Great Harvest Bread Company

Good food done well and friendly service. Thank you.

Was just there. Great bread, great baked goods. The dude behind the counter looked like he just rolled out of bed, and apparently it was the wrong side. Try not to be such a c/​nt next time; you might get a tip.

One visit so far. Staff was friendly but overwhelmed by orders. Bought some Dakota bread and a cappucino. The bread is fine — not amazing either in freshness or texture, but perfectly decent. (Toast it to really bring out the flavor.) The cappucino order was screwed up; they literally gave me a cup of steamed milk after 7 minutes or so. I didn’t go back to return it; I’m sure they’d have been super-​apologetic. But, prepare for that kind of thing to happen.

I wonder if the dust collected on top of the duct work gets into the bread mix? They really need to clean this place up. The bread is absolutely fantastic. The prepared food is always a disappointment. They are almost always out of something and they tell you that after they’ve taken your money so you have to agree to whatever substitution they see fit. I would love to continue to come to great harvest but until they clean up and stay in stock I’m going to pass.

The monkey bread is always a nice treat to split with a couple friends and it’s usually still warm in the middle because they’re so fresh. Great place to pop in for a quick snack!

I’ve ordered breakfast sandwiches three times, each time they’ve been wrong. I’m allergic to eggs, and they’ve always ended up with egg on them, despite my pleas and warnings. This last time, I finally got sick of giving away my breakfast and called to ask if I could have a replacement sandwich at some point this week. After waiting 17 minutes for a sandwich each time, I also decided to call ahead to order.
I went in the pick up the sandwich, and it was fine– had no egg. WHOOHOO! I also decided to purchase a marionberry crumble bar. The guy ringing me up snarkily said, «yeah– egg in small quantities, right?» 1– he doesn’t know if that marionberry thing was for me. 2– egg heated over 350 is not nearly as bad as scrambled fresh. 3– the percentage of egg in a crumble compared to TWO scrambled on a sandwich is very different.
So– their Dakota bread is good, but I can get that elsewhere. The sandwiches take FOREVER to make. Even the lunch sandwiches. Seriously. What the heck are they DOING back there? Any time I’ve wanted a sandwich and there’s more than one person waiting in the shop, I will walk back out. Being the ONLY person getting a breakfast sandwich, and wondering why it takes 17 minutes each time, leaves a very bad impression. On top of that, to have my repeated order for no egg to be ignored, then a rude response is unacceptable.
Go anywhere else.

I love the feel of this bakery. It’s small but quaint. It’s good for grabbing a meal if you’re on the go, a little small and may get crowded if there are a lot of people. The staff is friendly and helpful with ingredient questions.
Seating is really just inside but only for 4 – 5 people at a time. It seems they only have one cashier at a time while a there is someone on the sandwich line and another person doing inventory? But a backer would be beneficial to the work flow I think.
Tried the vegetable garden medley. It was very good and not terribly hot. The cashier checked for me to make sure it’s vegan (that and the rice and bean soup was as well.) A little disappointed that the spicy vegetarian chili couldn’t be determined, but appreciated her checking. It would be helpful for then to provide a (V) indicator for vegans as well.
I really loved their chai tea latte (soy of course.) Beats Starbucks and Pete’s chai tea latte hands down. Just the right amount of sweet, slightly spicy, and just oh so good.
Overall, a good experience and a nice, cozy atmosphere.

This was my first time actually buying anything from here. I always go in here to take advantage of their free slice of bread. I took a go at a heavily seeded one (don’t remember the name) and it was too much wheat and too many seeds for me to enjoy.
If it’s your first visit ordering a sandwich, it’s honestly a bit confusing. I didn’t realize that you need to fill in a form near the cash register. I wish someone had told me because I was staring at the menu boards for a good five minutes. I ordered the Turkey Club which has lettuce, tomato, cream cheese, turkey (of course), and cranberry sauce.
It was lunch hour, so my order took about 15 minutes to complete. It was a bit long for a half order, but I was in no rush. I was about to eat my sandwich when I realized it lacked the best part – the cranberry sauce! I immediately brought it to their attention, and the guy was nice enough to remake my order. However, I told him just a small container of cranberry sauce would suffice. Everything was all good with the addition of the sauce. I left content and satisfied. Nothing life-​changing about this location, but a nice sandwich shop to go to if you’re downtown.

Super fresh bread made right before your eyes and stumptown coffee. Really friendly folks with great service.

Great Harvest is a franchised company that, as far as I understand, sell the same products, but aren’t expected to run the same way.
I’d like to see the owner and employees to trek out to the Great Harvest location in Clackamas to see the little things those folks do to improve the experience of their customers. The Clackamas location employees ALL have lots of smiles, are quick to say hello, are eager to provide lots of samples for their customers to try, and get started on your sandwich order well before you get to the register to pay.
Comparatively the downtown location is okay.
I rarely get greeted with a hello let alone a smile. There is little to no sense of urgency in getting their orders done in a timely matter, particularly for breakfast. They’re stingy with sides and offer a choice of pickle or carrots that come with your order, which means you get half a pickle spear or 5 baby carrots (really???). They rarely have samples out to try.
When looking at the pricing between the two stores (comparable) vs. the service, product, and experience it’s an easy choice for me to make which store I’ll be going to. It’s just a few little things, but it’s amazing the difference in experience.
On a positive note, the scones here are way better when compared to the scones at Clackamas (they always add white chocolate chips making them way too sweet!).

I am in Portland on business and stopped by here for breakfast on my way to work (7:15 a. m). I ordered a turkey-​sausage sandwich on their basil-​Parmesan bread. I added tomato to the sandwich and asked for their pesto mayo. The sandwich was beyond delicious. I have been to a lot of places where the sandwich isn’t grilled enough to heat everything inside it, but this sandwich came out well toasted and hot. The only reason I’m not giving five stars is because the sandwich was a little slow to come out, thankfully I wasn’t in a hurry.

I’ve been several times, mainly because of the lack of good lunch spots around SW waterfront area. The sandwiches are bland but on good bread. It’s a last resort place to go. The cookies aren’t even close to worth the calories. I got a dozen this morning, 6 different flavors. The people in the meeting I bought them for (males who have never been picky or discriminating) didn’t like a single one of the cookies. They were literally 0 for 12 in a crowd that’s never turned down a cookie. I’d suggest anywhere else, especially at $ 19.50 a dozen.

Yes I have mentioned the Spinach and Feta cheese bread, even the asiago one and all of the other bread and dessert items looked oh so tasty. These folks come out to the farmers markets and the one I was at was over at 20^th and Salmon in the southeast. Very friendly people and love giving out slices of bread for everyone to try.
Totally worth it! If you haven’t had some of the Great Harvest Bread, you are missing out. Go now (well, except on Sundays since they are closed).

We all know that bread is not that great for you. Super tasty, but not the most nutritious for you. Whole grains bump up the nutrition such that I don’t feel guilty indulging once in a while. And when I indulge, I want good fresh bread with a hearty crust and baked that morning. I would bake it myself, but I have a thing called a «job» that takes up most of my day, but which allows me to afford expensive loaves of bread rather than grocery store crap.
I came in late on a Saturday afternoon, looking for fresh 100% whole wheat bread. GHB had one loaf of the honey whole wheat left. Unfortunately it was pre-​sliced. Yuck. Why would anyone spend money on stale bread? I have a knife at home I can use to cut bread. And as I was paying, I asked if it was fresh. The counter guy said it was baked the day before. What? Who tries to pass off day old bread as fresh for full price? That is against the first rule of bakeries. They gave me some line about how making bread is not easy. No duh, that’s why I’m willing to pay $$$ per loaf. I was completely outraged. Great Harvest Bread is not a proper bakery, despite their pretense.
Stuck with a day old loaf of bread that I was not about to waste calories on, I tried to find a street person in SW Portland to give my day-​old, which is what proper bakeries do with their day-​old bread. Unfortunately, this was one of the coldest days of the year, and there were no street people to be seen. Where are they in SW Portland when you actually want to give something to one? Strange.
Anyway, I will no longer spend my hard earned money on their «bread products.» I’d much rather go without. Maybe someday GHB will no longer try to pass off their day old bread to unsuspecting customers, but I will not hold my breath.

I have never eaten the sandwiches or the cookies, I come for the bread. I choose different types and am almost never disappointed… when I am disappointed it is my personal taste nothing wrong with the bread itself. Yes the staff can be a bit abrupt… but they deal with crappy people all day and eventually that will get to you no matter how far up your ass you have Pollyanna shoved lol. Most of the time though I get great people who want to help you out. I will one day try the rest of their food but for now I am very content with the bread.

I believe that whole grains are our future
Eat them daily and let them clear the way
Kneading all the nutrients they possess inside
Give them time to rise, to make it easier
Let the loaves fiber, remind us how we used to eat
Everybody’s searching for a guru
People need someone to tell them what to eat
I never found anyone who could preach to me
A rural place to be
And so I learned to eat responsibly
I decided long ago, never to fall for marketing wizardry
If I’m fat, if I’m skinny at least I know what is healthy
No matter what they take from me
They can’t take away my sympathy
Because the Greatest Harvest of all, is happening to me
I found the Greatest Harvest of all, at the bakery
The Greatest Harvest of all is easy to achieve
Nourishing those in need, it is the Greatest Harvest of all
And if by chance, your fellow man
Needs a helping hand
Great Harvest puts bread on their plates
Nothing goes to waste
Whitney Houston almost had it all

After 3 exhausting days in Portland, I had a great trip to the Japanese Garden, then hit this little shop on my way back toward the airport. Since I had been so constantly busy, this was my only true meal while in P-​Land, and it was very welcome.
The girl who worked the counter was actually sort of nice, which had shocked me because so many that I had met in the entirety of my trip had been really rude. Much like the guy who made my sandwich. Very rude and he kept making snippy comments when I was having difficulty ordering due to extreme exhaustion.
I got the curry chicken salad which was rather good. Their bread options at the time of my visit were surprisingly small, but the sandwich was nice and I liked the crunch. She forgot to offer me a slice of bread, though it seemed she was giving them to everyone else, until I was kinda staring at the free bread. I also got the creamy chicken and rice soup, which was unremarkable and tasted kinda like it wasn’t made from scratch. The roll and butter I also got was REALLY good. But, hands down, the best thing I ate was the Raspberry Wasabi Mustard! THAT made the whole experience great and the only reason the place got 3 stars instead of 2. The price wasn’t spectacular, but it was what I expected from that part of the city.
The only thing I can say is that it would seem that so many service staff in Portland seemed to really be rude — especially when I said I was from California — there is no reason for that kind of attitude with any paying customer. Thankfully, the food pepped me up so I could go home.

I stopped into the place after eating a delicious bowl of phở at Luc Luc across the street. I wanted to try the gluten free cookies, but they were sold out of the day. So I opted for the cinnamon cup (small cinnamon roll) to avoid completing spending my «gluten budget» for the week (I’m not allergic to gluten, so I do allow myself a bit of gluten each week).
I must say that I was disappointed in the cinnamon cup. The bakery smelled so good and the large cinnamon rolls looked really good and gooey. Unfortunately, the cinnamon cup was dry and needed more butter in my opinion. It might be appetizing for folks who like the outer rim of the cinnamon roll — less butter/​sugar combo – but I’m a middle roll kinda girl.
Even though the cup wasn’t good, I may give this place another shot. I am still on the hunt for good gluten free cookies, and their regular butterscotch cookie was pretty good.

Beautiful breads and baked goods. I love seeing the racks and ovens in the background — a «real» bakery! The specialty breads are delicious — they let you sample the breads of the day. The only thing that I was sad about: the chalkboard sign out front said they had «apple crunch bread» — does that not sound absolutely delectable?! The guy inside said he wasn’t sure why the sign said that… that it was not a bread-​of-​the-​day.
Oh, well — I got the whole wheat walnut-​raisin-​cinnamon loaf. A little dense, but okay when toasted.

For what it is, it’s excellent.
What it is, is a bakery. NOT a deli. I have been suckered into buying a sandwich and soup there twice and I was not impressed. Except with the bread.
AMAZING bread and sweets though. I love to walk through and grab a slice of bread and some butter and just have at it. Although I try not to do that too often as gaining 10lbs is not my idea of a good time.
But their lemon bars and chocolate cookies, scones and cinnamon chip bread are all the things that make life grand. I love even just walking by and taking a big whiff. Nothing says happy like carbs and sugar.