MIAReview

photo credit: Emily Schindler

Zak The Baker   image
8.8

Zak The Baker

Bakery/Cafe

Wynwood

$$$$Perfect For:BreakfastBrunchLiterally EveryoneLunchPeople Watching
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Zak the Baker is a phenomenal bakery that makes really delicious things, and it also happens to be located in Wynwood, one of Miami’s most popular neighborhoods. And with that trifecta comes one unfortunate inevitability: Zak the Baker gets really busy.

This is especially true during weekends and peak tourist season, AKA winter. The line can stretch out the door. Tables—even with their recently-expanded outdoor seating—get snatched up faster than a parking spot in Brickell. And this is really the only downside to Zak the Baker. But as long as you prepare for that inevitability, this classic Miami bakery is still totally worth the effort it takes to eat here.

Zak The Baker   image

photo credit: Emily Schindler

Inside Zak’s hospital-white walls, there’s a rotating cast of croissants, danishes, cookies, cinnamon rolls, and traditional Jewish baked goods like boureka and babka. The pressure to order can be intense—especially if there’s a waiting crowd behind you, but you can always rely on the consistently perfect babka. It comes in nice big chunks, and it contains multitudes: both dense and chewy and light and flaky in all the right places. And if you stop by on a Friday at noon when the challah comes out of the oven, take home a loaf so you can spend the weekend canceling plans and making challah French toast with your cat.

Zak The Baker   image

photo credit: Zak The Baker in Wynwood / Photo by Emily Schindler

If you can’t live on cookies and rugelach alone, there are also about eight delicious sandwiches that deserve your attention as well as some of the best bagels in Miami. Really, there are no bad choices on the menu. As long as it involves some form of bread, you can rest assured it will be delicious.

There are also some clever ways to bypass the omnipresent Zak crowds. We pretty much always place an order online these days, which has probably saved us literal hours of waiting in line. It’s also smart to avoid weekends if possible and come during an off-time (on the earlier side) during the week.

But even if you do get stuck in an annoyingly lone wait—it’s OK. Stick it out. Because you will be rewarded with something fresh and warm from the best bakery in the entire state.

Food Rundown

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Bagel With Nova

Zak the Baker didn’t always make bagels, but when they finally put them on the menu, we knew it was going to be a home run. We were right. You can tell months of development went into making these bagels from both the bubbly crust and perfectly distributed seasoning.

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Salmon Reuben Sandwich

This is what you should get if you looked at the nova and cream cheese toast and thought, “more.” And if you fall in the venn diagram of people who like both salmon and reuben sandwiches (it’s a big circle), then this is the move.

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Tuna Melt

The tuna tastes great, but our favorite part about this sandwich is that perfect buttery crust on the outside of the bread. It’s the sort of toast you’ve been striving for with every grilled cheese sandwich you’ve ever made.

Salmon Bacon, Egg, And Cheese

We love this sandwich, mostly because of Zak’s salmon bacon. It’s salmon that’s doing an impression of bacon—and it’s a salty, chewy, SNL-worthy impression. They also give you the option to add that salmon bacon to other sandwiches. It’s not a bad idea.

Zak The Baker   image

photo credit: Emily Schindler

Babka

We’ve never had better babka and we doubt we ever will. It’s very difficult to decide between cinnamon or chocolate and honestly they’re both so good we can’t even give you a suggestion. Maybe flip a coin and let the babka gods decide?

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FOOD RUNDOWN

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