Baked In Brooklyn — Restaurant in New York

We were looking for a loaf of Challah on a Saturday trip to Brooklyn and Queens. You'd be surprised how hard it is to find if you don't know your way around - and going on Saturday doesn't help. We settled on Baked in Brooklyn (not to be confused with pottery store of same name) mainly for location, availability, and the few reviews we read.

It appears to be part bakery for fresh items and part institutional bakery for bagged grocery store items. In other words, it isn't your conventional bakery.

Nevertheless, I'm glad we came. For $9.50, we got: a giant loaf of Challah, though unconventionally-shaped as a giant rectangle. (French toast anyone?); a chocolate-covered donut (which was really a bread rather than a pastry dough, but good); a fresh raisin bagel (which was quite tasty), a bag of four sourdough rolls (very impressive), bagels (more like grocery store bagels than the raisin one I ordered out of the bin) and pita bread.

And the ladies who worked the counter were very polite...

I went for a walk while in the neighborhood and while I was taking stroll I saw this place! Now, I am quite familiar with their products. I have lived all across the US and have purchased their goods in Whole Foods and various markets. I am one of those hardcore Brooklyn raised people who notice all things Brooklyn - especially when I am far from home. So I was quite pleased to stumble across their location while out for a random walk. Their self serve coffee is very good it was not labeled but was a robust flavored medium roast. I think it is the best self serve coffee I have purchased. They also grind it right there. You can watch the bakers work through glass as you get your coffee. The staff is friendly and engaging. They make cakes, small pastries, cupcakes and the yummy pita bread, pita chips (my favorite with tuna) and of course loaves of bread!!! I will return for the sandwiches so can’t honestly...

Hard to review this place as it will be a five star place for some and less than that for others. The style of bread and pastries here is very old school NY and very good if that is what you are after. If you are looking for something along the lines of a French style croissant (like Couslon Patisserie) or bread similar to bakeries like Amy's Bread in Brooklyn Heights or Winner in Park Slope then this is very different. I have only tried the croissant and the sourdough round (which is kind of like if sourdough and NYC Italian bakery bread had a baby) so that's what I'm going off of. Personally I'd give the croissant a miss. The sourdough was nice - very dense / heavy with a cake-like texture. It made excellent toasted sandwich bread - not too many holes due to that dense texture and the very round shape means that you don't have super small slices...