Bread Alone Bakery & Cafe — Restaurant in Town of Rhinebeck

I work in Rhinebeck near Bread Alone and my colleagues and I frequent the cafe. Unfortunately the coffee is usually bitter / burnt tasting. But I do love their grilled cheese sandwich, and sometimes the soups are good. Always a great selection of pastry items. The customer service has generally been very good, until today. I ordered a kids grilled cheese online because I wanted a smaller portion than the large adult sized sandwich, I asked in a note that they add onions and mustard - there was no option to do so anywhere other than a ‘special instruction’ section at checkout online. When I went in to pick up my online order I could hear one of the employees complaining about my order… when I spoke up she said “why didn’t you just order the adult sandwich since you wanted onions and mustard?” She was so irritated and instantly combative. I explained I wanted a smaller potion, and she told me they were the exact same size. She argued, spoke down to me, and spoke over me. I cannot quite believe how disrespectfully I was just spoken to, over a sandwich. When she told me there’d be an up charge for onions and mustard I said that was fine but that I didn’t have any payment with me because I’d already paid online and I had rushed out of work to quickly grab my lunch. She reprimanded me like I was an errant child. I am absolutely done spending my money at bread alone. This kind of customer service is inexcusable no matter how hard a day you...

Eaten here several times. Sometimes it's great, other times not. On a recent visit we ordered and shared two sandwiches. The Bahn Mi was delicious. The pork sausage (house made apparently) was moist, livery and deliciously seasoned. The sandwich was crisp, rich, and well balanced between sweet, earthy, salty and tangy. The spice (despite the addition of jalapenos) was fairly mild. In contrast, the flank steak and onion confit sandwich we also ordered was inexplicably bland. The "confit", which should have been unctuous and carmelized, was actually barely softened onions that were unfortunately the most prevalent ingredient in the sandwich. The meat was cut in big chunks, so that biting into a piece pulled the remaining hunk out, leaving nothing inside. The arugula was a bitter note, lacking any other flavor quality. The aioli was somehow flavorless, being almost impossible to discern. And finally the bread (which is Bread Alone's signature) was soggy and yet somehow the only discernible flavor was "burnt". That two such wildly disparate sandwiches came out of the same kitchen at the same time was...

Going back over 30 years now, this was a small mom & pop shop that made some of the best bread you'll ever have had. When their product started showing up in grocery stores in the region, we were excited to have it more accessible, yet concerned about how it simply couldn't be as good as the fresh from the oven on location bread we knew from them for all those years. It was still quite good, but realistically, not as good as on the spot. The issue, however, is as they grew, and renovated, the bakery itself turned into a bit of a hipster-type overpriced sandwich spot. Don't get me wrong, it's still very good. But not much better than a Panera anymore, and higher priced. I'm no longer inclined to stop there. I miss its more humble beginnings. Best bread around, and the prices were great too. Still 3*s because still very good bread. You're not likely to walk out of there complaining about the taste. Your only disappointment/reservation might be that it's at this point another overpriced sandwich shop. It works that gimmick...