Featuring all-day brunch options, a new Friendly Toast location—opened at The Shops at Chestnut Hill in February—is perfect for breakfast lovers, serving a wide variety of Bloody Marys, breakfast burritos, and omelets until after the sun sets.
With bright green walls and red, polka-dotted tables, the interior’s vibrant colors are hard to miss. The location also features fun decorations like toast-shaped lights dotting the walls. Posters, signs, and televisions cover the walls, allowing guests to create conversation about the funky surroundings as they wait for their meals.
Noah Keates, a customer visiting friends in the area, said he liked the restaurant’s funky aesthetic.
“It’s a cool place,” he said. “I love the aesthetic. I love the green thing going on and all the interior design. It’s, I don’t know, ’80s funk? It’s very green, very polka-dotty.”
On the night of March 25, the location was full of a variety of guests. Groups like birthday parties, families with young children, old friends catching up over drinks, and college students debriefing about their week filled the restaurant.
Maureen Forry, a Chestnut Hill resident, said she had been waiting to check out the new location.
“I’ve been to the one in Burlington,” she said. “I live just down the street, and I wanted to treat myself.”
Forry said she liked her dining-in experience.
“It was a great, very friendly, fun atmosphere—really good and not too loud, not too crazy,” she said.
The Friendly Toast menu features a variety of options, from classics like pancakes and french toast to more unique options including Rice Krispie–coated chicken and waffles and breakfast egg rolls.
The chocolate chip pancakes were delicious. The size of the pancake was impressive, taking up nearly the entire plate, and it came with the classic toppings of maple syrup and butter. The sweet cream infused in the pancake enhanced the taste and blended well with the chocolate chips.
Iced coffee paired perfectly with the pancakes. Guests can add their own cream and sugar to perfect the taste to their liking.
Forry indulged in the restaurant’s eggs benedict.
“I got the eggs benny,” she said. “It’s my favorite breakfast—so it’s an English muffin with poached egg, ham and hollandaise, and home fries. The home fries here are really good.”
Guests can also enjoy an array of traditional dinner options like buffalo mac and cheese, salads, and even ramen.
Forry said the restaurant’s affordable prices make it just right for Newton. The restaurant at 199 Boylston Street is open Sunday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., as well as Friday and Saturday from 8 a.m. through 8 p.m.
“It’s just a really good addition to the neighborhood. It’s affordable, which isn’t always the case in Chestnut Hill,” Forry said. “It’s really good and low key, and I can’t wait to bring my family here.”
Images by Ashley Emanuel / Heights Staff
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