Franz

If you live or work nearby (or go to Benson High School), the smell of freshly-​baked bread is glorious in the early morning. The scent permeates the neighborhood and levitates you off the ground and beckons as you float along in a heavenly stupor … well, OK, that’s a little fanciful, a little Warner Brothers’ cartoon-​like, but you catch my drift — not much is better than that.
Franz Family Bakeries has been around for over 100 years. Besides the heavenly smell, their factory tours are and have been a staple of the local public education of many a Portlander. They used to give out mini loaves of the classic white Franz bread in the red and white wrappers at the end of tours. I’m not sure if they still do or not, but I was really impressed with that on the field trip when I was seven.
Nowadays I’m impressed with Franz’s staying power and how they’ve changed to meet the needs of customers all over their territory. When I visited their website, I notice they now offer gluten-​free breads and organic breads. I have a loaf of their whole-​grain bread sitting in the cupboard right now.
Cheers to you Franz for maintaining a successful and thriving business after all these years and making so many of your neighbors very happy first thing in the morning.

The Franz Bread Bakery is probably the most successful bakery launched in the Northwest. They have done a great job at becoming a powerful player in the west coast and pay homage to Portland, OR where it all started over a century ago. When baked fresh, this bread is literally some of the best stuff since sliced bread.
This location is hard to miss and may very well be one of their main warehouses. There are Franz bread trucks everywhere, almost like a pit of them all trucking deliveries all across the city. They do sell bread in the front entrance but the rest of the building is sealed off for the other departments I’m sure. The rest of the neighborhood of 11^th and Flanders is pretty bleak, this is definitely old Portland in its most rustic charm.
Until they make way to the east coast, I’ll be paying my respects to a delicious slice of Franz bread.
P. S. To Franz: Thank you for the Blazers autographed ball. It is and still remains as one of my most prized possessions ever. What an amazing contest!