Bakey is a cafe with Israeli and European baking influences, located in downtown Boston right by the Boston Common as well as a second location in Brookline. They’re known for their chocolate babkas, cheese burekas, and challah bagel sandwiches.
Bakey (Tremont St Boston)
Overall Rating: ★★★★★ out of 5 stars
Address: 151 Tremont St, Boston, MA 02111
Neighborhood: Downtown
Perfect For: Fresh pastries and specialty breads
Hours: Mon – Sun 7am – 6pm
Reservations: No
Parking: Street, Boston Common Garage
Links: Website, Menu
Cost: $10 per person (food only)
The interior of Bakey is modern, clean, and uncluttered. There is a row of bar seating that faces the Boston Common — a beautiful view and great for people watching. There are also additional tables for small-to-medium sized groups as well as bathrooms on the other side of the cafe. The interior is overall more spacious and comfortable than I have seen in other cafes downtown that have tighter and narrower spaces.
There is also a beverage pick-up area, featuring standard coffee, espresso, and tea options. If you’re wanting to purchase a large coffee box for a meeting or event, they offer a 96-oz box of coffee for $32.
Bakey is known for their chocolate babkas, but they also offer flavors such as almond, cinnamon, raspberry, choco-banana-pecan, and pistachio. If you’re unfamiliar, babka originated from the Jewish communities in Europe as a sweet braided bread. For a savory option, Bakey also offers a Mediterranean babka.
Bureka is also popular here, which is a flaky baked pastry in Israeli and Sephardic Jewish cuisine that come in a wide variety of shapes and fillings. They’re usually made with puff pastry dough. Bakey offers spinach and cheese bureka, potato bureka, and a regular cheese bureka.
If that wasn’t enough, there are also chocolate chip cookies, soft challah bagels, and cheese sticks (puff pastry dough rolled with gouda cheese) to tempt you. The same soft challah bagels are used to make their sandwiches such as salmon lox bagel, tuna salad bagel, and egg salad bagel.
If you’re wanting to serve a large group or event, they also offer a sweet pastry assortment and a savory pastry assortment for $110 that can serve 10 to 15 people. All of their menu items can be ordered online for pickup or delivery.
I decided to order a savory Mediterranean babka and a cinnamon babka as a to-go order. The Mediterranean babka had airy pillowy bread with delicious savory bits such as pumpkin seeds. I also enjoyed the cinnamon babka’s delicious flaky layers. In the past, I’ve also ordered the chocolate babka, which has a fantastic chocolate flavor infused throughout the sweet bread.
If you take a pastry home, Bakey recommends heating the pastry for 5 to 10 minutes in a pre-heated 375 F oven so that they taste just as good as freshly baked ones. For storage, pastries should be kept in a sealed bag in the fridge or freezer.
I look forward to returning to Bakey again, as I’d love to try more sweet babka flavors as well as the cheese stick and potato bureka. Service is consistently good here, as the staff are always very friendly and welcoming.
