Newton Centre has changed a lot over the past few years, with many new restaurants and stores opening, so there are now many choices of bakeries to go to to get a sweet treat. I decided to visit each one, and evaluate the quality of food, service, and atmosphere at each place to create a little guide if people have trouble deciding. I recommend each place, but there are certain aspects that set them apart from each other. Here is a list of them newest to oldest.
Tatte Bakery & Cafe (1241 Centre St, Newton, MA 02459)
First up is one I am sure many have heard of for it has drastically risen in popularity recently. The Newton Tatte location opened a few months ago on October 27 2022. I had not been to this location of Tatte much so going here was a really fun experience. First off, the size of this location is impressive. The size allows for lots of seating in different forms like booths, tables, and countertops.
Tatte has a range of food options. They offer more savory meals like sandwiches, and also have baked goods, desserts, and a drinks menu. I decided to go the more sweet path and ordered an espresso mocha mousse heart and a hot chocolate. This costs $15, a reasonable price I believe. I was instantly drawn in since the plating was adorable. I loved the little mousse heart, it was so creamy and delicious. My hot chocolate had some foam art on the top which was cute. It was a little too strong for my taste, but others may find that to their liking. I highly recommend paying a visit to Tatte. This would be a great place to meet up with friends or to go and quietly work while enjoying a croissant.
SALT Patisserie (792 Beacon St, Newton Centre, MA 02459)
Next up is SALT Patisserie. SALT was founded in 2021, and the Newton location popped up a few months ago in August 2022. This charming little French inspired bakery offers a range of French foods for people to enjoy. They serve croissants, breads, cookies, eclairs, tarts, chocolate candies, and some lunch sandwiches. I ordered a lovely chocolate caramel tart and a box of their bonbons, these little chocolate drop candies. The bonbons were crème brûlée, raspberry yuzu, and passion fruit flavored. All of this cost a little under $40, which seemed a little expensive to me. I adored the tart, the chocolate and caramel flavors blended so well together and the texture was very rich. The bonbons however were not my favorite. They were very pretty, but I think the flavor combinations just did not work.
Size-wise, this bakery is sort of in the middle of the others I visited. There were three small tables that could sit about two people and that was it. The space did not feel cramped, but I view SALT as more of a place to grab a quick bite and go rather than to stay and work or to meet up with others. This did not get in the way of my enjoyment at all but is an important factor to consider.
Tous Les Jours (747 Beacon St, Newton Centre, MA 02459)
Another bakery is Tous Les Jours, a bakery that combines French and Asian influences. This is an interesting combo, yet one that works. According to their website, Tous les Jours is part of a chain of over 1,600 stores worldwide, with around 70 in the US. Tous les Jours was launched in the US in 2004, and the Newton Centre location has been around since December 2021. The name Tous les Jours means ‘every day’ in French. Tous les Jours is one of my favorite bakeries near my house. I have gone there many times with friends, it is a great spot to hangout. The store has a good layout that makes this possible. When you first walk in, there are shelves of food that you can pick yourself, including some more savory bakes. Then there is a glass display of cakes and macaroons, with a drink menu behind that serves anything from teas and coffees to smoothies. They even have a lavender hot chocolate. On the other side of the bakery is the seating area which includes lots of small tables and comfy seats where people can be seen working or meeting up with friends.
One nice thing about Tous Les Jours is that they have a variety of delicious cakes with the option to order a single slice. The specific cake I got was the chocolate cloud cake, and I paired it with a strawberry smoothie. As the name suggests, the cloud cake was very light and fluffy with a great taste. My one critique is that there were cut up strawberries in the bottom layer which added good flavor, but messed up the soft and light texture. The smoothie was great as well. These two things cost $15 just like Tatte. Overall, I highly recommend this bakery, especially if you are someone who would appreciate the unique baked goods that are featured here that most bakeries in this area do not offer.
Woops! (79 Union St, Newton, MA 02459)
The next bakery, Woops! is a little different from the aforementioned ones. Woops! is a macaron place. While the menu offers some baked goods like brownies and teas as well, 90% of the menu is macarons. They offer a wide selection of just under 20 flavors that fluctuate a bit depending on the season. I ordered a dozen macarons in the following flavors: dulce de leche, vanilla, peppermint, rose, honey lavender, Nutella, birthday cake, and Oreo. The range in flavors was impressive, each one with a unique taste. The peppermint one did seem a little over baked or stale to me, but all the rest were delicious. My personal favorite is the dulce de leche, since instead of the frosting in the middle it has actual dulce de leche which tastes amazing. All of this cost $40, which honestly surprised me a bit. The macarons were definitely good and high quality, but the price seemed a little steep to me.
Woops! is nestled between lots of shops and businesses on Union St near the T station in Newton Centre. The shop is quite small in size so make sure not to miss it. Due to its size, there is no real seating here like the others. This bakery is better for picking up a sweet treat or buying a gift than for a sit down. Speaking of gifts, according to their website, Woops! offers lots of gift box options which can be customized based on the circumstance. One benefit of the small size however is that the store never has more than 3 or 4 customers at one time so you will get served very fast.
Galit’s Treats Cafe & Bakery (749 Beacon St, Newton Centre, MA 02459)
There is one other bakery in Newton Centre called Galit’s. I did some research on their website and Galit’s was founded in 2015 by Galit Grutman, and features lots of delicious Jewish baked goods. I have never been there before and tried to go for this review, but they unfortunately have quite limited hours that made it difficult for me to go. They are open from 9-2 every day which eliminates the ability to go and get a sweet treat after school and work. It sounds like a wonderful place that I hope to go to in the future, but I was not able to make the trip this time around.
Indresh Chandel