As you circle the Yard and journey through Harvard Square, you are likely to come across hungry Harvard undergraduates wandering about. While their bellies are already full from the dining hall menu, there is one craving that a college meal plan just can’t suffice: the desire for a sweet treat. Harvard Square is known for dishing up a range of confectionaries—one of the hottest attractions is the recently opened SoBol, or the familiar favorite Le Macaron: French Bakery & Pastries. These flavorful businesses offer Harvard students and community members alike unique options for indulgence as they explore the Square.
Located at 5 John F Kennedy St., SoBol serves acai bowls, smoothies, and waffles. The Long Island-based company was originally founded in 2013, and it has since expanded across the country, including to Harvard Square this past month. SoBol aims to make healthy food more accessible. At its March 5 grand opening which featured a $2 acai bowl deal, large crowds of hungry students and Cambridge residents lined the block.
“I think we sold over 500 bowls, and we were doing $2 bowls, and I know there was a few people that did get two bowls because that was the max per customer,” manager Meet Patel said in an interview with the Harvard Independent. “If we want to go to a safe conservative number, let’s just go…we had 400 people,” he said.
Opening day saw the Harvard Square SoBol at a high point, and customer visits have been relatively consistent since. “It’s been a little bit slower than that, you know,” he said. “We were offering $2 bowls, so of course [we] had the entire student body of Harvard show up, but in terms of sales, we’re at a decent spot.”
With sunnier days approaching, Patel was excited to share what customers can expect from the location.
“On third-party delivery services, we’re doing a bunch of specials right now where it can be pay $15, get $5 off, or DoorDash, we’re doing something to buy a bowl, get a smoothie for free. I think it’s Uber Eats. It’s [spend] $20, get $5 off,” Patel said. “If you’re a member of the rock climbing gym upstairs, Central Rock Climb, we’re doing a deal with them, where on Tuesdays they can get an $8 bowl, and…10% off anytime,” Patel added. Patel also mentioned SoBol’s ability to work with any Harvard student organization interested in their options for catering or group services.
Between loyal patrons and tourists, the cafe sees plenty of business. And students from all of Boston’s colleges may see familiar faces if they walk into SoBol, as the establishment primarily employs undergraduates.“They are all college students,” Patel said. “We have a few people from Northeastern, some people from Harvard, one person from Lesley, one person from Suffolk, and we also have a few high schoolers from Cambridge Rindge & Latin.”
Just across the street from SoBol is Le Macaron, a storefront that serves classic French patisseries. While they are famous for their macarons, the bakery also serves up luxurious gelato and other sweet treats. Originally, Le Macaron was founded in 2009 by mother and daughter pair Rosie and Audrey Guillem as the culmination of their dream to share their appreciation for French culture beyond the country’s bounds through pastries. The shop did not become a franchise until 2012, but today, they serve up fancy goodies all across the country.
Ida Fladhammer ’25, a Harvard senior and Le Macaron employee, shared with the Independent the bakery’s history. “[The Harvard Square Le Macaron location opened] Aug. 2, 2022… It is a franchise, it is based on a mother-daughter duo, and they made it originally for them.”
Attributing the new influx of customers to the onset of warmer spring weather, Fladhammer expects a rise in attraction to the shop. “It kind of depends on the season. Our busiest season tends to be the summer season, so both when a bunch of students like coming to campus for commencement and students just generally like to go back to school,” Fladhammer stated.
Such an increase in business inevitably also brings a shift in sales, oftentimes depending on the time of day. “I would say during the morning it is the pastries—those are really popular—and then more so in the afternoon, the macarons,” Fladhammer said.
“I really like the basil ones and then the lotus blossom [ones].” The special season item is the Mon Chere, which Fladhammer described as a “cherry-chocolate macaron.”
While Le Macaron is not currently offering promotional deals, it participates annually in the renowned Harvard Valentine’s Day Datamatch partnership and offers a back-to-school deal in September.
Between Le Macaron, SoBol, and other sweet-treat destinations, Harvard Square has plenty to offer its community of college students and community-goers. Beyond the eclectic menus of these storefronts, these locations are also an opportunity for those looking to support local businesses and visit their classmates hard at work.
Sidney Regelbrugge ’28 (sidneyregelbrugge@college.harvard.edu) is now daydreaming about a SoBol mango-pineapple smoothie.