On Feb. 19, dozens of people stretched down Newbury Street, buzzing with excitement. Levain Bakery had opened its newest location in Boston to huge success and demand.

Levain is a New York City-based bakery with nine locations on the East Coast, including one in Maryland and one in Washington, D.C. The bakery is famous for its giant, dense chocolate chip walnut cookies.

“I thought Boston was going to be successful and it is,” said Annalisa Colombo, general manager at the Boston location of Levain. “It’s been a lot of fun being able to see how crazy it’s been.”

Colombo has worked with Levain for two years. She started out at the NoHo location in Manhattan, and then moved to Boston to help open the new location. 

“Boston is near and dear to our hearts. It’s near New York. We have a lot of people in New York [who] are like, ‘Oh, we’re from Boston,’” Colombo said. “We also just love to pick a neighborhood feel and Boston just kind of fit that perfect picture for us.”

Many praised the Boston bakery for its cookies and the experience created by the staff, including first-year Northeastern University student Mahek Aggarwal, a combined data science and biochemistry major.

“I’ve seen it on Instagram and heard it’s really popular in NYC, so I really wanted to come here,” Aggarwal said. “When you step in, you can instantly smell the cookies, which smells amazing.” 

Levain was founded in 1995 by Pam Weekes and Connie McDonald, both competitive swimmers and triathletes with a passion for baking. 

The shared passion led Weekes and McDonald to create a small New York City bread shop, which they named Levain Bakery, a French term that translates to sourdough starter. 

As athletes, the founders were looking for a quick snack as fuel in between triathlon training sessions. They created the now-famous chocolate chip walnut cookie, which they decided to sell in their bakery. Colombo said they did not expect the cookie to explode in popularity the second it hit the shelves.

“That’s what put us on the map,” Colombo said. 

Most people come to Levain for this famous flavor, but there are several other cookie options on the menu, as well as some pastries. Levain recently rolled out its first nut-free chocolate chip cookie for people with nut allergies, Colombo said.

“There were so many people asking and asking,” Colombo said. “So we came up with the [Two Chip Chocolate Chip] cookie, which is a chocolate chip without nuts, but a little bit different. It has two types of chocolate chips in it. … It’s got semi-sweet and dark chocolate, so it’s a lot richer than just the regular chocolate chip.” 

Levain offers a gluten-free version of the chocolate chip walnut cookie as well. Colombo said the bakery also offers a menu item just for the Boston location: oatmeal cranberry scones with local cranberries from Massachusetts farmers. Staff members have a variety of favorite cookies, despite the popularity of their chocolate chip walnut cookie, but there is a common thread.

“The staff favorite is actually the oatmeal raisin,” Colombo said. “It’s kind of the underdog of the cookies, but they’re so good.”

Some customers had come for reasons beyond the cookies. In line was Christie Kilgus and her husband, Rick Kilgus. They said they wanted to support their son, who had started working at the bakery. 

“It’s our first time,” Christie Kilgus said. “We did read up about it a little bit. We had heard how popular it was, but we were kind of blown away by the long line.”

So what makes this bakery so worth it?

“It’s kind of cheesy, but it genuinely is made with love. It’s been consistent for 25 years. Our values haven’t changed,” Colombo said. “Every ounce of us is put into every single step of the process. I think that’s what makes us a little bit different.”