Wooden Bakery

I came here because I run on the W& OD Trail a lot and its close to the trail head in Vienna. I figured it would be a nice place to check out for a post-​run coffee or snack, and I heard they have delish Lebanese style pizza, which just sounds intrestingly-​amazing.
My Unilocal map showed that they were super close, but I could not figure out exactly where. I called the establishment and asked where they were in relation to the church on Church Street, or near the Red Caboose in Vienna. The gentleman did not answer my question. Instead, he asked me if I knew where the Vienna Whole Foods was, I answered yes. He then said they’re right across the street from there. In my mind, I had doubts, and I asked him again how close were they to big church on Church Street. Again, he said right across the street from Whole Foods, and he emphasized right across the street several time. So, I followed his directions, and ended up doing a complete circle, and ended up where I started. His directions were so wrong. They are not right across the street from Whole Foods… more like 4 – 5 blocks away from Whole Foods… moving on…
Once I arrived, I noticed the pizza brick oven with the fire ablaze. It was so cool to see them preparing pizza rounds with the topping and placing them inside of the traditional fire oven. I only had a few bucks cash on me since it was right after my run. I ordered a small pastry. Unfortunately, they don’t offer coffee or tea. I think that would make a nice addition. I made a mental note to go back and give the Lebanese pizza a full try.
They also served small Lebanese style snacks, like mini-​flat breads with cheese and meats, Lebanese pizza, and sweets like baklava and other pastries. This place also serves as a mini-​market so they sell things like seasonings, canned goods and a lot of food items that I imagine are Lebanese.
Customer service was really mediocre. The gentleman behind the counter was not very pleasant… very gruff and extremely short. Perhaps he was pre-​occupied or having a bad day.
I will give them another try and experiment with the Lebanese pizza next time… that really has sparked my culinary interest!

The only thing that gets me back to this place is the fresh pita bread. They make fresh pita bread on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.
The plain pizza tastes horrendous! There is no tomato sauce. Instead it is pure ketchup!!!
The zaatar manaeesh are too oily. Whereas the cheese manaeesh rarely have cheese on them!
Moreover, the products that they sell there are too expensive!

The only thing I can say about this place is that I am sad I didn’t find it sooner. It’s perfect for those looking for Manakeesh made fresh in front of you. Call ahead. They have a full Lebanese grocery store. Usually busy during weekend mornings.

We came her to pick up desserts to go. The service was horrible: it really looked like they were annoyed that we were there ordering desserts.
On top of that the knefe is terrible: it’s no better than a mozarella sandwich.

I’m surprised and sad my favorite Lebanese breakfast place has bad reviews!!! I love the Manaeesh here! I think it boils down to knowing «when» to go and «what» to order. This is my favorite secret dive Lebanese spot…
Disclaimer: Do not come here for the atmosphere or expecting a fancy or romantic place. This is a dive place for real authentic Lebanese food. I wish by now, this would be the «new» definition of romantic!
This place’s comparative advantage is for three things: 1. Amazing mouth-​watering authentic fresh out-​of-​the-​oven manaeesh for breakfast (don’t order them in the afternoon for a sit down dinner as they are more expensive than when served at breakfast). My favorites are the Lahm b ajine (with beef) and the zaatar (Lebanese thyme spice) with veggies. 2. Lebanese hard to find spices and groceries. 3. Catering food for a large group of people.

Went for brunch very very good. Had the cheese and meat. Very good. Enjoyed it very much. Not sure why the bAd reviews. Great people. Great store.

I have to agree with other customers. The lady behind the counter is rude and seemed annoyed with everyone that walked in. absolutely overpriced. $ 5.99 for cheese knefee? Really? I will never go back to that place again. Learned my lesson.

** it is very funny to read my previous review and describe their Kebbeh as the best one I ever taste!!! how ironically this sounds!
I really wanted to love this place because we had a good first experience, but this time, I am very disappointed. Since our last visit, we were craving for some Kebbeh, so we planned to get some. We ordered 6 pieces of Kebbeh each was $ 1.50. The kebbeh was uneatable at all. it has that awful smell when we opened it and the taste was like expired food.
I am very disappointed because not only we paid for something uneatable, but also because of how irresponsible this establishment was. It is people’s health at risk here when eating expired food. how come they did not smell it or taste it? I doubt they use fresh and daily ingredients.
Not sure what to say here! just very disappointed, and I wont be coming here again!
The 1 star is for their meat pies and cheese pies.

There are very few disappointments in life and this place seems to be the place that doles them out whenever possible. You walk into this «restaurant» that is in a warehouse strip mall and feel like you’re in a desert. It’s very hot and swampy.
Took a walk around the restaurant while we waited over 20 minutes for our shawarma sandwich and meat pie and found that the groceries they had on the shelves didn’t hear a price. We all know how much we love those stores that like to make up prices as we are checking out.
Anyway, food was soggy and tasteless. Definitely, the furthest thing from authentic and was a waste of time. Like many others, I won’t be coming back.

Bad customer service. Walmart staff offer much better customer service than this place. I walk in and the lady behind the counter seems to be annoyed that she is working. Her face expression is extremely unwelcoming. The food isn’t that great either, but was ok. I had similar Mana2eesh in Alexandria and they were much better.
Customer service played a huge part of my visit. The store was dirty, and the bathroom was out of service. Maybe if they change the staff behind the counter I would come back again; until then, I don’t think I would return. There are many other competitors around that area.
As far as grocery, not a wide selection, plus a little overpriced.

fraud, I’ll warn everyone that I know him to avoid this place, and the bread what they have is not for human uses, and the owner is really rude and disrespectful the customer

Authentic Lebanese bakery!

I absolutely adore Wooden Bakery the only authentic arabic bakery in the DC area. The restaurant has every single form of arabic pie you would ever need from meat pies to cheese to zaatar to a mix of all of them as well as very good high quality sweets. You can order before you come on the phone and the pies will be ready. Also the pies are cheaper than muncheez and a lot bigger for those who want to buy in bulk and eat at home. Wooden Bakery even bakes their own pita bread and sells it to all of the arabic stores around the area and their bread is just absolutely amazing. The Arabic store has all the items you would need from arab teas to sauces to food utensils to everything you could think of.
The other part of the restaurant now has a café which has hookah, Turkish coffee, sweets, and the pies as well as a party every Friday and Saturday night with different singers that fly in all the way from Michigan. So it’s not just a bakery but an arabic party spot. Overall this is a gem in the DC area that is absolutely adored by all people of Arab roots. I come here all the time and will continue coming.

Horrible service. We went there at 4 pm on a Sunday expecting to get good Lebanese food. We wanted it to be to-​go order. «They took 30 Mins for our order to be ready. And then it was ice cold. Shawarma sandwiches, manakeesh everything. Manakeesh had raw cheese on it which hadn’t even been put into oven. We returned the food, and the hostess was giving justification on why it is supposed to be cold that way. Horrible horrible service. They are partial towards their own friends. Never to go back there!

The mana2eesh are pretty good, comparable to the ones I’ve had in Anaheim, California. I had those a few months ago.
Unfortunately, the service leaves a lot to be desired. Basically, I went with friends after dinner for drinks on a Friday. We get there, have some tea and desserts,. All of a sudden came the bill. We were eight people, what possibly could we be interested in eating at 1 or 2am. We just wanted out. My fiancé and I had about 30 dollars’ worth of drinks/​desserts. They give us a bill for 80 + (they automatically added gratuity).
We were shocked. So we ordered mana2eesh for later. But for the rest of our friends were shocked. Not to mention, nobody mentioned anything. We initially made a reservation over the phone, so they could have mentioned something when they found out we’d be 8 people. They also could have said something at the door or online or on Facebook, but nooo. So, I rate it as a nooooo

So I wrote my original review out of anger. I didn’t wait to get home to write it so I pulled out my mobile and wrote what was on my mind. As you can tell I had some Grammer issues…
Anyhow looking at the reviews a little more closer it appears the practice of notifying people during checkout for excessive minimum charges appears to have been going on for some time. There are two reviews in the «Not Recommended» section that describes this practice ( Unilocal needs to reclassify these). Cherie’s experience from that section is exactly what my group and I experienced. Yes you might get a lot of money now but you’ve lost about 200 future customers as all my friends have been notified of this restaurant’s scam. So has my credit card company.
Anyhow to review the actual establishment, it’s nothing to rave about. We sat on some uncomfortable sofas. Besides the singer and lights the place would have felt like a dungeon. Tea was fine but $ 3 for a tea bag wasn’t worth it. I passed on the shisha as I’m trying to be healthier. My friends told me great things about their manakesh but my heart sinks when I see knafeh. I make knafeh myself but the knafeh I ate was awful. It was from the frozen kind (frozen? Why are you a bakery!!!) which was given to me microwaved (worst way to heat any food). The sugar water was cold. And most important the knafeh lacked taste. I would love to try their manakesh but I would rather starve than eat at this place if it was the last place on earth.

Went back again and received the same bad customer service. I was on my lunch break and time was of the essence, the two owners (older couple) were behind the counter and took my order in their usual rude and snobby attitude.
I only ordered a Meat pie and mentioned that I was in a hurry. These two stood there doing nothing for at least 15 minutes waiting for the poor Hispanic worker to come out from the back and prepare my order.
I was the only customer there and I guess making manakish and pies is now beneath them.
This place has so much potential it’s a shame that it is run by such unpleasant and horrible people.
I’ll never set foot in this place again!

Horrible service! Took 45 minutes for a simple order, and then when delivered it was cold — the meat and all! When I went back to discuss the order the attendant (older lady) was extremely rude! She claimed that the cold food was how the food is generally served — for god sake — a shawarma is meant to be hot!
Be ready to wait if you go here! If with a hookah, the wait is still bearable but elsewise, a 30 – 45 minute wait during lunch is unacceptable especially when you’re the only person in the bakery!
Avoid this one at all costs, they’ve been consistently going down…

In terms of groceries prices it is overpriced and expensive that other average stores.
The bakery seems fine but have not tried it because of their pricing and no clear pricing on shelf items.
They are over priced in items such as cans and regulars daily Middle Eastern goods which dose not reflect quality over all.
Personally I would only go their for bakeries.

Really fashionable, and clean hookah bar.
The service is very good and the food is okay. The meat doesn’t have too many spices, but maybe it’s a Lebanese thing?
The prices look good on the menu, but it turns out there’s a $ 3 (or $ 4?) charge for the disposable hose they give you with your hookah. I’ve been to hookah bars that give you a disposable hose, but they don’t charge you for it. And the server didn’t give us a choice or warn us about this charge. So that was a little annoying.
When I visited, it was nice and quiet, but disturbingly empty. (Maybe not too many people know about their hookah?) It was just us and the owner’s family.