Overthinking Food & Drink Since 2006

The Old City Roastery

  • 2025-09-15
  • review
  • hayward
  • candy store
  • candy shop
  • roasted nuts
  • nut roastery
  • chocolate
  • Chocolate store
  • middle eastern goods
  • turkish delight
  • dubai chocolate
  • other-businesses
  • The Old City Roastery

The 411 on The Old City Roastery #

Address: 22570 Foothill Blvd
Hayward, CA
Website: https://theoldcityroastery.com/

the old city roastery storefront

The Vibe: The Old City Roastery is a Palestinian-owned shop that specializes in nuts, spices, chocolates, and pantry items from the Middle East as well as Turkish delight, halvah, and coffee. Through the front door, customers find a counter full of those nuts and other snack foods in a variety of flavors, a central column of wrapped chocolates in bulk bins, and a back wall full of various goods like spices and pickled vegetables (think cucumbers, olives, and eggplants).

The chocolate selection does indeed include trendy Dubai chocolate, with full bars at $25. I have no idea if they are from the original Dubai chocolate inventor, but reviews of them are good. Fresh strawberry cups topped with pistachio cream, crunchy kadayif (shredded filo pastry) sprinkles, and of course, chocolate, are also available. Enjoy Turkish coffee in their bright café corner, or one of a variety of canned drinks like Salaam cola and Yemenade.

The shop’s employees are happy to help explain any ingredients to clueless patrons like myself. Don’t be afraid to ask! They also offer samples of the nuts and snack mixes.

My Take on The Old City Roastery #

The Food: On my first visit, I went home with half a pound of cashew “party” mixed nuts and a selection of chocolates.

the old city roastery bags

The crunch on the cashews was phenomenal, and I appreciated how deeply roasted they were, which imparted extra cashew flavor. I did not ask for an explanation of the three different coatings in the shop, so this is what I pieced together:

  • The red coating is spiciest and tangiest, maybe a blend of tamarind and chile pepper.
  • Orange is the earthier option, similar to the taste of BBQ potato chips.
  • The tan coating is smoky and my favorite of the trio.

the old city roastery cashews

All flavors made for great snacking and a great mix together.

I also chose five different types of individually wrapped chocolates.

the old city roastery chocolate

I do not remember how they all tasted, but I found one quite good at capturing the delight of Dubai chocolate in a few bites. I believe it was labaled as a kadayif chocolate.

the old city roastery kadayif chocolate

The hazelnut had lots of flavor and I appreciated the extra hazelnut paste inside.

the old city roastery chocolates Was this the hazelnut? Your guess is as good as mine.

I also had the plain pistachio, because I just love pistachio in anything sweet.

the old city roastery pistachio chocolate

the old city roastery pistachio chocolate inside

Based on my choices, I’d certainly shop at the Old City Roastery for chocolates again.

On my second trip, I picked up a pound of their deluxe party mix, which includes items similar to corn nuts, roasted peas, and seaweed rice crackers along with coated peanuts. The new items added a fun variety of textures, but they sometimes tasted stale. I’d opt for just roasted nuts next time, and I look forward to trying their many varieties of roasted squash seeds as well—and watermelon seeds!