Scratch Deli & Bakery — Restaurant in Estes Park

Unbelievably slow. Terribly unorganized. Delicious food. I have been coming to Scratch for a few years. I will tell you that the food they make is wonderful. My last experience there was not.

It's one o'clock on a Friday. They are sold out of chicken salad. Really? Right before a weekend? You know you can make that in batches and put it in the refrigerator and it won't go bad by the next day? Okay, fine. I asked for the Italian sandwich which is really just olive tapenade on a toasted bun with sliced deli meat. 5 minutes to throw that together, no problem. Not so much.

I swear to god they were making each sandwich by itself and then and only then would they start on the next sandwich. While I was there another customer came in for 8 cookies he had asked that they make for him for pickup that day. It had gotten to be 1:30 by that time and the clerk told him that they thought he wasn't coming in and that they had put them out for sale. 8 cookies. 8. Would it have been so bad to put them back for the man and if he didn't come in you could have put them out the next day. Again, they are still going to be saleable tomorrow. Why wouldn't you make 2 dozen cookies a day for sale? People love cookies.

The refrigerated cookie case was mostly empty. The drinks cooler was mostly empty of any variety. I won't be back anytime soon and I will stop recommending that any of my visiting friends go to this restaurant.

As for my sandwich, after 50 minutes, it was barely toasted and clearly not put together with any care. Please someone there go to a Subway or something and watch them make sandwiches. It was an...

Great spot for breakfast burritos or sandwiches for lunch.

The chef’s special breakfast burrito can get pretty close to being vegan if you get it without the cheese. It’s also delicious. The guacamole inside was fresh, the pico de gallo was fresh, and it is a good sized burrito. The regular breakfast burrito options are many or you can build your own. For $7.50, this is a good value as the food quality is good. I was told the breakfast sandwich was yummy. For $12, maybe not such a good value, but it’s a tasty option.

The burritos were made pretty fast as there’s lots of people working in the kitchen, but the gal taking orders at the front seems like she’s pretty spacey. They messed up my order twice in two days if that tells you anything. Double check your order before you walk out.

The parking situation is rough. The lot is tiny and hard to get in and out of. I always back in, so it wasn’t extreme, but if you pull in forward, you run the risk of killing somebody in this parking lot. It’s tight.

I would recommend this place for a good breakfast burrito at a decent price as the sandwiches are...

We stopped by Scratch Deli and Bakery on a busy Memorial Day Saturday and were pleasantly surprised by how smoothly they handled the rush. Despite the crowd, our to-go order was ready in about 25 minutes - very reasonable for how packed they were.

The sandwiches truly shined:

The Italian was a standout - perfectly balanced with quality meats, fresh veggies, and just the right amount of dressing on excellent bread. Even my husband, who doesn't usually go for Italian subs, really enjoyed it.

The French Dip was also delicious, with tender meat and soft bread that held up well.

Fresh chocolate chip cookies came out of the oven while I was waiting for our food. They were as large as my hand. Had the line not been so long I would have gotten back in it to buy many, many cookies.

What we loved: ✓ Really well-made sandwiches with fresh ingredients ✓ Efficient service even during peak hours ✓ Clearly takes pride in their food ✓ Nice bakery selection

A great local deli that we'll definitely return to when we're in the area. The Italian sandwich alone is worth...