Afra Bakery & Market

The sangak bread is amazing… we make flatbread pizza with it each week with basil and tomatoes from our garden.

We stumbled into this little bakery and grocery while visiting the thrift shop next door. We love to cook interesting ethnic food at home and this looked like just our kind of place. The place is packed with all sorts of interesting goodness — most of which I’d never heard of and would have no idea what to do with if I brought it home (this is a GOOD thing, as it inspires me to do some research before my next visit). There is a spice wall with all sorts of intriguing herbs and blends, a great selection of flatbreads/​lavash, a huge variety of canned/​jarred items from the middle east, various fresh fruits and veggies, a deli area with tempting dips/​sauces/​olives, and several bins full of nuts and grains. In the back is the bakery with it’s famous sangak bread hanging on the wall (you choose and bag it yourself).
Not quite knowing what to buy, we chose a sangak bread, some hummus, and some kalamata olives to take back to our hotel for a little picnic — it was all delicious. Next time I’ll come armed with recipes so I can try some of the other items. The staff were very friendly and helpful, and the prices were good too!

Great sangak bread!

Very good sangak!
Service is good. Good selection of Persian food.

I have not personally been here, but my brother did last year when visiting… but I am frustrated that they do not host an on-​line store — I live on east coast and have no access to the west coast items sold as in this store, for example large block of Ghara-​Ghroot — can any other Unilocalers point me in right direction?

* Wander into the back for a pleasant surprise *
Ok, the front has all of the wonderful products I’ve Unilocaled about before.
Today I finally wandered into the back, that previously looked like the staff area to me. But it is the actual bakery.
There is a huge oven where they are baking fresh sangak (Persian whole wheat flatbread).
The fresh sangak are hanging on nails on the wall to cool. You pick the one you like, and can bag it yourself (cutting it first if you prefer as many people do) and bring it back out front to pay. A huge sangak was only $ 3. Quite the steal — and SOOOO delicious!
If you are wondering what sangak looks like, it looks just like this:
I came home today with the fresh sangak, a pound of raw almonds that were nice and fresh, and a chunk of fresh housemade pistachio turkish delight. Quite the bounty!
I love this place!