by the window and enjoy the experience. You'll see a diverse crowd of Europeans and new hipsters ordering their breakfasts. It's great. End your meal with a egg custard baked good (NATAS). So delicious you won't regret it! Enjoy your visit! *please vote below if you enjoyed the review*

    Hot food buffet
    Lin Y.

    Soaking up the local flavors is a good thing here! The buffet lunch has some tasty options and though not cheap because it is weighed by the pound, will really make you strategize what is on your plate. This is a good thing for the waist-line. You can take the food to go or eat-in. You would grab the plastic containers instead of the plate for takeout. I grabbed a chicken drum, small pork cutlet some white rice and beans. The chicken had good flavor and so did the pork chop. The pork chop was grilled, seasoned well and delicious. I tasted something vinegary in the chicken and it gave it a nice dose of acid. The beans I took from a stew and they look like navy beans but were buttery in texture and quite good. I forgot to grab a sausage but there is always a next time. I enjoyed my lunch plate and controlled my portion too. The lady didn't understand me that well at the counter but she was pleasant and hard working. At the end I topped it off with a pasteis de Nata. My meal cost $7 and the nata was $1.50. You go to the end of the counter where the scale is calibrated to take on the weight of the plate. The nata wasn't flaky and I found the custard tasting too much like sweetened condensed Lots of locals enjoying coffee and having soup and lunch. There are plenty of small tables so this is a good place for a rest or lunch stop. There are other pastry options as well, but after that nata, I found myself going to another well-known bakery nearby. My feet go willingly to where the Portuguese tarts are!

    See all

    1 month ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    14 days ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 2
    Oh no 0

    7 years ago

    Helpful 12
    Thanks 0
    Love this 8
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    8 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    6 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    8 years ago

    Helpful 2
    Thanks 0
    Love this 2
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Lin Y.
    30
    450
    3591

    4 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    4 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Eris A.
    242
    82
    10339

    11 years ago

    Helpful 3
    Thanks 0
    Love this 3
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Felipe P.
    17
    96
    56

    8 years ago

    Helpful 4
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    12 years ago

    Helpful 2
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    4 years ago

    I bought a couple Pasties de Nata. They were ok. If you're in the area, they're worth a try.

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    7 years ago

    Their buffet is out of this world. Tastes like my Brazilian mother's cooking, and is very affordable.

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Jay L.
    0
    92
    0

    4 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    7 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    10 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    8 years ago

    Helpful 2
    Thanks 0
    Love this 2
    Oh no 0

    11 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    8 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    9 years ago

    Very good pastries. A nice place for after diner coffee express I and pastries. Very friendly staff.

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Jay L.
    0
    64
    0

    9 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Gene C.
    21
    32
    50

    10 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    9 years ago

    Helpful 2
    Thanks 0
    Love this 2
    Oh no 0

    Ask the Community - Nova Alianca

    You might also consider

    Verify this business for free

    People searched for Cafes 32,339 times last month within 15 miles of this business.

    Verify this business

    Soul Sweet Boutique

    Soul Sweet Boutique

    4.2
    (38 reviews)
    0.2 mi

    I always have a sweet tooth and wanted to give this spot a try. When I arrived I had to double park…read morebecause parking is terrible in this area. I walked in and was greeted. The spot was super cute. I asked the lady a couple of questions about the desserts and the one I went with is the lime pie. It came to a little under $7 for a small slice. It's a tad pricey at this location. I paid and left. When I got home I tasted and it was a tasty pie. It was the right amount of flavor throughout. I had a pretty decent experience.

    Nope.....! We saw…read moretheir Luxury Truffle Collection offered on QVC. The truffles presented there were presented as large enough to be cut in half and shared for 2. The hosts Ooooed and Awwwed over the size of them & the unique flavors and when we would normally never pay 5$ a piece for chocolate, we thought they looked like a deal given the "size" and unique flavors. [12 pieces for $59.95] What was delivered was a joke! The total weight of the chocolates was approximately 8 ounces. That made them $120 a pound. They were simply packed loosely in a shipping box, so the box of truffles was shook and shaken all the way to our house and they looked terrible by the time they arrived. So an F for shipping. And the size, well as you can see they were nowhere as large as what was presented, as some were not even large enough to fill the space allowed in their packaging! For the most part they were smaller than a Lindor truffle. So another F for actual portion size in relation to what as presented on QVC. Finally the taste.... There was none. We tries 3, and they had NO real taste. I described them as eating Play Dough...just a weird putty texture. And the killer is 2 of the 3 we tried were hollow and you could see the seam where they constructed them. Yes...a BIG FAT "F" for taste!! We tried to return them and QVC didnt even want them back... So we put them where they belonged...in the TRASH. I welcome the owners of this establishment to prove to us what they offer is actually worth $120 a pound....

    Photos
    Soul Sweet Boutique
    Soul Sweet Boutique
    Soul Sweet Boutique

    See all

    Dulce de Leche Bakery

    Dulce de Leche Bakery

    4.5
    (396 reviews)
    6.0 mi
    $

    DDL is elite. They have it all. Fantastic pastries, cakes and sandwiches. Great coffees. Spacious,…read moreclean and cozy seating. Friendly and helpful staff. Super affordable prices. I've never eaten anything that I didn't like. My faves are: milhojas, breakfast croissant sandwich, and any and every cake with dulce de leche filling. I only tiny, minuscule complaint I have about this place is the lack of signage for the pastries and cakes. It would be nice to know what I'm looking at without having the ask. Absolutely zero gatekeeping here. Please everyone keep patronizing this establishment. I need this place to continue to exist in my hood.

    The cake here is very good! Super moist, and the frosting is light and fluffy when ordered fresh…read more Unfortunately the 2 cupcakes I got, both alfajores and the chocolate covered one too were stale, like super hard and dry. So get anything fresh, like made to order cakes or things you see come out right when you're there. Otherwise you run the risk of getting old stuff, which sucks that they don't manage that at all. On a Sunday afternoon lines moved quickly and we were able to find seats. This is a cute cafe that offers plenty of savory items and lunches, plus drinks like matcha, cakes, pastries and cookies. There is also a bathroom! The women behind the counter were all nice and patient with my questions, they also kept the line moving and were quick. I had high hopes for the Alfajores as this is an Argentinian bakery but unfortunately the ones given to me were stale. The cookie was very hard. Also the Dulce de leche was too sweet and burnt tasting to me. I also got a chocolate covered one and the cookie in that was also hard and dry. The strawberry croissant was amazing. Never had anything like that before. Not too sweet and very flaky. It has a ribbon of red on the outside which gives it a unique look. I would love to come back and try savory items. I'll continue to stick with the cakes and croissants for desert and make sure it's fresh!

    Photos
    Tres Leches Slice (~$6)
    Tres Leches Slice (~$6)
    Chocolate Layer
    Chocolate Layer
    Inside

    See all

    Inside

    Nova Alianca - cafes - Updated July 2026

    Loading...
    Loading...
    Loading...