Toasted Lakewood: A New Daytime Café

Sofia Syed opened her first Roasted café (2275 Professor Ave.) in Tremont in 2022. The quick success of that coffee shop lead to the opening of a second location in Lakewood (13417 Madison Ave.) the following year.

And soon, Syed will open a food-focused extension of the Roasted brand with Toasted, a breakfast and lunch café.

“When I first opened my Tremont store, I wanted people to sit down and hang out,” Syed says. “We offered regular pastries and snacks, but I felt that a lot of people would hang out until they wanted more food.”

In response to that behavior, Syed developed her sandwich concept, created the menu, even purchased some of the kitchen equipment, but ultimately decided that she didn’t want to shoehorn the food concept into her coffee shop.

“Because we need every inch of that space for coffee, I didn’t want to cram a whole food operation into the same space,” she says, “so I put that idea on pause.”

But then destiny came calling. Syed says that she was asked by her landlord in Lakewood if she wanted to expand. A space two doors down became available after Tost Sandwich Café departed. The answer was yes and she quickly got to work transforming the space to better fit her vision.

“Toasted is an extension of Roasted,” she says. “The space feels very similar to all my cafes. I just try and make them as comfortable and warm as possible. A lot of plants. All of my locations have a mural, so I added one.”

Syed describes Toasted (13427 Madison Ave.) as a health-conscious breakfast and lunch spot.

“When I started planning this, I felt there were no quick, easy and healthy breakfast options that weren’t fast food,” she says. “I do feel that there’s a shift away from fast food and fried food and that people are more aware of what they’re putting in their body.”

There will be breakfast burritos and build-your-own breakfast sandwiches. In addition to avocado toast, there will be toasts topped with whipped ricotta and fig jam and lox and chive cream cheese. The lunch roster offers soups, salads, sandwiches and wraps including grilled cheese, chicken Caesar, ham and cheese, Caprese and turkey jalapeno. There are vegan options and fresh-squeezed juices as well.

Syed says that the plan is to be up and running in the first week of June.