Pastries, brunch, sandwiches, and coffee with Middle Eastern flavors
























"Harvard does have a library, right? It must (and if it doesn’t, someone’s gotta make a call to the US News college rankings people). But you’d be forgiven for assuming it doesn’t when you walk into Tatte, a massive two-story cafe that’s packed at all hours of the day and has a laptop and an open biology book on nearly every table. Step up to the pastry counter, though, and you’ll understand why this place is so popular. The chocolate brioche and espresso mocha mousse are so good you won’t care that it might not be socially acceptable to eat dessert at 11 in the morning. And Tatte isn’t just a pastry place, either, it’s got a big menu of sandwiches, salads, tartines, and other Middle Eastern-ish specialties like fattoush and shakshuka. You could easily spend your whole day here, holed up in a booth by the window, rolling from one meal to the next." - dan secatore
"If you’re still trying to find your way around campus, you’ll be forgiven for thinking that the Harvard Square Tatte is actually the undergrad library. This place is packed at all hours of the day with people simultaneously reading Proust and eating really good shakshuka. If you’re coming here primarily to study, you can do so with just a coffee or something from the pastry case - though you should come to this full-service Israeli spot for a full lunch at some point." - dan secatore

"A neighborhood bakery that opened as the chain's 13th location to serve the Berklee College of Music area, occupying the former Back Bay Beats space. The interior features the brand's signature white tiling, sprawling pastry cases, and hot skillets of shakshuka; the menu—available from 7 a.m. on opening day—includes croissants, tarts, egg dishes, coffees, and teas, with seasonal rotations highlighting summer items like cherry- and strawberry-filled pastries and garden vegetable salads. The expansion is part of founder Tzurit Or's broader growth plans, backed in part by investor Ron Shaich, and accompanies other projects such as D.C. expansion and a large production hub, test kitchen, and café in South Boston." - Dana Hatic

"Founded in 2007 by Tzurit Or, this fast-growing bakery and café is known for its pastries, weekend brunch and shakshuka. Having expanded to 11 locations across Boston, Cambridge and Brookline, the business has pursued aggressive growth—with early backing from Panera founder Ron Shaich (a partnership that ended in January 2018). New openings include a site on the Berklee College of Music campus at 160 Massachusetts Ave. (in the former Back Bay Beats space) expected to open this summer and another planned for One Boston Place, moves that would substantially increase the chain’s footprint and push expansion toward Washington, D.C." - Dana Hatic

"Fresh off an opening in Boston’s Fenway neighborhood, Tatte Bakery & Cafe has made its debut in another new area of the city. The Back Bay bakery, located at 399 Boylston St., opened its doors at 7 a.m. on Thursday, January 18, unveiling a precisely tiled interior and a pastry case filled with familiar baked goods. The new bakery is located near the Boston Public Garden and features large black booths and the usual lineup of sandwiches, soups, salads, and all-day brunch on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, which includes multiple versions of shakshuka. While it maintains a broad selection of standbys on the menu, Tatte makes seasonal updates based on the availability of ingredients. Its winter menu currently features a mac and cheese dish made with cavatappi, creamy fontina, and smoked Gouda sauce and topped with parsley and toasted bread crumbs." - Dana Hatic