Baklavastory. — Restaurant in San Francisco

The owner’s taken a big risk by leasing a space, hiring at least one employee, going out of his way to import fresh pistachios from Turkey, and outfitting the shop with the necessary equipment just to sell one kind of pastry. And it’s a good thing, because he’s creating magic.

This baklava, sold only by the tray, is complex. The phyllo is salty and tissue paper thin. The pistachios are fruity, savory, and creamy. The honey syrup is malty, citrusy, and gentle (not cloying in the way that you find sometimes in others).

The owner is passionate about his product and you can feel it in his interactions, both social and digestible. (Regrettably, I cannot remember his name. Apologies, dear owner, as I have nothing but respect for your craft.) The baklava he sold us was still warm from the oven, so he took special care to tent the box’s lid so as not to dampen the pastry with condensation. And while on the subject of the boxes, they are as high quality as what’s inside of them. A rarity in commercial food enterprise, where packaging is one place where corners can be cut without impacting quality too much.

Go for yourself and see. You’ll be supporting a small business and the dream of a...

Wowwza! What an amazing find!

I am very particular about baklava and its ingredients so much that I developed a pistachio allergy while trying different products back in the days when I was living in Turkey.

When I heard about this place from a friend, I decided to give him a call and ask a couple of questions before deciding whether it would worth to have 4-hours roadtrip to get a tray for Ramadan Eid.

I had a lovely chat with Tolgay, the owner, and I was sold after a few of his answers about my questions on where the pistachio, flour and butter are coming from.

I placed an order for the largest tray (70 pieces) and picked it up the next day. They poured the syrup based on my ETA and it was sooo fresh to taste.

I can guarantee you, the combination of quality of ingredients and the pricing is hard to believe!

We gobbled up 70 pieces of baklava with family and friends in a few days and now I'm planning my next trip to SF, only for this baklava! :)

Tolgay is very passionate about what he is doing, and apparently not hesitating to go the extra mile for fine details. And the result of this passion, the baklava from Baklavastory is, 10 out of 10.

I wish them best of luck in...

I really do love the baklava here—it’s delicious and truly some of the best BUT I have to share a disappointing experience for anyone considering a catered order.

I placed and fully paid for a large order (200+ pieces, over $300) for my baby shower, 10 days in advance. On the morning of pickup, I was informed that their pistachio shipment had not arrived due to customs/tariff issues. While I understand these things can happen, what surprised me was the lack of preparedness. For a large catered order, it’s risky to depend on a key ingredient arriving at the last minute without a backup plan.

We even offered to supply them with locally available pistachios ourselves, but they declined. They did offer an alternative (walnut), but for us it wasn’t a suitable replacement, and at that late stage it was nearly impossible to find another vendor since most require at least 48 hours’ notice.

So while I do recommend the baklava for casual orders, I’d caution anyone placing a big event order to confirm details and have a backup plan in...