Flour Bakery + Cafe

05/08/10

Flour's power

by BenjaminBell , Citysearch Contributor at Citysearch

Flour Bakery + Cafe in the South End - operated by Harvard grad Joanne Chang - serves up delicious baked goods, coffee and sandwiches. The sticky buns, featured on Food Network, are especially tasty. I have been there more times than I can recall over the past few years for lunch. It's also a good place to go to grab a coffee or order a special occasion item - such as a birthday cake. I especially enjoy the Turkey Cheddar sandwich on whole wheat focaccia.

The cafe itself always seems to be cramped and very busy during the lunch period, so be prepared for a 15 minute wait if you go during peak times and don't expect to find a seat. The staff also seems to be very slow at times, often talking amongst themselves as opposed to using that time to help customers.

I certainly recommend Flour, but it is important to realize that it doesn't have much competition, so it doesn't have to please every customer all the time. It is also very close to the intersection of Mass Ave. and Washington Street, which is an area still in the process of gentrification so there are usually homeless people near the entrance.

• Pros: excellent pastries and sandwiches
• Cons: cramped, busy

03/01/10

Order a cake, you won't be sorry

by reub , Citysearch Contributor at Citysearch

I wanted to rave about Flour for a special order they handled. I contacted them to make a birthday cake for a friend and asked for an off-menu selection (red velvet). Not only did they gladly accommodate my request, their head baker personally made the cake and it turned out beautifully. It wasn't inexpensive, but ask yourself: Are there people in your life who mean enough to you that you'll order them a birthday cake, but not enough to have it done right? Didn't think so. When all was said and done, it looked so nice, we almost (but really...) didn't want to eat it. Fortunately for all, that was a mistake avoided. Everything from the lettering to the crumb to the taste was perfect.

• Pros: uhh... it's yummy.
• Cons: You might end up walking out with a couple extra pastries.

02/23/10

Sticky Buns will Save the World

by TBella , Citysearch Contributor at Citysearch

Joanne, I love you.

Your sticky sticky buns are little goo-drenched gifts from heaven. They brighten my day, and make the world a better place.

The staff is always so cheerful, and every single delicious pastry screams up from the case, "EAT ME!!" I had a cinnamon sugar cream cheese brioche the other day... amazing. Pop tarts? Divine. Vanilla & raspberry filled doughnuts? I die a little.

And if that weren't enough, the savory fare holds its own! Every single sandwich on the menu is delicious (a realtor at my office used to get them to cater broker open houses. Leftovers were a huge job perk). The breakfast egg sandwich is a delightful pillow of egg nestled with dijon, arugula, meat & cheese on a crunchy, chewy brioche bun. Good thing I don't live in the South End or I'd have Flour breakfast, lunch & dinner... with a pastry dessert after every meal.

Only thing is, the coffee isn't great. You can get better espresso at a lot of places. Great hot chocolate though.

• Pros: Pastries, sandwiches, staff
• Cons: Long lines

02/20/10

Good breakfast, brunch, lunch

by sodoku2008 at Citysearch

Yum. Overall, delicious place. The only con is that it is small and gets packed - no seating guarantees. Prices are reasonable to moderate.

Pretty good pastries, got the bran muffin, a cheese danish, but their normal breads are my favorite

- don't be fooled, the egg sandwich is not your typical one, it's delicious especially with bacon. the egg is super fluffy and the whole thing is packed with flavor.

- smoked salmon sandwich with goat cheese on toasted bread, this was pretty good, the egg sandwich is better

- raisin toast with jelly and cheese - YUM. this was recommended to my friend by the cashier and yes, she was right.

• Pros: great egg sandwich, good pastries
• Cons: small, barely any seating

12/17/09

Not really sure.....

by burner1 at Citysearch

I walked into Flour and observed a small, clean, unique bakery. My purpose was to inquire and potentially order and purchase multiple full sized cakes. I first noticed three employees working behind the counter. One individual immediately dissapeared into the kitchen/prep area, the second was watching some soup being heated in some sort of oven (I wasn't really paying attention), she acknowledged me and stated, "just a sec!" and the third was explaiaing to a customer the different types of breads that were on display , while he was assembling a small box to place a cupcake into that the customer had selected. After watching the girl finish and hand the soup to a customer who was seated, she assisted the male employee with the customer looking at bread. After not being acknowledged for over five minutes (believe me I timed it), I decided to leave. Having previously been in the food service/hospitality industry, it is known that service is everything. At flour, on the evening that I visited, it didn't exist. I will probably visit Flour again with the hope to sample some of their food that I'm told is delicious. This review is only my personal experience regarding the service. I will honestly say that the foods on display looked delicious and the establishment smelled delicious. Two stars based solely on what I smelled and saw for food.

• Pros: Clean, Food looked good.....
• Cons: slow/no service....