Scratch Baking Co — Restaurant in South Portland

I am updating this review with some more information as a courtesy to the owner, who was kind enough to reply to my review. I visited Portland and stayed in the Westin. We asked about breakfast, and someone suggested this place. Since my kids and I were just accompanying my husband who was there on business, and there wasn't much to do, we decided to take a drive. It was February, and the temperature was -11. We find this hole-in-the-wall place, next to a market which I later found out has been closed for years, and an ice cream place which is seasonal, so it's not open, and maybe some kind of specialty shop for animals, also closed because it is February. Basically, Scratch is located in a residential neighborhood. I pull up and there is nowhere to park. There are snowbanks everywhere. Then I see one place to park in front of the building. It has the oil fill pipes though, and I go in and ask the staff if it is ok to park there. I was worried that it was a safety issue or that a oil delivery might be imminent. I did not expect the response that I got, which was, "That's the owner's spot." I thought this was incredibly rude and unwelcoming to a customer with small children on a frigid day with no parking lot and snowbanks everywhere. Another worker looks at me and says, "You won't be here long, will you?" Well, obviously not, since there is nowhere to sit. So, in summary, this is clearly a takeout, pedestrian-centric place that focuses on customers who are in the neighborhood and who aren't looking for a cafe environment in which to enjoy their purchases, as one might typically except at a bagel shop. It could be more fun in the summer, but it is probably impossible to park then as well. I did not get a positive impression of Portland from this experience. Perhaps they should consider just having this location in the summer and choosing a better year-round locale, or having a food truck. It is very isolated. Imagine our disappointment. We drove there expecting to have a warm drink and maybe to read the paper, and instead we had a paper bag of bagels and we were sent on our way. Scratch may be "just a few miles from Downtown Portland" as the owner says, but it still seems far and inconvenient for just take out bagels, especially since there isn't anything else to do in the immediate area. Once you drive there hungry, it's your only choice. The bagels were not like NY style bagels, which is what the owner said. Despite not being what I hoped for, they actually tasted pretty good. When I said they were like chewy, yeasty, sourdough pizza crust, that actually was a compliment because I meant good pizza crust. (I have since learned Maine struggles with good pizza as well, though I do like OTTO). The business deserves to do well, but the hospitality and accessibility need a lot of improvement. They could probably be much more successful if they expanded somewhere else. (Which I hear they now have.) I also don't get the running out of bagels thing. If yout run out, don't have disappointed customers. Make more. This is all part of a strange trend I have noticed in the Portland area. If something is unpleasant, inconvenient to get to, and scarce, the more they want it and the better they think it is. (I'm thinking of that gross, over-rated, over-priced potato donut place in the Old Port, and come to think of it, the housing market for the last few years...) ORIGINAL REVIEW: This place is not worth a drive from anywhere. There is nowhere to park and nowhere to sit. (And that is not hyperbole either, take it literally.) Bagels taste like pizza crust, which is fine if that is what you are looking for, but they aren't real bagels by any means. Wish I had read an honest review like this one before wasting my time going there. It is also not near anything else. I am surprised they are still in business. If you are from out of town and a local recommends it to you, they are just messing with you. You will be disappointed with your breakfast that day and negative view of the Portland...

absolutely love this bakery, I'm just very disappointed in the hours that they're open, but it's understandable considering they're that busy. I'm a little saddened by the line that continues out the door lol only because I can never get what I want when I finally arrive there. and I am a little disappointed in the way some of the customers behave and treat people that are not from Cape Elizabeth, it is very unsettling. I myself was not treated that way because I live down the street, but there were some out-of-state tourists that came because they heard about scratch, and the way they were treated and disrespected by a few Cape elizabethans, was very unsettling. I am very very ashamed to say that these individuals were making some pretty disturbing remarks. but on that note though, I absolutely cannot wait to purchase my sweets from there, if I ever can purchase them, because I absolutely love scratch. please bring back the Snickers tart. The caramel Snickers tart I absolutely adored that tart I miss it with all my heart. and just a suggestion the raspberry squares, I wish they were a little bit more flavorful as far as sweetness goes. The crumble topping on the bars, are not very sweet, and it just overall has no flavor to it. but they are...

Scratch Baking Company has been a neighborhood favorite for over 20 years, offering handcrafted bagels (and assorted accompaniments), breads, pastries, and variety of sweet treats, traditional and not so traditional.

I chose a cinnamon roll, at my sister’s recommendation, and she had shortbread. I would not have chosen the cinnamon roll had my sister not recommended it because it just didn’t look that good. Well, it wasn’t that good, it was incredibly good. Dare I say the best cinnamon roll I’ve ever had? Yes, I dare say, though the comparison to other cinnamon rolls is a tad unfair given that Scratch’s version was a laminated pastry (think croissant, and all those thin, buttery, crispy layers) which I don’t recall ever seeing before. In a word, or fourteen: it was incredibly good and rich and satisfying; so flaky, so rich, so yummy.

The shortbread was also excellent, and it was a treat to have a really well-made shortbread, plain. By itself. No topping. No flavoring. It was as shortbread should be: a buttery, melt-in-your-mouth indulgence that crumbles delicately with each bite. It was elegant in its simplicity, yet...