What a delicious magical place. They have a great variety of traditional old world eastern-european/jewish foods as well as some modern tweaks. The soups are really good, be it the borscht (beet soup) or beef and barley. The banana stuffed french toast for breakfast can't be beat as well as the Empire eggs. They also have a nice chicken sausage to go along with breakfast. The staff is friendly and this is a great place to get any meal. On weekends the brunch lines can be over an hour so it may be best to avoid it then.
Start collecting reviews today
Claim your business to immediately update business information, respond to reviews, and more!
Yes 1000 time yes! Great for weekend brunch and a mimosa! The wait is usually around 30 minutes which is not bad by Boston standards. A large menu filled with tasty dishes.
We went for lunch around 2pm on Saturday. There was some free parking on the meters out front which was nice, and except for the absence of the host, there was no wait to be seated. Service was also very slow, despite the ample amounts of staff. We tried one of each of the knish, which was a nice appetizer, albeit a little bland. I tried the plain pastrami on swiss for my entree and it was decent. The bread was lovely, and the mustard was delicious, but the meat was a bit on the dry side.
Delicious food at great prices! I love that breakfast is available all day. For about $6 I got egg, toast, home fries and fruit. I added one large blueberry pancake to top it off. I've had the silver dollar pancakes before but one large one was more to my liking.
It seems like this place is always crowded. Sundays 10-2 are ridiculous. There aren't too many restaurants like it in the Boston area so worth going just to try a corned beef sandwich or latkes, but I wouldn't say the taste or presentation is always so great. It's acceptable. Based on those issues it's a little overpriced. The service is pretty good though even when crowded.
After many visits, I don't really get why this place is so popular. If you come when it's busy, you can usually cut out an hour from your wait by hovering by the counter and waiting for folks to leave.
NY-style deli in the heart of Brookline. Everything we had was tasty and came out fast, and was well-prepared. Not much of a wait on most weeknights. Don't forget about the pickles!
Hit or miss, Brookline more consistent than Framingham, when I went it was mahugana crowded and awesome service and food of the hook, my recommendations, white fish salad, potato pancakes, lox scramble dahlings.
The chocolate French toast with raspberry sauce is great. And their cheddar biscuit is also a must have. However, the service was quite slow (but they get a pass since it was extremely busy). Half of our table got their orders, then 10 minutes later the rest of us got our orders.
First visit in years. Introducing a friend from "way out west", where I've retired, to what was one of my favorite spots in Coolidge Corner. Waitresses very pleasant. Fast service. We each ordered the Reuben. It was a horrific, inedible mess of paper thin, fatty, heavily gristled "corned beef", tasteless sauerkraut, and a piece of swiss cheese so thin that I could have read a newspaper through it. Neither of us finished our sandwiches and I left feeling sad at how bad the experience was.
I think this place is a little over-hyped based on my three experiences here (only for breakfast). The bakery items are yummy for sure, but the omelets and entrees are just okay (nothing that like blows my mind away). The biscuits suck, flat out, though. They are dry and lifeless. The service is friendly though, and it's not like I would avoid coming here. It's just the wait on the weekends is ridiculous when you can get a similar meal at Brothers restaurant down the street (with NO wait!).
I've been to place twice and both times were good. there's often a line, so if you don't mind waiting, i'd recommend checking it out. I've eaten things including borscht, stuff cabbage, soups, omlets, etc, but the banana pancakes are by far the best! the bagel chips and cream cheese dip are great, too and will easily hold you over until your food arrives. the service is pretty good considering how busy it can get.
I went on a Saturday afternoon, there was a short wait. The staff was incredibly friendly! I ordered the Nova bagel (&lox) and a side of their house made corned beef.
They split the dish into two plates and we didn't even ask them. Would highly recommend their all day breakfast and their sandwiches appear to be really good (from eye-ing other tables).
Mobility/accessibility: There are no steps to enter and there is wide enough space between tables to navigate a mobility device/wheelchair. I did not notice any wheelchair specific seating.
Bathrooms: The bathrooms are located in the back of the restaurant. There's a mens/women's and then a unisex accessible bathroom that is down a narrow hallway. The bathroom itself is large and can fit a parent+stroller or a person in a wheelchair.
Zaftigs is a place I want to love but I find that I can't. The staff is great but have too many tables each to make one feel well served. Consistency is also an issue. I've never had anything bad, yet ordering the latkes several times had been hit or miss; they've come straight from the frier and been super fresh and delicately crispy and other times have been cold and over fried, approaching hockey puck status. Give them a shot, they may be worth it this next time.
Great food, great service and special, special waitress! Caroline, you re the best. If you want to move South, let me know. I've got the right place in mind for you!
A great place for brunch, lunch or dinner. One of the most famous places for brunch in Brookline. Their signature sandwiches are really good. I tried the Reuben and it did not disappoint. Ask for the potato salad as your side dish, you will love it. Service was great and it's not the prices are reasonable. Expect a long wait if you go for brunch on the weekend.
I went here a long time ago and I haven't returned since due to a bad experience I had when my mother took me here for my birthday. I ordered a Reuben sandwich with french fries that I had liked when I had gotten it the previous time I was there. (I haven't been there since this happened.) When the server brought it over, she was clumsy, tipped the plate toward me, and dropped the whole thing on my lap. It ruined my outfit. The server apologized and said she would "comp" my dessert. I told her that she should comp my whole order, since she had ruined my outfit. She said she spoke to her manager who told her that my sandwich would not be comped since they were making another one for me. I said that was outrageous and wanted to speak with her manager. I was told she was too busy. They didn't even offer to pay to have my outfit dry cleaned. I got my lunch and free dessert, but found the whole experience unacceptable, especially since I had to leave there covered with the remains of the first sandwich and grease. I had to go back to Somerville where I lived to get changed and had to throw away my outfit, which ruined the plans my mother had made for my birthday. When I called afterwards, demanding that they replace my clothing, I was rudely refused. Because of the whole experience, I never went there again.
This is the best eatery in the GBA in my opinion even the pickles taste better. Your waited on very professionally and the new outside seating next to a playground is perfect for eating in a younger and family environment. If you have dietary sensativites this place is also a great option. You can always go with a group of friends and there is something for everyone.
Really great food. For those of you who observe, it is not kosher. Wait staff is great, but overworked. The place is always busy especially at lunch time.
Unbelievable. Absolutely family friendly. My son enjoyed himself. I had the falafel which was a great choice. Probably the best I've had. Portions are generous. Parking wraps around the block. We didn't have much trouble finding it.
Great food! Cane on Sunday and expected the wait. Sat down and this is why i have 4 instead of 5, took the waiter a good 15-20mins to come take our order when there were a couple tables that sat after us and he took their orders before ours. Our table had the turkey hash, potato pankcakes, and chocolate french toast and all were really good! Worth the wait for sure.
I'm a huge fan of a good pastrami Reuben and that can be very hard to find sometimes. This is a legit deli with a legit pastrami Reuben. The serving sizes are big and heavy so come with an empty stomach. this place is a gem of Brookline and I wish there were more places like it closer to where I live.
This place has the best chicken noodle soup in all of the Boston. Whenever I get sick, I get a couple of pints of it, without the matzah balls. Can't recommend it enough!! Their other food is excellent too...highly recommend for brunch and lunch especially.
Food - I don't know, whatever our group ordered did not taste good. We had the lemon chicken and the Mac n Cheese. And we couldn't complete either dish. The loaded potato latkes as an appetizer tasted fine - again, not great.
Service - Nobody seemed happy to be there, we didn't get a smile from the staff, no one checked on us to see if everything was going well.
But this place has such good reviews, maybe it was just the wrong day. Who knows. But I wouldn't want to go back to try my luck.
I come monthly to keep in touch with an old friend. Food is always good, service is always attentive but not intrusive, and we've never been rushed out the door even when there's a line to get in.
It's no NYC deli, that's for sure. The food there is fine, but missing that wow factor. I always see long lines for brunch, and I don't think it's worth the wait (at least it wasn't for my turkey burger).
Came here for lunch on a Monday and the wait was minimal. The corned beef was overflowing out of the rye bread, it was juicy and delicious. Got a t-shirt to bring back to my wife to boot.
Great local spot for Jewish food! Not crowded on a Saturday night and food came relatively quickly. Generous portion sizes and lots of great flavors - would recommend getting the combo plate to start. I didn t even know there were so many ways to prepare potatoes!
very friendly service and classic diner style within in the locale. got a very underwhelming eggs Benedict that was pretty $$ considering how it was tossed together. But again, great service in good ole Brookline
I went here today thinking I would get great food but this Restaurant doesn t compare to the Natick one. I bought the chicken Matzo ball soup. The soup had only a little dark meat in it and 2 matzo balls. In Natick the soup tasted 10X better with lots of white meat and 3 matzo balls. I also bought a stale carrot cake muffin today. $30 for a quick bite and it was so stale I literally took one bite and threw the rest out. So sad I was bragging about this place to my friend before we went. Next time I ll stick with the Natick Restaurant.
Literally BOMB. I go here weekly and try something new from the menu and I m never disappointed. The food is so different and unique but you get that comfort foods and family vibe that is so nice. Their salmon for the empire eggs is UNREAL. The staff is really great. They re so clean and work so hard to keep everything sanitized bc of COVID and genuinely I feel so safe.
zaftigs.com
