Mary O's Irish Soda Bread Shop: East Village, NYC

With St. Patrick's Day close at hand, it seemed like the perfect time to visit Mary O's in the East Village. Mary O's Irish Soda Bread Scones have been generating social media buzz and attracting long lines. The story behind them is great (more on that in a minute). But how good could Irish soda bread scones be?

The answer is very. Served warm, the scones have a crispy exterior and a fluffy, light-but-rich interior. They're split open and filled with lashings of Irish butter and homemade blackberry jam. It seems simple, but simple can be magical.

Now, the story. Mary O'Halloran ran an Irish pub in the East Village. When the pandemic hit in 2020, she was shut down right before her biggest day of the year, St. Patrick's Day. Mary's longshoreman husband was stuck in the Aleutian Islands for nine months, and she was home with six kids and no income.

Mary started baking. Neighbors and customers pitched in, and word spread. In 2021 Mary was profiled on the Instagram page Humans of New York, and the place really started taking off. Now, in addition to running the pub, Mary runs the bakery Thurs.-Sun., 7 AM-2 PM (or until they're out out).

I told you it was a great story! Great scones, too.

Mary O's Irish Soda Bread Shop, 93 1/2 E. 7th St., East Village.