Updated 3/10. The water avenue location has closed. I’m pretty unimpressed with the owners of the place, so for ethical reasons, don’t recommend Bakery Bar
I spend a lot of time checking out new Portland restaurants and food related stores. A month ago I heard about a new bakery in the Water avenue industrial area, but couldn’t find it. Then a few weeks ago I was walking backwards while taking a quick picture of Clarklewis and literally stumbled over it, or that is, their sandwich sign. Curiosity brought me in the door, and it has been on my regular rotation ever since.
Since there is no sign on the building, if you didn’t know Bakery Bar is there you would probably drive right past. It is directly across the street from Clarklewis. I’ve noticed a few people leaving CL and coming across the street for dessert. Inside the space is bigger than you’d expect, spacious and airy with an open kitchen. Big windows provide welcoming light on dark days, a nice collection of art is on the walls. A selection of current pastries calls from the glass display case. Cookies, coffee cake, and scones are also available.
Jocelyn Barda was a child and family therapist. After deciding she needed a change, Jocelyn attended the pastry program at WCI, and then worked in a restaurant as a pastry assistant while working on a business plan to open a bakery and a bar; thus the name Bakery Bar. They have a beer and wine license, with several decent beers on tap.
Coffee is Stumptown. If you order something like a mocha or the caramel-bourbon latte, it comes with pillowy homemade marshmallows. I’m not normally one for sweet drinks, but bourbon and caramel? Oh yeah, I had to try one. Compared to most places in town, you could actually taste the coffee over the caramel; the house made syrup had a deep, not overly sweet, bourbon flavor. Cappuccino and regular house coffee tastes just like you would expect from a Stumptown vendor.
Desserts seem to come out of the oven all day long. They tend to be simple, but beautifully decorated. For my taste, nothing is cloyingly sweet, but rather perfectly balanced. Some of the recent selections include ginger cookies with three gingers, carrot cake with orange butter cream and candied carrot, orange cranberry scones, lemon scones, coconut cakes and cupcakes topped with coconut-cream cheese frosting, coconut cream puffs filled with coconut pastry cream, and topped with chocolate ganache and yet more coconut, Lindzer tart with rhubarb and pears, and quite a few others. A complete list is on their website, though not everything is available at one time. She specializes in custom cakes.
For those desiring something a bit more substantial, they offer a selection of sandwiches, most in the panini style. They are of a good size, averaging about $6.00. A little bit of work needs to be done on balancing the various ingredients; sometimes the spreads overwhelm the other components, but I think this is just part of working the bugs out.
Bakery Bar is one of those places you want to take friends because it is such a secret. It is an impressive debut for a person new to commercial baking, and a welcome addition to the Portland bakery scene. Recommended.
- Phone: (503) 546-8110
- Address: 2935 NE Glisan St, Portland 97232 Google Map
- Hours: Tue-Fri 7am-3pm, Sat 7am-4pm, Sun 8am-3pm. Closed Monday
- Website: BakeryBar.com
It’s not a secret anymore(and links need to be fixed).
It is so off the beaten path, I think it will stay relatively quiet. I did make sure they didn’t mind the publicity before I posted.
I was in there shortly after they opened and had an amazing jam-topped biscuit and some Stumptown coffee for breakfast – although I was eyeing that lemon-lime tart. You just reminded me that I need to head back there again – next week, for sure!
Their stuff is being sold by Pastaworks. I’ve tried to get in there several times, always just missing it. Since it closes at 3:30pm, it makes it tough for me. At least I finally got into Saint Cupcake, but they’re open a lot later.
MSG-
What did YOU think of Saint Cupcake?
You’re a brave woman, girl cook…
Jocelyn was my extern at the Heathman and I am so excited to hear about her opening up her new digs! Kudos to you mizz Barda!
Nancy-
That’s what eggnog will do for/to you.
GIRL_COOK
I’ve only tried one thing, just a vanilla cupcake with a thick swirled topping of pink icing and hard candy. I mainly picked it because it was cuter than the others and it was a treat for my wife. Cakes and cupcakes have never been my thing, really. But I thought it was a cute place doing cute work. It’s not a “serious” pastry shop like Pix or Criollo as far as I can tell, though.
MSG-
I was expecting something like on this this
GIRLCOOK
Hmmm, I think Pussycat Dolls rather than Beastie Boys would be a more appropriate parody for Saint Cupcake. Or I could just be undersexed during the holidays.
Pingback: Metroblogging Portland
Hmmm, I guess I just don’t get this place. I’ve been there four times and have yet to come away impressed. The first time I just popped in for a cookie. When I got back to the office and bit into my delicious-looking oatmeal-cranberry-chocolate chip cookie I was surprised to find it loaded with walnuts (or was it pecans, it’s been a while). Luckily, I’m not allergic. Less luckily I don’t like them. The coworker I passed it off to wasn’t all that impressed either.
Then came my ham and brie sandwich. Very small, with very little ham and too much brie (though this was some time ago and they seem to have changed). I also had another cookie, chocolate with some sort of chocolate cream filling. The cookie was dry and bland and the filling had a great texture, but almost no flavor.
Went back more recently and had the turkey sandwich this time. It was still a bit small, but thankfully there was more meat this time. I thought the flavors balanced much better (the arugula turkey and cheddar worked nicely, though they overwhelmed the tomato relish), but it was still quite cold in the middle which threw off the whole thing (this was a hot panini sandwich, mind you).
My last item was an underwhelming “vanilla” cupcake. Vanilla is in quotes because it (again) didn’t really have much flavor. The cake was extremely dry and tasted like plain yellow cake from a box. The frosting had a wonderfully smooth texture but only the slightest hint of vanilla flavor. On a better cake, it might have worked, but it never had a chance here.
As you might have noticed, I didn’t sample the coffee. It may very well be the best around, but for a non-coffee-drinker, the rest of the menu leaves something to be desired. I really want to like the food here because it’s a cute place, close to work, the staff seems very nice, and they’re showing all the World Cup matches, but sadly I just haven’t had anything good there yet.
Have you tried the scones/breakfast baked goods? They’re definitely worth making the trip for, in my opinion.
I also work nearby, and I have to say that the one flat note are the sandwiches – for all the reasons you state, plus one more: too much mustard!
I’ve been to Bakery Bar often, not for the quality of food, but because it’s the closest place to my work. The veggie sandwich is good—full of veggies, kalamata olive spread and goat cheese. The cranberry-orange scones are fantastic when they are just out of the oven, but a little to hard and crunchy after cooling off. The rest is really just okay, from what I’ve had. The cranberry-chocolate chip cookies are not amazing–but they are sugary and fatty, and so I eat them. I think the place is a little overrated and expensive for a cafe, but it’s decent.
I work 2 blocks from the Bakery Bar. I love Stumptown coffee so it’s a perfect place. However, this place really lacks in the service department. I lost count of the amount of times it took 25 minutes to get a drip coffee only to have no milk, sugar, or lids. Who doesn’t have brewed coffee at 9am? The bakery is great and I highly recommend the jam biscuits or the coconut scones. I just wish that the servers realized that when there are 10 people in line for a cup a java (and there isn’t any ready) it’s very frustrating.
I understand your frusteration. I wish there was a greater sense of urgency among baristas in this town. I can respect the quality of baristas at Crema too, but man, they run at their own pace in that place, no matter the line length or time of day.
Has anyone tried the new location on NE Glisan? I have tried it 3 times now and I have to say “I’m impressed”. They are open till 5pm weekdays and open on the weekends. I cant compare it with the other location since I haven’t been but I really enjoy the Glisan location. Service is great, baked goods amazing (my favorite being Fleur de Lis), and I love the breakfast sandwiches. Check it out!h
The Glisan Bakery Bar is now in my regular rotation of morning stops. They have breakfast sandwiches now – yum! As well as all of the regular, delicious pastries. I haven’t tried the lunch sandwiches yet. The service is always very friendly and the coffee doesn’t take as long as at some other places around there *cough*Crema*cough*.
The red building is set back a bit, with some galvanized trough planters in the front area. It’s just up from Pambiche on the same side of the street. Go check it out!