Mary Ellen's has been a diner, doughnut shop, and most recently a Portuguese bakery. It is open daily and serves up some of the best no frills breakfast plates around. Its classic breakfast special includes, two eggs any style, home fries, meat, and its famous Portuguese toast for $5. Another favorite is the Portuguese 0melette with linguica, onions, Portuguese cheese, and your choice of Portuguese white bread, sweet bread, and deep fried potatoes or grilled potatoes with onions. At Mary Ellen's, you can expect excellent service and reasonable prices. Note, however, that it is a cash-only establishment.
Owned and operated by a Malden local since 1987, the Donut Villa is a homey, old-school kind of place, where men in plaid shirts and baseball hats sit on barstools before plates of eggs and large mugs of black coffee. The shop opens very early each morning, and the racks of freshly made donuts, muffins and bagels start to dwindle throughout the morning, as customers stream in and out, taking large white boxes of baked goods with them. Full breakfasts are also served -- eggs with bacon appears to be the most popular offering here. There is plenty of easy, free parking, too. But be aware: the Villa is cash only. No credit cards are accepted.
Padaria Brasil Bakery serves Brazilian pastries such as empadinhas, as well as birthday, wedding and exotic cakes, desserts, freshly baked bread, coffee and juice drinks. This is one Padaria's five locations; visit its website to see examples of its work.
Sweet Tomatoes Pizza in Needham was founded just a few years ago after successful forays in Newton. In 2009, it was voted the best pizza in town by the Hometown Weekly newspaper, which also voted Sweet Tomatoes the best regional pizza in 2008. Additionally, the pizza place, which specializes in specialized creations, has been featured by Phantom Gourmet. Creations include several pesto pizzas, such as the Pesto Splash, the Veggie Pesto and the Feta Pesto. The pizzeria itself is clean and well-lit, very welcoming and with plenty of space for a group of friends to chow down a couple large pies.
Eastern Lamejun Bakers does an excellent job of creating lamejun, or as it commonly known, armenian pizza. It has a large assortment of feta cheeses such as French, Greek, Armenian and Bulgarian. It also has many Middle Eastern food products.
Andrews Farm Bakery & Cafe is particularly popular among Stonehill students, being located right across the street from their college on Belmont Street. It's known for its cakes, pies, cookies, sandwiches and breakfast pastries. Gift baskets are also available. It also has a drive-through window and 16 tables inside.
The Flatbread Co is a pizza place located near the Burlington and Bedford town lines. It serves a wide array of organic and all-natural pizza dishes such as cheese and herb, nitrate-free pepperoni, homemade sausage and coevolution. Gift cards and call-ahead seating are available. The Flatbread Co is open seven days a week.