Helen Bernhard Bakery — Restaurant in Portland

The first 2 pictures are of what I emailed to them to make sure they could make it. The other messy ones are of Helen’s incompetent cake decorator. He is incompetent to say the least and mostly just a scam to take your money for the least amount of work. Wasn’t what I ordered, it was sloppy and disgusting. It wasn’t ready or even started when I arrived to pick it up!!!! I emailed this company asking if they could make a Buttercream knife palate painted cake and sent 2 pictures (attached) I got a call from them and spoke to a woman who said they absolutely could and it was no problem. We discussed all the details of the cake and I felt confident about my decision of choosing this bakery with 100 years of experience. I arrived this past Friday Feb 21, 2025 at 12:15pm for my agreed time 12:30pm pick it up time. I was told it would be 10 minutes. I happened to look to my left and saw a man just starting what looked to be the cake colors I ordered. 45 minutes later the cake was brought to me unfinished. I was very confused bc it looked nothing like the pictures I sent. It was messy and sloppy. 25 minutes later they said it was done, it was awful and nothing like what I ordered. I asked them to fix it 3 times and every time I was met with rudeness and unprofessionalism. This isn’t a design you just whip out of a plastic icing bag, as the buttercream is to be painted on with a knife and refrigerated. It takes skill which I found this bakery does not have. The cake is supposed to be more taller than wide. The bakery lied to me, was unprofessional, rude, and completely incompetent. When you say you can recreate a cake and charge $95.00 for it, I expect you to make it as close to possible as promised. I was over a hour and a half late as it was, due to them not even starting until after i got there and was on the way to the party and had to purchase this cake to not show up empty handed. The cake was tasteless and dry and beyond a disappointment.This bakery is a scam and I wouldn’t waste your time or money here. We would have been better off getting a cake at the dollar tree lol Update: I called the bakery and a manager got on the phone and ripped me apart and said I expected too much! HAHAHA! Then don’t lie to your customers about your abilities and expectations will be low as they should?? I think Helen Bernhard would be disgusted and highly disappointed by the people running her bakery these days. I bet...

Helen Bernhard Bakery, 1717 NE Broadway , Portland, OR

As a traditional and Portland institution, the Helen Bernhard Bakery was established back in 1924 and has remained in continual operation as a local family run operation in the same location ever since.  This is a true American style bakery in the sense that they bake in house, don't subcontract, make what they can sell (ie: they run out!), and stick to being a strong basic bakery and don't try to be anything but.  You walk in, make your selection, purchase and walk out. No baristas, beverage ridiculousness or trying to be everything to everyone. Specializing in Wedding Cakes, specialty Cakes, Pastries, Cookies and Breads, their selection is varied and varieties truly extensive. Bread alone is somewhat overwhelming in availability as the selection goes on and on not to mention baked in house! Of the following, Challah, French, 100% whole wheat, WhiteDark Rye, Muffin, Honey, Oat, Light Rye, Marble Rye, New York Rye ,Cracked Wheat, English Muffin, Portuguese-(seasonal), and Cobblestone. Then there are the Rolls, Butter Flake, CheeseFlake, Clover, Napkin, Parkerhous, Sesame, Knot, Potato, Tea, Wheat-Clover, Wheat-Napkin, Wheat-Tea, Cracked Wheat, Plain,  Hamburger, Onion/Sesame– Hamburger, Wheat Hamburger, Hot Dog, Croissants, Bagels, Hard Rolls, Poor Boys, and Fogosa. Truth is I have no clue what most of them are, BUT, the cheese and onion dinner rolls are to die for and almost did after consecutively eating six in a row directly from the bag.  The operation is pretty old school so don't expect a fancy online presence, online ordering or expect anything to be delivered to your door. It's in person and in another era, one that still keeps it real and...

We absolutely LOVE it here. We got our wedding cake here and continue to order an anniversary cake every year. The designs are flawless, the pricing is amazing, and the cakes taste incredible. They have great pastries, too! I’m really loving their current Halloween-themed macarons. It really deserves five stars.

HOWEVER... one star removed due to the following:

What I do NOT love is the way the owner treated another local business employee. After purchasing a cake and half a dozen other pastries today, we walked across the street to grab a chocolate bar from the new chocolate place. The owner came in and immediately started telling the girl behind the counter that the was going to have all of her customers towed. He pointed at us and told he angrily that we were taking up space in HIS parking lot and that only his customers could park there (fair, since it is his building and lot). But if he had actually been watching, he would have known that we ARE his customers and that we had just walked out with nearly $50 of goodies from his business.

Don’t misunderstand my frustration and disappointment. He absolutely has the right to tow customers that are not his but that park in his lot. My problem is how he immediately started off in an abrasive and confrontational manner by threatening her customers. His entire attitude was threatening and his tone was extremely condescending.

As much as we love his bakery, we’re going to have to think twice before returning. Nobody deserves to be...