2 weeks Ago
Mary O'Halloran opened the shop in November 2024, and it's been the talk of the town ever since, attracting crowds to its small storefront in the East Village. The shop is only open Thursday through Sunday from 7 a.m.
to 2 p.m., and with its limited hours, there's no doubt you'll see lines forming out of the store at all times of the day.
It turns out O'Halloran started baking Irish soda bread scones — based on her mom's recipe from County Mayo, Ireland — back in 2021, after COVID restrictions forced her to close her bar, Mary O's Irish Pub. To keep busy amid the shutdown of her pub, she started baking her scones and sold them to former pub customers. By early 2022, O'Halloran had sold over $1 million worth of scones, allowing her to use those funds to partially reopen her bar.
Now, she sells her scones at her brick-and-mortar Soda Bread Shop. Crumbly and tangy, Irish soda bread is a quick bread leavened by baking soda instead of yeast, hence the name. The first published soda bread recipe dates back as early as 1836 , but it wasn't until the famines of the late 1840s that soda bread took off as a staple in Ireland thanks to its simple and accessible ingredients, including the previously mentioned baking soda, flour, salt, and buttermilk.
Over time, though, recipes have expanded to include butter, eggs, and sugar for sweeter and more decadent results. Here's my review: Was this scone worth the over 30 minutes of waiting? Definitely. As a scone-lover, I'll say Mary O's Irish Soda Bread Shop is a must-try.
I'll admit that $6 for one scone isn't cheap, but these are so worth it. My one complaint is the lack of seating, but it wasn't too big of a deal because there were a decent amount of places to sit on the street..
