swissbakers — Restaurant in Boston

Popped into Swissbäkers earlier today to grab a snack and some coffee on our way into town, with the wife. We had driven by the place possibly hundreds of times without giving it a second thought but today was finally the day. We pulled into their ample parking lot and walked in.

It was around 3:30PM and it wasn't very busy. A few tables were occupied but we had to take everything to go. Having lived for just over a year and a half in Basel myself, I was looking forward to snacking on an authentic Swiss pastry. Having perused their website a little while ago, I was expecting most of their stuff to be available but unfortunately the selection was pretty meagre. I was able to buy a Swiss Linzer, which was delicious and the wife box a little bag of their chocolate-covered macaroons which she liked but said were too sweet. The coffee was average at best.

Unfortunately I didn't see any of their Leckerli or Prussien, or even chocolate Wegglis. I didn't see any of their breads either but they did have a ton of savory items. The service behind the counter was slow, not all that friendly and they made us walk on the opposite side to pay, and then all the way back around to get our items. It was very confused.

I'd like to give them another shot at some point in hopes that they'll redeem themselves because this business is unique and family-owned and I would love to see this...

I happened to see a photo of Swissbäkers pastries and was immediately fixated on the Chocoweggli. It looked so similar to a Schokoladen brötchen I used to eat every day in Germany and I decided I had to go try it out.

We got the Chocoweggli ($2.50) and the raspberry Berliner ($2.50). The chocoweggli was a disappointment -- there were barely any chocolate chips, so we ended up just eating mediocre bread. Certainly not the chocolate bread of my past. The Berliner was a lot of dough and needed more jelly as well.

Overall the prices are pretty reasonable for pastries in the area, but the quality is correspondingly not great. You can definitely get better pastries at Trader Joe's...

Nice cafe in a convenient location on a main street, parking lot nearby. European style, clean interiors in black, white and red (feels like fast food, not pleasant colors and materials like at Panera for example), and comfortable seating outside. It was not busy at 9 am on a Wednesday, service was quick and friendly.

I was glad to find a healthy sandwich with eggs and avocado, although it was relatively small. I was hoping to enjoy it on a plate but got it in a paper bag. The cappuccino was good, but served in a disposable cup instead of a real mug. It felt like fast food with wasteful and unsustainable packaging, I thought the Swiss would do better than that.

Good...