Sugar Baking Co & Restaurant

Aww, Sugar Sugar (yum yum YES!) As a self-​professed breakfast fanatic, I endorse Sugar as being good to the last drop.
We three were able to get a table on a Saturday afternoon (~1pm) immediately. The restaurant is small (maybe only room for 50), but welcoming. I found it particularly charming — most likely due to the glimpses of the bakers hard at work in the back, mixing up glorious loaves of salivatory salvation. We sat at the a small wooden table with rigid wooden chairs, bringing back even more memories of brunching in my mum’s kitchen.
Making a selection was difficult (all the more reason to return!), but I landed on «The Villa» ($ 13 for a plate overflowing with a sweet relish, potatoes, two eggs, fruit, and two pieces of thick incredible toast). Being the excellent friend I am, I charmingly strong-​handed my bestie to order the brie-​stuffed French toast (…yes…I said BRIE-​STUFFED FRENCH TOAST) with an additional fig compote and berries. (I mean, really, it’s for the best). Of course I had to sample this dish to ensure its reputation… *What they say is true, this plate is a magical grown up breakfast explosion in your mouth*
Though we live nearly an hour away, we excitedly make the pilgrimage to this aptly named Boston delight. As breakfast goes, it’s a bit on the steep side for my wallet… but special occasions require a serving of Sugar. The serving size can easily be split into two modest breakfasts (if you can restrain yourself from devouring the entire plate), and grab a loaf for the road!

A cute little place. We got here around noon for brunch. I ordered the breakfast sandwich on a croissant with spinach, cheese, bacon, and eggs. The waitress came back to tell me they were out. So, instead, I had the english muffin. It was a little bit tough and rubbery. But the inside was delicious. It came with a generous portion of home fries.
This is a cute little place for brunch, and I’d like to try one of their unique menu items the next time.

This place does a fabulous breakfast. Everything we’ve ever had has been delicious. Any dining companion I’ve brought has not only not been disappointed, but has likewise been quite pleased. Thoughtful, creative takes on traditional items are well executed. Applewood smoked bacon perfectly cooked with little fat is worth it as an add-​on any day.
Sugar Baking Company and Restaurant is very family friendly, mimosas and other cocktails are available, ambience is cute and inviting. It is not uncommon on weekends during the warmer months for the chef to create an amazing breakfast masterpiece or two from finds of the day at the Roslindale Farmer’s Market.
We are psyched to have this place so close to us, and before relocating it was absolutely worth a drive from other city neighborhoods.
Currently this review is really only for breakfast. They started opening for dinner and, now that the bar has been set, I have high expectations for that. Though I’m a bit leery as I normally think of it as a breakfast place, I can’t wait to try their dinner offerings.

I came in to try the lemon ricotta pancakes for take out. After hearing about it from Phantom Gourmet, I could not stop thinking about it and had to finally go and try it out. Once I received the order, I jumped back in the car and headed home. During the whole drive, I was going crazy because the smell of the pancakes were AMAZING! I stopped several times thinking, should I just park somewhere and take a quick bite? I decided to hold off until I got home but again the smell was disgustingly awesome.
First of all, I love lemon-​anything and I was never a big fan of ricotta but I figured this would probably be the big secret to super fluffy pancakes… and I was right! These pancakes were amazing and the absolute best that I’ve ever had! Also, I’m not a big pancake fan so to say that, it should prove how great these pancakes are! Go get ‘em, you will not be disappointed!
I was also going to pick something up from their bakery but it turns out they took it out to expand the restaurant. They told me that the bakery was about a mile away but again, the smell of the pancakes in the car kept beckoning me to get home and inhale them already. Therefore, my trip to the bakery had to be postponed for another day.

Roslindale is not quite as glutted with breakfast places as JP is, and so I get that this place is popular. And the food is quite good. The home fries have some kind of paprika-​brown sugar seasoning and are super crispy. The eggs are cooked nicely and the lemon blueberry pancakes are super delicious. The breakfast entrees are great and so are the lunch ones (though I had their black bean burger today and it was a bit of a mess).
BUT. What good is yummy food if it takes FOREVER to get it?! We’re not talking a little wait. The delay was almost laughable, if I hadn’t been starving, and trying to keep 2 kids happy. I’m not sure who the guilty parties are, but it did take forever for our order to get taken, as I saw the wait staff hanging out, leaning on counters and walls, having long conversations with each other, aimlessly looking around, and plates of food sitting on the counter ready to be served. And then it took forever for our entrees to get made. And, once we got our 4 entrees (after they sat on the counter for 5 – 10 minutes), it was another 5 minutes before our daughter’s 1 pancake came out. So it’s not just the wait staff, as our waiter tried to keep us happy with coffee and water refills while the kitchen took their sweet time making our food.
And yet they kept on saying how busy it was. The place was half empty! They closed the bakery side of the shop (so no more cookies, cupcakes, etc.) and are going to put in more tables. Which is probably a horrible idea, seeing as they can’t stay on top of the 15 tables they have so far.
This place is a 5 – 10 minute walk from our house, has a great menu and I would love to love it, but the only way I’ll be back is if I forget how long the wait was today.

I found this restaurant by purchasing a Groupon for it. I have to admit that I had relatively low expectations for a bakery storefront that switches to a restaurant at night. Boy was I mistaken. The food here has been AMAZING every time I have been. And believe me, I do NOT use that term lightly. I am constantly impressed with the dishes and preparation here. There have been several times when I started planning my next trip back while still at the table eating my dinner. It really is an impressive little restaurant and kudos to the chef.
As a bit of an aside, I have tried to call to make reservations before and been rather rudely told to book online. While I realize that it is probably much easier for the staff if you book online, the website does say that you can call. So to avoid the rudeness on the phone, I would suggest you just make your reservations online. But don’t worry, I have never encountered any staff in the restaurant that were rude at all!

This place is tasty. Their breakfast is aces and their burger is tops.
The manager, Damian, is the friendliest fellow in Roslindale, and I wholeheartedly endorse a visit.

Stopped by here due to the good reviews. Was thinking this or Redd’s, but thought this would be lighter. Staff was friendly and the atmosphere is quaint, but pleasant. Vegetarian mains are limited, but I got the caesar salad and the corn ravioli. I was offered homemade olive tapenade and a bread basket. The waitress warned me after I started eating that the tapenade had anchovies in it. Oh well, I’m not that strict, but it was very delicious and packed a powerful but tasty punch of raw garlic. I do remember thinking the flavor was so rich and savory, that I wasn’t surprised it had animal product in it.
The salad was just fine, but I was very disappointed by the ravioli. The ravioli skin was too thick and seemed underdone. It was tough. The filling was lackluster, and the whole thing was just too sweet. There was also some drizzle — couldn’t tell what it was (balsamic? sweet soy??) that added a strange flavor component and added to the already sickly sweet flavor. I was very disappointed with it since I had decided between the ravioli and the mushroom pasta. The ravioli was actually pretty egregious.
Save for the tapenade, the food was poor to fair. The brunch menu, however, did look good so maybe this is the spot to go for brunch.

I’ve been here twice for dinner now and tried a pretty diverse selection of the menu.
First: A VERY IMPORTANT NOTE! This place isn’t super vegetarian friendly (it is quite pescatarian friendly, though). Their only vegetarian selections are pasta related! (And salads.)
Overall, Sugar is good but not super amazing. The ambiance is pleasant, especially on a warm night when the big store front windows are open. The service is generally good and mostly attentive, if a little slow at times.
The food is good, but it’s not particularly noteworthy. I’m not totally sure why this is, either. I guess it feels like for a baking company, the menu is trying a little too hard. They basics are good — the fish and chicken that I’ve had has been well prepared and well seasoned, but for some reason it didn’t leave me really excited about coming back or trying more dishes.
The exception to this is that Short Rib Mac and Cheese — I would eat that all day every day if I could. However considering it is mac and cheese with a bit of beef in it, I find it to be a bit overpriced. If it was a couple dollars cheaper, I would consider it to be a fun special treat every so often and/​or I would seek out going to Sugar for that specific dish. But at the current price, it just feels out of reach to pay that much for a bowl of mac and cheese.
All that said, I have been here for brunch and brunch is where this place shines. I love the corn beef hash and the selection of omelettes. DELICIOUS.
So, is it good? Yeah, it is. Would I recommend it for dinner? Eh, potentially, but not 100% yes. For brunch? Absolutely.

We went to Sugar Baking Co & Restaurant with a Groupon and a reservation. Good idea since we ended up with $ 61 worth of food for $ 34 and we were not among the parties who were later unfortunately turned away over the evening.
The bread was two fold — a simple crusty bun and slices of an interesting crisp crusty bread — and served with a white bean spread tinted red with tomato and redolent with garlic.
Waivering between the diver scallop* — white bean purée, pork belly crisp 12 and the crab cakes — lump crab meat, citrus aioli 12, we decided on the scallop. I’m not sure we got the better end of the deal… the pork belly crisp was the best part, particularly given that the four scallops (though nicely seared on one side) were over salted.
The north atlantic swordfish* — saffron farro risotto, roasted tomatillo coulis 20 — was a bit dry from being overcooked, but I liked the flavor and texture of the crust. Calling the side «risotto» seemed a bit misleading, but I enjoyed the texture of the farro. As for the braised lamb shank — israeli couscous, dates, sweet peas, carrot, braising jus 19, the dish as a whole was all smooth and slippery. Despite being singular in mouthfeel, the lamb was tender and tasty, and I enjoyed the surprise bits of sweetness lent by the diced dates.
The star of the show, however, was the French Donuts $ 9 cinnamon sugar dusted, sauce trio, made by deep frying chunks of croissant dough (doesn’t that just SOUND good???). Even the 3 sauces were good: caramel. mixed berry, cheesecake cream. Yum!
Service was mostly good, with a few lags. The two bathrooms are unisex — the closer one being the significantly larger of the two. The bakery was due to close at the end of March.
Reservation issues; when I called, I was directed to their website. Ummm… not everyone has a smart phone and can reach the internet whenever they want. Sounds like reservations for dinner aren’t taken over the phone until 4pm at the earliest.
Dessert rounds this one up to the fan star.

This restaurant used to be my favorite place for breakfast but now it’s just another greasy spoon trying to masquerade as something more!
The biggest detractor is the service team. During my visit I was brought to a table that was rocky due to the legs being uneven. I had to use my napkin to stabilize the table… in full view of the service team.
Next, my coffee was never refilled nor any sugar brought out. I looked for my server and she was hanging with the other servers chatting away. She never came back to ask if I wanted another refill or anything else. I was forced to scavenge like a refuge for my own.
Eventually I flagged down another server like a hitchhiker to get my check and leave.
Don’t waste your time… stick to IHOP!

Went to Sugar the other night for dinner with a groupon or something the wife had. It’s a good thing we made a reservation because the hostess was constantly turning people away who did not have one.
Even before the meal came, we were super excited about the basked of rolls. The five style cheese plate rocked. The cesar salad was what you’d expect. There weren’t a ton of vegetarian options, so I got a pasta dish which was kind of bland, but my wife loved her salmon and potatoes. And, of course the dessert was awesome.
Service was a little slow. All the tables were full but even after it started dying down we were waiting longer than I expected between courses and for the check.
Halfway through dinner the hostess opened the windows on the front of the building. When a patron there with a young child asked if she could close them, since it was February, the hostess said «We have to keep it open until the smoke clears.» It did not seem like there was smoke, but maybe something was burning in the kitchen. She begrudgingly shut the window after being asked a second time and sure enough, the smoke alarm went off not five minutes later. It was a strange scene.
I’d go back, but probably for brunch or just bakery items.

Fantastic experience with excellent service and exquisite food selection, what more can I say? Well, this is Unilocal,so I’ll entertain a bit more detail…
I came here, well armed with a date on one hand, and a groupon on the other and it was one of the best dinners I’ve had in a long time. We shared a plate of succulent, savory and the most moist crabcakes I’ve ever had and my lamb dish was short of perfection. The meat fell off the bone with gentle caressing of the fork, and the risotto was like little pockets of flavor bursting into my mouth with every bite. I tried the fish dish as well, which wasn’t as good… but lamb, OMG.
Overall, great place made even better with a groupon. I would strongly recommend swinging by this place and DEFINITELY make a reservation if you’re coming on a weekend.
Food: 4 stars
Service: 4 stars
Décor: 4 stars (got to sit next to a window on a snowy night)
Price: 3 – 4 stars

I went to Sugar on the last day of my winter break to meet up with my high school friends. That was an interesting experience; it was nice to discover that even after leaving high school that we’re still extremely awkward. But what really blew me away was the food! And the fact that I had to drive through a slightly sketchy area of Roslindale to get to Sugar. But there was lots of street parking, so that made up for it!
I decided to be adventurous and order a daily special: Poached Eggs with Sweet Potato and Pork Belly Hash. I mean, do I really need to say more? What is not delicious about any of those items individually? So when you combine these magnificent ingredients together, you pretty much get God’s gift to man. And I’m an Atheist. *cue angelic ‘Ahh’ sound effect*
I also ordered one Lemon Ricotta Pancake on the side, and I have to say, it lives up to the hype. It was tart, sweet, and savory; basically, my mouth is watering just thinking about it.
However, I think I need to owe my good friend an apology. For eating most of his Stuffed French Toast with Brie. That was my favorite, and when I come back next time, I’m definitely ordering two of those. We did wish that they put more brie in with the french toast though; the cheese was the highlight of the dish.
My two other friends ordered «The Passport», which is a poached egg on top of risotto, and The Malted Waffle. I liked the waffle, but nothing really stood out about it. As for the Passport, I thought the risotto was a bit too heavy for brunch.
I really like Sugar, and I will come back in the future. I’m excited for their Daily Specials, as their regular menu is limited and would probably get a bit boring after a while.
By the way, the service was wonderful and very accommodating, as we stayed there for maybe 2+ hours. There really isn’t anything better to do on a Saturday morning at 11am…

The lemon ricotta pancakes were good. Very sweet so getting the one with my good ol’ breakfast was prefect. Prices were good. Hostess was horrible. She took forever and was eating as the food piled up at the delivery counter.

Sugar is one of the best breakfast/​brunch places in the area, hands down. One thing I really like is that there never seems to be a crazy long wait, like lots of the local brunch spots are burdened with. It’s not huge inside and always seems to be pretty full during peak times, but I’ve never had to wait all that long for a table — thankfully.
Breakfast here is always on point. I’m super picky when it comes to how my bacon is cooked… as in, I ask them to burn the life out of it basically… and they always oblige :)
The one thing that strikes me as strange about Sugar is that they don’t serve breakfast all day! I mean, come on! That seems like a brilliant idea… to me anyways! They are open for dinner, but the menu is COMPLETELY different, as in, the place becomes a totally unrecognizable restaurant. Unfortunately, the change doesn’t work. The dinner menu is odd, seems like they are trying way too hard to be something they are not, very overpriced, and the food is just «meh.»
Get rid of the weird upscale dinner idea and start serving breakfast all day and this place would get 5 stars in my book!

First, let’s address the complaints about staff on here. I am not going to say that every single staff member at Sugar is created equal. Like any place, I have my favorites. But as a whole, the people that work here are exceptional and almost always add to the breakfast/​lunch experience (I have only been for dinner once so I can’t comment on that). I saw that a very small minority of the reviewers feel otherwise, but I have eaten here with my wife and daughter, and friends and family we’ve converted, between 100 – 150 times over the past few years and felt the need to respond to some of the somewhat negative reviews. Katie, Damien, Cara and a few other staff members are just about the nicest people in Roslindale/​West Roxbury.
Second, the food is always great. Even some of the complaints about the newer staff members acknowledge that the food is always good. Coffee is great and the staff keeps it flowing. They handle toddlers/​children with ease and make the extra effort to take care of families with young kids. In terms of the breakfasts, I have had them all and am not sure I have a favorite, but I tend to go with either the simple breakfast of 2 eggs/​homefries/​toast, the Summer Cottage, or if I am starving and don’t plan on eating for a few days after, the Country. My wife is a Breakfast Sandwich to Remember devotee. You really cannot go wrong with the breakfast and the lunch is solid as well.
Bottom line, no one likes a bad experience with wait staff, and I can understand if you’ve been to a place one time and had one bad experience you may have been disappointed (especially given how fanatical people are about Sugar in most reviews), but I can say as someone with a probably excessive experience with Sugar’s toast, coffee, and over easy eggs, this place is definitely worth a second chance for anyone who didn’t like it the first time.

Cute place. We didn’t have to wait very long for a table on a Saturday morning which was a nice surprise. I wanted to love my lemon ricotta pancakes so much more. They were good, but didn’t blow me away as I thought they would based on some reviews here. My friend said her veggie omelette was really good.
I might go back, but would probably order something else. Our waitress was nice, but she forgot about us most of the time we were seated and we had to flag her down to ask for more coffee and our check.

After hearing about this place on Chronicle, my mom and I decided to have brunch here one Sunday afternoon. The décor of the place is nice, nothing spectacular though. They have a few paintings of breakfast food hanging on the walls, among other things.
The place is split, on one side there is a bakery and on the other side is the restaurant. Having the bakery there is nice just in case you have a long wait ahead of you, you can always pop over there and grab a snack. They have croissants, cupcakes, cookies, and host of other sweets.
Our wait wasn’t long at all. The waitress told us it would be 25 mins, but it was more like 10 mins, which was nice. What wasn’t so nice was how long we had to wait for our food once we sat down and ordered. It took about 20 minutes (and they got the order wrong). For drinks, I ordered a «Sunrise», a mocktail of fresh squeezed orange juice mixed with cranberry juice, and my mom ordered a coffee. The «Sunrise» tasted like plain old orange juice. I couldn’t taste the cranberry juice at all. And according to my mom, the coffee was way too strong. So much so that she sent it back to our waitress.
We both ordered the «Good olé breakfast» which came with 2 eggs, potatoes, a slice of french toast or a pancake, and ham, bacon or sausage. I ordered the slice of french toast, my mom ordered the pancake, I ordered my eggs over-​easy, my mom ordered her eggs over-​medium. When the waiter brought the food to our table, there were 2 slices of french toast and no pancake, and my mom’s eggs were cooked over-​easy. They also forgot to bring the whole grain toast I ordered. So, needless to say, they struggled with our order. Not sure why… but they did.
Finally, when it was all sorted out, we began to eat. The food was pretty good, but not phenomenal. I enjoyed the eggs, ham, and the french toast. The potatoes were good too, but a little cold.
I probably wouldn’t return here again, unless I just happened to be in the area, and wanted a quick bite to eat. It’s definitely not a place I would go out of my way to get to. Overall, the experience was so-​so.

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