Fire Island Rustic Bakeshop — Restaurant in Alaska

Next door to the salon I lease space in...the food, employees and owners all just rock!

Update on the Bakery. March 4th, 2025.

As much as it pains me to say the bakery has gone through something I don’t know what exactly. First I live in south Anchorage they’ve completely closed that location so I must trek all the way downtown now only to find out they’re always sold out of bread, and or sandwiches and soup before 2 p.m. I tried 4 days in a row and nothing each time. Is the plan to make less so there isn’t waste? So I was advised to go try the East location only to get there and they literally had 4 items none was bread except the vegetarian sandwich with I am not a vegetarian ($16) Seems every time if they have any sandwiches whatsoever when I arrive it’s a Non meat option and usually there are plenty of those. Even the soups are almost all meatless anymore. I tried the Italian number with sausage and it wasn’t good at all I don’t know what that “sausage” was but I think it was fake sausage because frankly it tasted like cardboard. The bakery used to have the most amazing lemon and chicken soup when asked they say oh we haven’t had that in a long time.

When I asked why are the running out of food and bread by two pm when they’re opened til 6 pm and I was told no they close at 4 now. Well it used to always be 6 pm I’m guessing that changed when they went to 7 days a week.

Sandwiches used to have Arugula and I had a Brie and ham $18 (BRIE, some ham and baguette cold) which now has no lettuce at all and I had to ask for mustard as it literally had no flavor and the bread was semi hard. I remember the days of the guy making specialty meats daily for the soups and sandwiches back on G street. I remember getting breads right up til closing at 6 pm. I remember calling to confirm they had what I wanted before driving down from the farthest reaches to arrive there sinking my teeth into warm breads and chicken soup! I hope this is just a bump in the road and everything goes back the way it was but for now I work nights, I can’t get here before 2 pm and I can’t get a sandwich with meat or even bread, any bread. It makes me sad.

I also remembered the lovely salads they used to have now there is no salad.

Btw, I asked for a phone to call and save myself a long trip over and also for the other location and I was told nope no...

Not so happy or impressed with this place anymore. I want to love it, but the service and product quality has been inconsistent, except for Naomi who is always sweet and helpful.

They have no competition downtown Anchorage and maybe that’s caused them to be a bit relaxed.

The more items I try, the less I love this place. I used to go here a couple of times a week, now it’s really only when I’m in a pinch and need food for the road.

The Campagne bread was something I used to get all the time and I stopped because it doesn’t freeze well (even when frozen on the day purchased) and within a day looses it’s quality.

The challah bread has been extremely disappointing. I’m from NY and have lived in Germany, I know good challah. Their’s is dry and crumbly.

The scones are inconsistent, sometimes too under mixed where you get a lump of flour and salt in your bite and there are usually some unpleasant burnt bits.

The ham sandwich and butternut squash sandwiches are delicious. There was a beet sandwich that was really good they no longer serve and a Thai sandwich that was usually good they no longer serve. The avocado, cauliflower, rock fish, pastrami, etc. Have all been underwhelming. The sandwiches change all the time so you could go expecting one thing and it won’t be there.

The breakfast sandwiches aren’t very good, especially for $12-$15. They are out of their minds for charging this much for a sandwich that can’t be customized.

They do not have proper coffee so you’re forced to go and wait on another super long line to go and get a nice coffee at the plant store across the way. I usually make my own coffee in my nespresso before heading over if I want to sit down.

I went this morning for a chocolate croissant. The price increased from $3.50-$5. That’s a lot within 2 weeks. The expensive chocolate croissant hardly had any chocolate in it. The staff is still mostly friendly, but the customers have gotten a bit obnoxious and it’s just unpleasant to sit down and eat. It could be tourist and that’s no fault of the bakery. I’ve been coming here less and less and this mornings croissant that I have been craving was a massive disappointment, especially at 7 months pregnant. I rarely post pictures, but...

Their baguettes, challah and sourdough bread are all quite excellent despite the exorbitant prices you will find here. If you do venture into Fire Island bakery I'd recommend that you stick with these safe and delicious choices if you are conscience about your spending like I am (ie, not a wealthy downtown-whiteperson accustomed to the "hey we live in Alaska, lets just jack the prices because we can" mentality). These people bake bread, not cocaine encrusted gold. $15 for two loaves? Sheesh, talk about a false sense of entitlement.

Anyway,

Their pastries are not terrible although I would honestly say a mostly a hit or miss affair. Their overuse of butter cream, admittedly a personal distaste of mine, is one of their main problems. Time and again they ruin perfectly well made fruit stuffed cupcakes with hard buttercream where a simple whipped cream would have been SO much better. Fortunately, Fireside often offers free samples which is a good way to try before you buy. Its a gamble but some of their desserts and breakfast pastries really are quite delicious (although their non-uniform scone size is annoying and I hate being given the small scone while an oversized variant sits next to it).

The service is generally very good although their overuse of pretty, white hipster girls is completely transparent and fairly grating. This fact is especially hard to overlook as the completely exposed bakery is often packed with literally 10-15 pretty white girls all at once, busily fetching baguettes (which are ever shrinking in size, don't think I haven't noticed!).

Also, there is a big push for 'tipping' in this bakery which I find kind of pushing it considering the high prices and complete lack of custom coffee (they have brew coffee you pump yourself). No, you fetched me bread and put it in a paper bag, why do I have to tip you a dollar? Its an irritating part of this bakery experience.

Sigh: Tasty bread, meh-desserts, hipstery, cramped locale, crappy...