Hewn Bakery - Libertyville Outpost — Restaurant in Libertyville

Based on an article I read about this being a female owned and operated business and absolutely loving sourdough bread, I was super excited to visit this small take out bakery.

The bread did not disappoint and the young man that suggested we try the blonde loaf was very friendly and super helpful. The bread was absolutely worth the trip. Nice crust in the outside, chewy and soft on inside and that wonderful sourdough taste! We also purchased an almond croissant and sticky roll which were both delicious. The products are packaged nicely in brown bags. The bread bag had the story of the bakery on it snd said fermented in Evanston which I thought was a nice touch and creative marketing strategy!

Why not 5 stars? My issue with this business is that they are cashless, which I found out as I was trying to pay. The young woman cashier said rather rudely in a condescending tone “we are cashless, do you have a card?” When I said oh this is my first time here and I had no idea. She just stared at me blankly and not friendly at all. I only had cash on me but thankfully, my husband was with me and had his card.

Customer service is a huge deal for me and this interaction felt awkward and unwelcoming. Almost like I was being shamed for trying to pay with cash. It might be nice to have a sign on the door or by the register that says you are “cashless”. Also, suggest adding this info on your website to alert the public of this business approach.

Not sure I’ll be back based on this first impression. The bread was great, but the customer service specifically the rude cashier left me disappointed in...

Just what downtown Libertyville needed!

We have been excited to try this place after hearing about the grand opening. So today we picked up a couple of loaves of bread (one country blonde and one polenta pumpkin seed ) along with 1 each of the monkey bread, croissants (ham/chz, choc, savory), morning bun, cinnamon bun, kougin aman, and ginger lemon scone.

Our family has now tried all of it (except the polenta loaf) and WOW is it good!! I mean ALL of it. Our favorites were the country blonde bread, morning bun, kougin aman and savory croissant.

Very happy that this awesome bakery is in downtown...

I love the chocolate croissants (needs more chocolate though) and my daughter devoured the brownie. She liked that it was less sweet than a typical brownie. I usually get the blonde sourdough, but on occasion I get one where the crust is just too tough to chew and it ends up going in recipes. At the Evanston location I tried a cardamom latte and a blueberry scone. Latte was alright, but the scone was hard and dry and not able to be swallowed properly. I think the key is to go to the bakery as early as you can when things are still fresh, as items waiting to be sold are left in the open...