Kneaders Bakery and Cafe — Restaurant in Meridian

We fell in love with Kneaders when we lived in Utah, and have been watching and waiting for this location (Meridian) to open. That day has finally arrived!

Whether you are looking for their signature sourdough bread, a sweet treat from their amazing pastry counter (pastries, pies, cakes, brownies, cinnamon rolls, or even a caramel apple), or if you want a sandwich or salad you will not be disappointed. The food is light, fresh, and filling. And the treats are phenomenal.

I highly recommend a visit if you are looking for something for lunch or dinner that won't sit in your stomach like a rock. And if you are in the mood for breakfast, DO NOT MISS their homemade french toast!

The environment is clean, the staff extremely polite and professional, and they will make you feel like family. It is clear that this is a family owned and operated establishment, and we were treated like family. I know that sounds korny, but everyone was so friendly and customer focused we felt right at home.

We were fortunate enough to be passing by and were welcomed in during the pre-opening VIP event, and learned some interesting history about Kneaders. Amy explained the importance of keeping ingredients fresh, and simple, and that being family owned and operated, that bringing families together is core to their operating model. She gave us a very informative tour including an explaination of how they make all of their bread in ovens imported from Italy, which reach temperatures of 600-1000° during the baking process to give their bread the perfect bake! All of their fresh baked bread is made from a short list of simple ingredients, with nothing more than flour, salt, water, and sourdough start. It was interesting to hear the explanation that because sourdough starts absorb the ambient yeast, that just like honey being influenced by the flowers they polinate, that the ambient yeast gives each location's bread a unique flavor profile. We learned that they have kept their sourdough start alive and well for nearly a quarter of a century since purchasing a start that was already over 1,000 years old. We got to meet Justin, the "bread whisperer" who has been making Kneaders bread for over 19 years (as of 2025), and is working on their top-secret new pastry recipes. Even though the staff was "training" everything was clean, orderly, and running like a well oiled machine. Even though the restaraunt was full and staff was still "training" our order was quickly and accurately prepared. We will...

I really want this restaurant to succeed because it's in our neighborhood. My husband went last week and came home with a breakfast sandwich for him and French toast for me. Food was great. An older lady served him and she was high energy and super helpful, made him feel like Kneaders wanted our business. We returned this morning to 'dine in' and the food and experience was not good. I write this review not to complain but to genuinely give important feedback because I want to come back in the future and be happy about it.

We came at 7:30AM:

1. I had my heart set on a cinnamon roll. They didn't look fresh in the case, so I asked the young gal if they were fresh this morning and she said yes. I have a very hard time believing that was baked fresh that morning...I'd give it a C-

2. I ordered coffee. Wasn't given a cup and no explanation as to where the self-serve was. After our food arrived with no coffee, I got up and asked, she gave me a cup, so I wandered around the drink area looking for coffee. When I asked her where it was she wandered around the kitchen area for about 60 seconds (while I stood there) and finally came back with a plug in carafe. (No explanation or apology.)

3. Once I finally had both my coffee and roll, it was time to give it a try. Pretty dry, so I got up again and grabbed a couple of butter pads. Was curious that the butter pads were not kept cool in any way, but I slathered butter on my roll. It was rancid. Packaging said "sweet creamery butter" so I wonder if it went bad from sitting at room temperature, it didn't appear to be margarine.

4. The coffee was fine. My husband's breakfast sandwich was fine.

5. I do think the store could use some pull-down shades since 90% of the tables are in full morning sun. We did take the only table without sun, so we were fine.

6. Whoever the older gal was on our first trip should be doing the training. The young gal was sweet and all, but NOT personable and I knew she was not prepared to fix any problems.

I gave three stars as an average. Visit #1 was 5, visit #2 was 1

Like I said, I WANT this store to do better and be our go-to bakery....

Update: We came today for the third time, this time on our 10th anniversary for take-out dessert. My wife ordered a mousse and I ordered a white chocolate chip cookie. My cookie was very good but they gave my wife the wrong dessert! Such a bummer on a milestone anniversary. I'm downgrading my update for that reason. We learned tonight that if we are doing take-out, definitely check our order.

This location opened not too long ago. We've now been twice. Located on W Chinden near Winco, It is bright and bustling on the inside, with some booths and more tables to the right of the ordering line. Furniture is basic metal tables and chairs. You get in line and order, then they bring your food to your table after calling out your name. The employees seems nice.

The first time we came, we ordered breakfast. My wife had a sandwich and I had a cheese, bacon, and broccoli omelet, that was pretty good and very reasonable. Our meal came to about $16 (we had water to drink).

Today, a Saturday, we came before noon and ordered salads. My wife had the berry pecan with chicken, and I had to turkey, bacon, and avocado. My wife's came with raspberry vinaigrette dressing and mine was ranch. They give you one container; you need two to really add flavor to the salads. The next time we have salads, I will ask for an extra container of dressing, even if I have to pay for it. We liked the salads except for not having enough dressing. The salads come with a piece of bread, and their breads are good. My wife had wheat, and I had asiago. This time our bill was $32. Still not bad.

Service was definitely better when we came in the morning during the week and they weren't crowded. Today, the place was busy, a good thing, and we had to wait for our meals a little longer than usual. However,...