Challalujah Bakery — Restaurant in Centerton

You should walk into Challelujah Bakery. Look around and inhale; yes, you did just die and enter heaven on earth with the aroma of fresh bakery goods! Freshly baked breads, cookies, pastries and other assorted sweets fill your nostrils and dazzle your eyes.

I bought Challahs. One honey, and one three-cheese. Both absolutely scrumptious! Challah is a traditional braided bread that brings in sabbath rest every Friday at sunset. Most of you know that I am an East Coast transplant to NW Arkansas. I was amazed to find out that Paul (a co-owner) grew up in Brooklyn, NY and Highland Park, NJ and knows good Jewish baking first-hand. I can, after taste testing his breads, attest to that myself.

You haven't lived if you haven't tasted a deli fresh black and white cookie, a loaf of Jewish rye, or Challah that was baked as it was intended to baked, in an old world, artisan-crafted manner! Paul, and his wife Sue (the other co-owner), take pride in their craftsmanship, baking from scratch fresh daily. There are several reasons why they bake daily:

Fresh bread is a must when you bake without preservatives. Not only do they withhold phosphates, phthalates and aluminum from their baked goods, you won't find bromides, gallates or hydroxides (BHA or BHT) either. Top that off with using only true organic ingredients and you end up with a heavenly product.

So how does these differ from store bought? Taste. There are zero man-made chemicals to interfere with the taste for starters. Also, the density of the bread. Yes, there's leavening in it, so it rises, though not the chemicals that would make it so airy that a stiff Arkansas wind would blow a slice away. This bread has a stick-to-your-ribs quality only found in old-fashioned and old-world bakeries.

In my humble opinion, Challelujah Bakery (a portmanteau of challah and hallelujah) is worth a weekly trip and definitely should replace your store bought bread.

Hallelujah, a clean baking bakery! Try it, you'll like it. Tell 'em...

I really wanted to love this bakery. For a while, I was a loyal customer—mainly because of their habanero bread, which was absolutely phenomenal. It was so good that I would place special orders for 1 to 4 loaves at a time, even at $14 per loaf. It became a favorite of mine, and I always appreciated how kind the owner was during those visits.

Unfortunately, things changed. One time I ordered four loaves and they were undercooked—doughy in the middle. I politely reached out, and the owner offered to remake them or suggested I finish baking them myself. I asked for a remake, but the second batch came out overcooked. I wasn’t upset; I just wanted to continue being a customer and enjoy my favorite bread.

But ever since that interaction, the owner stopped responding to my orders, became noticeably cold in person, and ultimately discontinued the one product I actually enjoyed. I’ve tried to give the bakery another chance—most recently purchasing a $16 loaf that ended up being dry, bland, and disappointing. Sadly, I threw it away.

I’m not leaving this review to be harsh—I just want to be honest. The quality isn’t consistent, and the customer experience has taken a real downturn. I won’t...

I have been going to this place since the day they opened! Paul and Sue are AMAZING people who are very good at what they do. I have been by their store at 4am to see the lights on, baking being done and packaging their products for the day! Although Paul and I don't see eye to eye on the subject of religion, I told Paul I was a member of the church of Crist. Paul has never pushed his religion on me, but as someone who loves to learn about history, I do ask questions and he answers them. This one of a kind bakery has great food and I am proud to see folks out there working hard to make a living. What a great place to experience food I would not normally try. Oh, and the cinnamon rolls are the best I have ever had. I will always be a...