Breads Bakery

I dropped by later in the day to share a canele (~$ 3?) and a chocolate rugelach (~$ 2?) with a friend.
The canele probably was much better earlier in the day before the outside crust had softened but the inside was still creamy and delightful. Really nice, dark, burnished, caramel crust on the outside. If I had come earlier, I bet it would have crunched really well. Compared to a chain like Paris Baguette though, it was a bit bigger, it was probably a bit more tasty, but not sure it was worth the cost (7.5÷10).
The chocolate rugelach I remember thinking it was a real steal. The dough was nice and tender, the chocolate wasn’t overbaked and scorched. Not too sweet either. I’d definitely recommend picking up a mix of a dozen of these for a nice house party item to bring. (⁸⁄₁₀)

This place is so good! I walked over two miles to get there and it did not disappoint. I recommend getting their bread stick and of course the babka.

Was really hungry and needed something super quick. So I popped in as soon as I realized that this place had been bookmarked on my Unilocal like forever– these tiny chocolate croissants (i know they are called rugelachs which I still have yet to learn to properly pronounce but) were just kinda lying there waiting to be picked up so I decided to try one but per cashiers suggestion ended up getting 2 for $ 3. And oh wow they turned out to be the best thing I’ve had recently– and do note that I live a few blocks from the famous Levains. Where I get my sweet cravings satisfied every two weeks or so. I thought I’d just eat one and save the other for later but I ended up finishing both plus feta-​spinach pastry before I left the bakery. Now I can’t wait to go back to try their famous babka! Love, love, love!

Best chocolate croissants out there — super flaky (can tell they use a ton of butter) and delicious chocolate. I’m not a fan of the rougalache — chocolate croissant all the way!
I’ve brought guests from out of town here and they agree that the baked goods from Breads Bakery are delish!

Best bakery we’ve found so far in NYC. The babka is what they are known for but everything is top quality as well. The sweet breads have just the right amount of sweetness. Not overly sweet or smothered in icing.
The savory food is also great (quiche and potato boureka).

Chocolate rugelach was good. I also bought the walnut bread from the place but it was a bit hard so would not recommend that bread. Garlic and herbs one looked good and seemed very popular among customers with the chocolate babka. Also, every bread came down to $ 4 from $ 7.5 close to the closing time. I bought the bread at around 7:30pm.

Had a meeting here with some colleagues. It is busy and has a good reputation. I’m a BOB (baller on a budget) So i couldn’t splurge. Despite this I still ended up spending about $ 15 bucks in here. I had the vegan sandwich $ 9. It’s filled with cauliflower, greens and a tasty spread. I recommend it, it was surprisingly yummy. Everything here tastes very fresh and although I only tried 2 items, I believe is worth returning as everyone seems to rave about their pastries and other goodies. I can’t stop eating so I shall be back (evil villain laugh) BWAHHAHAH BWAHAHA

We got the Crossaint and Pain Chocolate. Both were well executed. Both had a crisp, lightly egg washed exterior with a bite that finished smooth on a slightly browned buttery note. All around solid pastries. They weren’t next-​level good, but I don’t see anything wrong with them. A solid choice for baked goods.

No doubt this is a must stop in NYC. The famous chocolate babka brought us here, but there are some other stellar items that are worth trying. We had the gouda roll (warmed) and it was out of this world. If I’m being honest, it was more memorable than the babka, but both were wonderfully worth the calories. The chocolate rugelach is also pretty spectacular, super moist and dense but soft and interesting.
They serve sandwiches and coffee in the back, so if you want something before dessert, walk to the back. Staff is efficient, but busy, so not super chatty.
Also, eat everything the same day. Had leftovers and on day 2 they weren’t as good. (I guess that’s a no brainer)

This is going to be short and sweet. Have been reading about the babka forever at breads and finally decided to try it out. I have spent time in Israel and feel as though I have a great judge of a good babka. Holy moly. THIS is a babka. Yes it has Nutella, which most babka does not. And yes, it is pretty yeasty– but that only makes it the most moist cake ever. And addicting. And amazing. I’ve never had a babka like it.
Also at checkout I went for a feta bureka. Wow. Just wow.
Go. And eat. No diets here.

Though expensive, the food and pastries here are delicious. I stopped here for breakfast on Saturday morning and pretty much consumed everything my body would allow, including an almond croissant (so buttery! so flakey! perfect amount of powdered sugar!), the Mediterranean quiche (perfect size), and two of the little sandwiches from the café in the back of the bakery.
Someone came around with a tray passing out samples of the tripled chocolate cookie, and I decided that was exactly what I needed as dessert for my breakfast at 9 am. I bought a few to go and froze them-I’m hoping they defrost nicely as I’ve done this with Levain Bakery cookies in the past.
As you’ll see in other reviews, the babkas are what they are known for. They are truly delicious, but I’d encourage people to try other things there as well! They have ten or so tables available for patrons, and the staff is friendly.

Ever since Eater broke the news that Breads Bakery had an amazing tuna fish sandwich, I had to try it. The tuna fish sandwich skeptic in me could not believe it, especially as I had always felt that my mom made the best tuna fish sandwiches and had yet to try one that was just as good as my mom’s.
I went to Breads Bakery and floated through the aroma of delicious pastries to the back and asked the cashier for the tuna fish sandwich, you know the one that was on Eater. The cashier gave me a blank stare for a moment and anxious thoughts started flashing through my mind until he whipped out a grin and was like «oh I saw that article, it popped up on my Newsfeed. That’s my favorite sandwich here.» With that, my faith in the Breads Bakery tuna fish sandwich was restored and now, I was even more excited. I mean, when the cashiers rave about a sandwich, you know it’s gotta be good.
Well, I got my sandwich and as I was waiting for the subway, the hungry child in me could not resist and I took a bite and then another bite and by the time, the subway came, I was halfway through, but I had to finish that sandwich. So, I got on to the subway and even though I’ve been seeing those subway signs saying that the subway is not a dining car, the sandwich was so good that I ended up polishing off the rest of that sandwich on the subway.
By the way, Breads’ Bakery’s pastries are also very delicious, especially the almond croissant and the chocolate rugelach.

Ummm where has this bakery been all my life. I stumbled into this bakery with the sole purpose of needing to kill some time before a dinner date and I’ve been drooling to go back ever since.
What I ordered:
— Decaf Latte with Skim milk — AMAZING. Only gripe was that there wasn’t enough of it and I finished it too fast.
— Mazipan cookie — holy wow. I believe it was the raspberry filling that was just oh so delectable.
— Rugelach — bite sized, perfect sized.
Will go back to try there coveted Cretzel very soon!

Short review, but I had to leave one and rate the place. I usually am not a fan of anything coffee related without adding sugar… I had a small decaf latte and it was so good that I didn’t WANT to add sugar since the taste was actually GOOD. This is coming from someone who used to spend three months in Italy visiting family every single year until I was 19.
I popped in here with my sister to get it to go without any expectations even though she told me it was good. Apparently her friend used to work there. The only downside was that I ordered a small, and being used to everything big here in America, it was smaller than I thought. I wish I had ordered a large because it was really good. And there you go!

I love love this place. Always my first stop for coffee whenever I am in Manhattan. Croissants couldn’t be any fresher if you were in Paris.
The lovely girl who usually makes the coffee makes each drink with such love and expertise, I usually end up ordering a second one, it’s just that good!

Spring Saturday afternoon, but 2 friends and I were still able to score a table in the café. Order at the back counter. $ 3 for a venti café au lait! :) The mini sandwiches were buy one get one free ($ 5 each) and delish! Friend enjoyed her shakshuka which they’ll gladly heat up.
Pastries in front half of the place go fast. Apple, chocolate, and poppy seed hamantaschen almost sold out. Cheese straw is like a cheesy, flaky croissant. Marzipan tart is delicious! Had a sample of babka and will be back for more.

I love this place!!! No wonder they have such high ratings here bc their breads and pastries are so delicious!
I bought each one of the burekas (potato, feta, and spinach) and an extra potato bureka, one olive $ cheese breadstick, and one za’atar twist. I ate up the potato bureka within two seconds, because it was too good!!! Soft, moist, and not-​too-​salty. It’s basically a similar thing as knish except the outside dough is flaky with sesame on it.
The olive & cheese breadstick was epic, to my surprise! I usually don’t like olives, but they just went so well with the bread and cheese. The unique flavor olives have made the whole thing so fresh and delish! Definitely recommend to everyone.
The za’atar twist, which I don’t know what it means, was just baked twisted dough with salt and green onions in it, I believe. It was yummy, but not as astonishing as the other two.
Since these were my 7^th, 8^th and 9^th pastries within a day, I was getting a little stuffed. I decided to save the other two burekas for tmr.

I am consistently surprised just how good the various baked goods are here. I often get the babka, or the poppy danish. Ive tried the shakshuka, fresh salads with beets :), the potato puffed pastry?, almond croissant, etc. all superb and worse splurging for even if you think they are a bit on the pricy side. There is virtually nothing Ive tried that didnt meet or exceed my expectations, and Im a picky guy to please! On my last visit, they had a marzipan challah that was absolutely exquisite. Leftovers went into french toast (Ina Garten recipe) which was out of this world. The marzipan had a freshness to it that was surprising and well worth the $ 15 price tag.
Come on the earlier side of the day. They often sell out, and right before the last big snow storm it was like a scene from Cold War Russia… barren shelfs!

I am not a big fan of baked desserts, but this place just made me fall in love with rughalics and babkas. When they say they have the best chocolate babka– THEY ARE NOT LYING! Baked to a perfection with a very distinct texture and rich chocolate flavor, this gigantic dessert took me two days to complete.
Another one of their baked goods that I adored were the marzipan rughalics. Those were pure heaven. Incredible texture, with very soft inside and crusty outside makes your tongue experience true pleasure.
I am definitely coming back here!

Step 1: purchase nutella chocolate babka.
Step 2: consume entire loaf of nutella chocolate babka (option — warm it up in oven for maximum chocolate gooey-​ness).
Step 3: feel incredibly full (of regret) but also very happy because this is babka (albeit nontraditional) is absolutely fucking delicious.

Came here for a quick snack while waiting to meet up with some friends before brunch. Did a quick search on Unilocal to find something in the area and stumbled across this place. They have an amazing selection of baked goods ranging from sweet to savory. I got the spinach bureka and it was delicious, not too heavy on the spinach and just enough to fill me up while I waited for brunch. I almost wish we had just decided to eat here since there café menu looked pretty tasty. Definitely would come back here to try some of their other food!

Do I look lonely?
I see the shadows on my face
People have told me I don’t look the same
Maybe I lost weight
I’m playing hooky, with the best of the best
Put my heart on my chest, so that you can see it too
I’m walking the long road, watching the sky fall
The lace in your dress tangles my neck, how do I live?
The death of a bachelor
Oh
Letting the water fall
The death of a bachelor
Oh
Seems so fitting for
Happily ever after
Oo
How could I ask for more?
A lifetime of laughter
At the expense of the death of a bachelor
I’m cutting my mind off
It feels like my heart is going to burst
Alone at a table for two and I just wanna be served
And when you think of me am I the best you’ve ever had?
Share one more drink with me, smile even though you’re sad
I’m walking the long road, watching the sky fall
The lace in your dress tangles my neck, how do I live?
The death of a bachelor
Oh
Letting the water fall
The death of a bachelor
Oh
Seems so fitting for
Happily ever after
Oo
How could I ask for more?
A lifetime of laughter
At the expense of the death of a bachelor
I think there’s no word explaining how much I am in love with their chocolate Babka.
I just want to give my favorite song to them.
They are da men

«Gimme the marbled rye ya old bag!»
Trust me, Breads Bakery will make you commit all types of crimes. When you walk into the store, you’re surrounded by the best looking breads, rolls and cookies.
I come into the store and I’m surrounded by bread that had some oven lovin’ a few hours earlier. I came in for a quick breakfast but it was too much to take in for the first time. What they’re baking at Breads Bakery is something very Eastern European. I didn’t want to get a typical croissant (which looked outrageous) so I had a spinach-​feta budik. Mmm mm! Insane…
The master baker, Uri Scheft has been running Tel Aviv’s Lehamim Bakery. Now he is smack in the middle of New York City. I love when these speciality bakers are now within my reach in NYC. Jim Lahey from Sullivan Street Bakery brought his Italian style and European grains to New York. Now we have Uri Scheft making some outrageous walnut breads, olive loaves, Scandinavian dark rye breads and flaky cheese sticks. I fell in love with cheese sticks at Murray’s cheese, now being made very well at Breads Bakery. I’m looking at chocolate rugelach, chocolate babka and challah breads. In NYC! Be still my heart.
There is a café in the back with tables to sit and have coffee. The menu offerings are lite sandwiches and spreads. Very light, very european, no heavy chicken parm heroes being made here.
The staff and vibe are infectious, everyone seems happy and helpful. I wish I had more time to try everything!
Breads Bakery, from this guy who had these items growing up in Brooklyn, welcome to NYC.
Mazel tov!

Did a quick Unilocal search while in the mood for some sweets around the village and decided to give this a try. The ambiance in here is really nice, and the setup is inviting. The service here was good and friendly, no complaints.
I ordered a reverse cookie (never seen this in my life!) and a slice of cheesecake. The cheesecake turned out to be very good and cheesy, although it was a good $ 8 a piece. Still have tried better cheesecake, but it is hard to find really good cheesecake anyway, so I would say this slice was in my top 5. The reverse cookie wasn’t soft like I expected, but tasted very flavorful.

Delicious Babka – two kinds: CHOCOLATE BABKA & CINNAMON WALNUT RAISEN BABKA. Both quite fine. $ 12.99 for one, BUT just $ 10 each if you buy two babkas.
I first had a small, but DELICIOUS, smoked salmon (nova Lox) on a soft, sesame seed roll – roll was delicious, too. Nice & soft roll with nice flavor. Lox, cream cheese & dark green lettuce were all yummy good. See my photos.
I would have liked a cup of coffee to enjoy w/​my babka, but I did not want to chance leaving my stuff – pkgs, etc. at table, which would not be in my line of sight if I walked to the back where the FOOD & BEVERAGES are sold. PASTRIES/​BREADS ARE SOLD IN THE FRONT. So that was a bummer.
BOTTOM LINE: EVERYTHING WAS DELICIOUS!
TIP: Since BABKA only sold in full loafs, if you don’t want to buy the loaf, buy a few of what Breads Bakery calls «chocolate ruggalah»…it will be the closest thing to Babka. It’s all good, that’s for sure .
See my photos

Israelis (with the right European touch) teach h the Americans (which still has LARGE room to learn) what a great pastries are .
If you missed Hanukkah doughnuts (sufganiot) wait till next December .
Till then, enjoy the rest of the great bake goods.

Amazing bakery, the best Babka in town.
Also the olive bread, Chala bread, rogalach.
Breakfast sandwich that is served in the back serving area. Just go

The almond croissant was amazing! So much filling!
But the star of the show is the Babka with Nutella! I think I’m honestly just a sucker for Nutella, but seriously I can eat a whole babka by myself. It does have a few dry spots, but i enjoy those parts.
Also got a dulce de leche donuts. I feel like the filling is just canned dulce de leche. It was good but nothing I would come back for.
This place is kind of expensive. The babkas $ 12ish for one. Or $ 20 for 2. More of an excuse to bring 2 babkas home!

If I had to write this review based on their sufganiyot only I would give zero star… It was seriously SO disappointing. We bought four (two dulce de leche, one vanilla and one strawberry — bc after waiting for more than half an hour already, we gave up on the chocolate ones that were being prepared) and what we got was a big empty bun with ONE TINY BITE of filling in the center. What a joke. This was very disappointing especially from a jewish bakery (and I came with high expectations after buying amazing hamentashen last year).
Another thing worth mentioning is that I went there on Saturday at 8:30 AM and the sufganiyot were not ready yet. Another customer had been waiting since 7:30 AM (!) — so wrong for 1) a bakery 2) when Hannukkah is about to begin!!!
For the rest, their chocolate babka is good, what’s not to like! Found some parts a bit dry so I would advise you to warm it up a little.
Almond croissant was disappointing (very flat) but their chocolate almond croissant was absolutely delicious!
So yeah, sadly I have mixed feelings about Bread’s Bakery…

Came here because of all the rave on the chocolate babka. Got a couple of those and also a few different croissants. The chocolate babka was nothing special. It was crumbly and dry maybe just not for me but I wouldn’t come back for it. The chocolate croissant was fresh and delicious, good amount of chocolate inside. The almond croissant was out of this world. So moist with perfectly toasted almonds. I will be back just for them!

If this was heaven on earth as some reviews have stated it must have cost a fortune to get into those pearly gates of heaven and by the look of the prices it is true. Quality ingredients demand higher prices but I’m sure the rent has something to do with it also in a neighborhood even Danny Meyer can’t even afford.
Yes, they have some amazing almond croissants. It is flaky, buttery and moist on the inside but crunchy outside. The raisin bun is just the same. The crème brûlée is just as indulgent. Their acclaimed chocolate babka is like a cake and bread all rolled into one is decadent. A very small sandwich will cost you a pretty penny and the waiting/​ordering/​purchasing cue is a bit disarray.
Breads bakery isn’t light on your waistline and your wallet.

I have been wanting to try this bakery for quite some time. The hubby and I are huge babka fans and heard Breads had an amazing babka. Unfortunately when we got there, they were sold out. The gentleman behind the counter told us to get the chocolate rugelach as that had almost the same flavor as the babka.
We had:
Almond crossant
Chocolate rugelach
Marzipan rugelach
Olive loaf
Parmesan cookies
Everything was super good. I especially enjoyed the marzipan rugelach. As someone who doesn’t really like rugelach this was really delicious. The parmesan cookies were also an extremely pleasant surprise. Very tasty and unique.
The chocolate rugelach was good, but I definitely liked the marzipan rugelach better. The olive loaf was delicious. The olives were fresh and juicy.
I will definitely come back to more of their treats.

Such a hidden gem in union square! My friend and I came here for a late night movie hence decided to give a try. The pastry here was surprisingly good.
Would like to order their signature chocolate babka unfortunately it was sold out… I will have to come back for a piece as it looked so delicious from the photos displayed. We settled ourselves with the crème brûlée pastry, crispy and sweet that both of us enjoyed it. They also had some of the cookies made specifically for thanks giving.

3.5 actually. 0.5 star down out of 4 for the okay customer service.
Thumbs up though for being open as early as 6:30 am like a true bakery. My friend and I were not the only ones who were waiting at 6:20 for this bakery to be open as there was about three other people. The service was okay. The cashier’s at the front were a bit annoyed at us because we thought we can pay there when we wanted to eat in. Instead, we had to pay at the back. On top of that, we ordered some drinks.
Babka is basically a cake that’s brioche-​like with the twirl which is crunchy at the top and sponge-​y soft at the bottom. This one is exactly like that. Together with some filter coffee to balance the sweetness is a good breakfast already. The babka’s chocolate is not as overly sweet as I imagined (meaning ice cream chocolate sweet) which I like. The dough is quality. Spongy on the inside and the crisp at the top is good.
Verdict. Like the babka but it’s too much to eat with two people because it’s basically a loaf. I wanted to try the other baked goods they have but I specifically went that day to try the babka. Definitely going back here to try them baked goods.

Thank you breads for making our Jewish new year delicious! The challah bread was phenomenal. Devils bread. You just can’t stop eating it. The rugelach was great and chocolate chip cookie is amazing.
Best bakery in town!

Paradise dreamland! When you walk in the smell of freshly baked bread overwhelms you in the best way possible. This is not your typical bakery. You won’t find old cupcakes or regular cookies in the window. Instead, you can find the best assortment of breads, pastries, and sweets.
In the back there’s a coffee shop you can order coffee and grab some food and eat in. You can’t go wrong with anything you order. You must order their famous chocolate babka! It’s seriously to die for. The challah breads to chose from are all so fresh. They also have a great assortments of Rugelach. Usually they have tastings with different types of sweets like lemon cream pie.
Just go! Words and picture can’t do it justice!

I first heard about Breads when someone who knows of my love of Israeli-​style bourekas told me Breads makes them. Shortly thereafter, Queens Unilocal maestro Ju L. went babka ka-​razy here (
), and now, five minutes after first entering the shop, I have consumed a cheese bourek*, a potato-​parsley bourek, and a crispy, toothy, flaky, chewy, heavily sesame’d Jerusalem baguette. And soon, when my dining companion arrives, I shall have a coffee, maybe a sandwich (35% off after 6pm!), and definitely chocolate-​nutella rugelach and/​or the famed babka.
Breads offers a range of baked goods, from plain bread loaves to cookies and cakes, and also coffee and tea, salads, and sandwiches, all in a brightly lit ambiance that is part cafeteria, part industrial bakery. It stood out to me immediately for its Israeli origins, which were obvious enough from the style of the bourekas and some of the salads on offer, but then were confirmed by the cookbook lining the wall, ‘Bread at Home’, which I could only find for sale in a Hebrew edition. I grew up in Israel a long time ago, and it was delightful to get a little taste of it here.
(Don’t get the wrong impression though, there’s more than Israeli-​ish stuff on offer: they’ve got chocolate chip cookies and palmiers, mille-​feuille, and more.)
Cut to, hours later:
I have now had my coffee, a tunafish sandwich on a fresh poppy-​seed roll, and a rugelach. Thumbs up to everything. The coffee’s solid, the poppy-​seed roll was moist and lightly sweet, and the rugelach was… moist, soft, a little flaky, sweet, and overall, damn delicious. Was it better than any rugelach I’ve ever had before? No. But it was quality. As was everything else I tried. Things here are a bit pricey – that little Jerusalem baguette, for example, is $ 2.50. $ 2.50 for a piece of bread! But it was good. It’d pass muster with a French person, even. So what’re you gonna do.
The only downside, really, was the lack of small portion options for that babka. It comes only in a medium-​sized loaf and is something like $ 13. It’s way too much for one or two people. It’d be perfect to bring to a potluck, but if you’re just coming to Breads for coffee and a snack, it’s too much. So, nu, Breads people, maybe cut up the babka into smaller pieces? Put ‘em on a skewer, call it a babka kebab, whatever, but offer it in pieces for people just popping by. Okay, yalla bye.
—-
* Bourekas defined: savory pastries made of filo dough and butter, stuffed with a variety of fillings, most often a feta-​heavy cheese mix, or potato. Bourekas are available all over the Middle East in different styles. Israel has its own style, and bourekas there are a popular street food. You can find them in a few places in NYC, if you know where to look: Aroma, Holyland Market in the East Village, and Breads.