Sofra Bakery + Café Allston — Restaurant in Boston

In short: the pastries are good (portions and flavor). Online ordering leaves some to be desired but quick turnaround (but can't order drinks). Insultingly small breakfast portions. Coffee is fine but I'm no connoisseur.

We generally have to wait in a crazy line every time we go in so we tried to get around it by ordering online (10-15 minute wait) but you can't order drinks online??? Pretty silly. Food was ready upon arrival but we still had to wait to put drink orders in. Sat to wait for our drinks and after a while a woman came over (I assume the manager?) and tried to take our table number flag assuming we had our order already. She seemed outwardly annoyed when we told her we were waiting for our drinks (two iced coffees, nothing complicated). It's possible they forgot about us, we got our drinks immediately after she came over.

Got the food home and were disappointed to see the portions on the breakfast items. Conveniently there are no pictures online so you have no idea you're getting a 2008 Weight Watchers-mom sized portion. For context I ordered the Çilbir and it came in a tin approximately 3in x 5in with one poached egg literally TWO fingerling potatoes. Thankfully I had also ordered the Borekfast which is a pretty large and dense pastry so I didn't have to cook a second breakfast.

For the price, you'd really hope...

We had a lunch the other day. The food was excellent and the service fine. The place was a bit too fast foody to my taste (and considering the portion sizes and prices). My concern is hidden fees (if that’s the right term) and their nature. Everybody knows that since the pandemic even places where there no real service (or none at all), began to ask for tips. It made sense back then, but it’s rather tasteless or even offensive. But at Safora—and you would not know it unless you request a receipt and actually look at it (which did by mistake)—there is a new fee. Since the wait personnel would not share their tips with the “people in the back,” they charge you some sort of add on fee for them. I mention it and asked the service person which they would prefer: tip or fee for the “back workers.” I ended up denying them (service people) the tip and express my displeasure to the manager. I find that practice unethical in terms of the treatment of the workers “in the back” (back of the buss anybody?), the tipping, and the management’s practices of passing silently the costs of labor to the customer. What...

I love the savory pastries at the original Sofra, so was excited to try having a meal at the new location. It was popping at 11am on a Sunday -- there are around 10 small tables and a high top bar, and competition for seats was fierce. We ended up eating standing up for a bit before snagging a table.

I got the chicken shawarma wrap, and it was delicious! Every part of it was great. The wrap was thin with perfect crisp and chew, the chicken and vegetables were tender and well seasoned, and the garlic sauce was light and flavorful. It was delightful, and I thought $12 was pretty reasonable.

We also got the pecan and gruyere scone, which was interesting..I could do without the pecan and sugar, but the scone was otherwise good. The morning bun was good but it would've been even better if it was warmed up. My friend got the egg sandwich with egg and said it was great and the bacon was nice and crispy, and that the coffee was good.

Overall Sofra is bustling and lives up to the reputation of the original location! I'll definitely be getting the chicken...