This is the best freshly baked bread in Whatcom County, according to our reader poll
We asked readers where to find the best freshly baked bread in Whatcom County and the votes are in.
The poll had 10 local bakery and store options in Whatcom County including Raven Bakery, Rufous, Great Harvest Bread Co. and Avenue Bread. The unscientific poll received a total of 237 votes.
The best fresh baked bread in Whatcom County
Avenue Bread was voted as having the best fresh baked bread in Whatcom County, with a total of 80 votes.
“It’s good to know people in Bellingham love our bread. I want to thank the community of Whatcom County for supporting us and continuing to support us during the rough time we just went through. We all went through rough patches in the last two years, but the community kept supporting us,” Robin Shrestha, Avenue Bakery operating owner said.
Avenue Bakery, the sister company to Avenue Bread cafes, delivers its fresh bread to four cafe locations daily in Whatcom County. The bakery runs a 24-hour operation with about 35 workers, including 20 bakers, and according to Shrestha, some loaves of bread take up to 48 hours to be made.
The cafes serve breakfast dishes, as well as soups, wraps, sandwiches and salads. Visitors can enjoy turkey pesto sandwiches, quinoa bowls, egg breakfast sandwiches, caesar salads and more.
Avenue Bread has bread as well as croissants, scones and Danishes. Their varieties of bread include focaccia, fresh rolls, sourdough loaves and their well-known rosemary bread.
But Avenue Bakery does more than bake great bread. As the bakery sells bread to local grocery stores and shops, every day they buy back leftover bread to then donate to local causes, such as food banks, The Lighthouse Mission and churches, according to Shrestha.
“We are so delighted to hear the community loves our bread because we try to be a part of the community,” Shrestha said.
The local bakery and cafes are also popular online, as each cafe has a 4-star rating from 443 across all four cafes’ Yelp pages.
Avenue Bread’s four cafes have various hours of operation.
▪ Avenue Bread’s Fairhaven and Railroad locations are open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. The Fairhaven location is at 1135 11th St. The Railroad location is at 1313 Railroad Ave.
▪ Avenue Bread’s Lynden cafe is open from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily and is located at 444 Front St.
▪ The James Street location is open from 6:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily at 2301 James St.
Following Avenue Bread with 59 votes was Great Harvest Bread Co.
Great Harvest Bread Co. is known for its fresh baked bread, but also makes other sweets such as cookies, cinnamon rolls and scones. The bread company also makes honey wheat loaves, whole wheat rolls and a pumpkin chocolate chip loaf.
Great Harvest Bread Co. is open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday. The bread company is located at 305 East Magnolia St. in Bellingham.
Breadfarm came in third place with 41 votes, followed by Raven Bakery with 24 votes, Rufous with 15 votes and Mount Bakery Cafe with 14 votes.
