Hey Rick. I am only really familar with the Brasilia, the Astoria Rapallo and the LaPavoni levers. The Brasilia are very popular in Italy. Like the Astoria they are very retro. Nice chrome, big steaming and hot water knobs...great finish. Several BX friends (Gin-Li and Chris K) use Pompei levers. Also very nice chrome finish. The LaPavoni like Danny uses in Singapore is less retro. Nice red resin finish as well the crome of the levers and the machine panel facing the barista.

OK, the argument that a lever would not cut it in a busy cafe is not one I would support. I saw 2 and 3 group levers working away in very busy cafes in Italy. No sweat! I would also say I think the quality of the shots is excellent. As explained the lack of a procon pump means the pressure through the shot is driven entirely from the lever pistons. This means the last few seconds extraction are under lower pressure, inevitably solving any baristas problem of blonding shots.

I would also say, from recent experience, that the worst shot from a lever is better than the equivalent from a pump driven machine, for the same reasons as above.

All in all quality of espresso shots, time to prepare the shot and of course the "Theatre" of using a lever are as good (or in the case of theatre better!) than using a pump machine.

The draw backs... it is very difficult, make that impossible, to run very long shots through some of the machines. In the Astoria the lever piston fills with enough water for a doppio or lungo. So its OK if you make only traditonal EBD,s. However I could see the problem if you were making Aussie or Kiwi "Longblacks", running water for longer through the portafiter.