Balkan Bakery — Restaurant in Phoenix

I came to buy 10 bureks, and was told that I can buy only 4 at times unless I call 1h ahead. Bummer, another with this place. Im ok with the rule, however it was not clearly presented and woman that works there was sort of rude pointing at poorly written sign located on the side of the glass refrigerator. They had plenty prepared... it seemed like they were not in mood to sell. She was sort of mad at me for wanting to buy extra. Oh well, my family of 10 had to share 4 bureks.Haha. Not friendly stuff, pita is ok....

UPDATE: Owner replied to me, instead to trying to work things out he continued argument.

“We do have a walk-in limit of 4 bureks that we make available immediately, anything more than 4 has to be ordered 1 hour in advance on the phone or in person that your family has honored for many years. There is a sign clearly written on our burek display case including on our main burek menu board, it had nothing to do with us not wanting to sell it explicitly to you. The sign is for all of our customers, we do not pick and choose. Knowing that you're familiar with our business, you've ignored our rule. We have repeatedly continued to give you an option to come back for the full order in an hour, which you've rudely dismissed including some disrespectful comments toward us. Freshly prepared burek requires time and for a larger quantity such as yours, we only asked an hour of time.“”

Just to clear things out, I wasn’t familiar with the rule. Why would I even write that in my review? Assuming that I’m familiar with the rule because of my family (parents) visit your store is not a fair argument. Im not ignoring rules 😊, for gods sake, its the first time I hear about it. You only ask 1h of time? ...well some people don’t have 1h of time for waiting.

In my opinion, issue here is the way you handle business. Somebody in your place should take into consideration that I never heard of the rule, and make 1 time exception, which I wasn’t even asking for. On many occasions you guys run out of inventory before noon, run out of yogurt, bread etc... but I choose to ignore all that to support rare business. Attitude I cant support, as I was loyal customer.

Your sister was rude I just responded to her. She assumed that I know of the rule... and unnecessarily showed her attitude. I sad ok, its your business, and she responded YES, ITS MY BUSINESS with raising her voice. Its sad because burek is pretty good, and my family has been long time customer, but with that attitude good luck with your business. I’ll reduce another star...

3/30/24: a friend had given us some bread from Balkan and we decided to check it out for ourselves this particular Saturday morning. What a great place. It's an unassuming storefront, but the second you walk in it's heavenly. There is plenty of parking and there is a myriad of items to curb your cravings. Aside from the baked goods, they have a small store with miscellaneous items. We didn't look too closely at them as our eyes gravitated to their breads, desserts, and other items in the display case.

The lady behind the counter was super sweet and she explained to us about how the Figaro treat was named after the opera; that way back when, because operas were so long, during intermission, small treats (packed with sugar) were sold to help the audience stay awake for the next half of the show.

We ended up purchasing one of each dessert, a savory item, and a small drink (because the bottle was cool). I cannot remember what the hot savory item was called but hey, pastry and cheese, what more do you need? :-) For all of that, it only came to $29. Balkan Bakery is 22 miles from our house so it won't be a weekly visit for us, but we will definitely return -- we must try more of their...

The Balkan Bakery in Phoenix was a real treat. It is a small place with a few tables inside and 3 tables outside. In a small strip mall it could be easy to missed. If you do miss it turn around and come in for a treat. The cappuccino report. You like strong coffee. This is the place. And so flavorful. My honey is the coffee expert and she rated it very highly. I have not heard her so excited about coffee in a long time. Next have a burek in one of several flavors, beef, cheese, or spinach. There were four of us and we tried all of them and were pleased to find a dish none of us had ever had before and all of us enjoyed. You can watch them preparing the burek, where they start with an oh so thin dough, add a small long pile of the filling, roll roll roll it into a long rope, then with a butter brush and wrap it and bake. It is very good. Now I had to try some of the bread, and I must say I enjoyed it. The next course was baklava, different from other baklavas I have had, but the Balkan treat was loved by all. Go enjoy, try...