Great Harvest Bread Co. — Restaurant in Tempe

Where to begin with this review…

Great Harvest has a special spot in my mom’s heart since she franchised a bread bakery with her mom when she was young. With this location being the only Great Harvest in the entire state, you’d think it was be at the top of its game.

My mom and I had the idea that we’d walk out with a good amount of bread loaves and even eat a delicious lunch while we were there. Unfortunately, their dessert and bread options for that day (we went on a Monday, St Patrick’s Day) weren’t that great. They had a gingersnap cookie, this coconut scone, and most of the emphasis was on their Irish soda bread (sot surprisingly because of the day we went lol). The cookie and scone flavors didn’t appeal to us. We were thinking of getting their oatmeal chocolate chip cookies which are enormous, but they only had them wrapped in packs of six. We weren’t about to spend a hefty amount on six of the same cookie.

Another thing Great Harvest does is you can sample their breads before purchasing. My mom was disappointed when she asked if she could try some sourdough and was told they didn’t have any for tasting that day. The only breads available for sampling was the soda bread and their gluten-free option :/

The cashier in general could’ve been nicer. She didn’t even ask us what kind of bread we wanted for our sandwich; we had to specify sourdough and that’s only because we asked if they had sourdough for sampling. Even for that, she was kind of dismissive when telling us they only had like two kinds of bread for sampling that day.

Moving on to ordering lunch, we decided to just order one tuna sandwich and splitting it between us. We ordered the tuna salad sandwich on sourdough. Long story short, it was nothing to write home about. The tuna salad was something you’d make at home, and the toppings of lettuce, tomato, and raw red onions were obviously something you could whip together at home. It was $10 and you don’t even get a side of ANYTHING. In fact, as the plate arrived at our table, the server was like, “did you guys get chips with that?” We answered that we didn’t, and she went in and asked if we usually get a side of chips included with the $10. She came back out and said that we didn’t, ultimately. Sad.

My mom remarked that the sourdough used for the sandwich wasn’t even that true to what sourdough should be; it didn’t have any tangy sourness to it that one should expect in an authentic sourdough bread from a literal bread bakery.

Anyway, now we know we won’t be returning here...

It makes me sad to put this review out, because I’ve always been a fan! The Baja Chipotle turkey sandwich is the bomb! The first time I had an issue with my food I gave feedback on the email private forum to “leave feedback” to address a major issue with my meal (which I paid full price for) and not a word from anyone about it.. that’s a big reason for the single star too- if you’re going to ask for feedback or follow up with orders and then not read or respond to it, what’s the point? (The 2nd star is for two other employees who have been helpful and super nice other visits but were not there either days that are being addressed) I gave it a few weeks and tried to get over being grossed out, to go and try again- only to have the SAME issue again. Hair IN my sandwich. The first time it was a long very dark colored hair I pulled out of the sandwich.. This past Wednesday I got a sandwich and drink to go. Red flags from the start.. I got a large soda, and when putting ice in the cup- a bunch of black/brown particles came out of the ice maker. I tried 3 rounds of ice and couldnt get clean ice so I gave up. Please clean or or have your ice machine serviced! Went to get a lid, and there’s dark brown hair on the lid pile too! Didn’t give me a lot of confidence leaving with my lunch. Which brings me back to the food- I unwrapped my sandwich and was horrified to again see hair in.my.food! I showed a coworker, and then walked the sandwich back next door to SHOW the girl at the counter. This time I demanded a refund - which she gave me. They did offer me a treat from the bakery case but I was feeling grossed out by that point and really just needed lunch. The concerning part was the girl who made my sandwich casually laughed and said maybe it was from me, I have cats! She wasn’t really wearing kitchen/food service appropriate clothes at all… but again like last time BOTH employees were not wearing aprons, which I don’t understand. (I also work in food service) That’s just some basics.. wear your hair back, don’t wear baggy clothes that drag across the prep areas or sweater-like tops that are gonna hold onto loose hair.. wear an apron in a kitchen! I didn’t ask but assumed by the interaction and their responses that neither were a manager. Bummed to have to find a new place for lunch but this isn’t acceptable. And terrible odds if this was my experience back to...

I would love to give this place a 5 star review but unfortunately I can't. I personally love the food here but the service and active listening skills are inconsistent. I've been here several times over the past few months and each time the food is never what was ordered, (although delicious), and the staff seems to always appear as though I'm an inconvenience to their day by coming in to support the shop. Today for example I walked to the counter and greeted the young lady by saying "hello", as no one had greeted me, and was met with silence and a finger gesture to the other employee down the line. After being greeted and placing my order of close to $50, I get home, and the food order is wrong yet again. As much as I loved and recommended this place to others, I don't think I'll personally be back anytime soon. Treat each patron like they make a difference in your small business day to day and I promise you they...