State Street Bakery & Eatery

I was on my way back from the airport and wanted to grab lunch before heading home. Perfect stop on the way was State Street Bakery. I’d been wanting to try their sandwiches for a while now and was rarely in the area when they were open. Now was my chance, hooray!
We walked in during primetime lunch hour. A few people were waiting for to-​go orders and most of the tables were filled with people sitting and eating. We glanced at the chalkboard above the counter to see what options we had. The listing was limited to standard sandos like tuna salad, chicken, turkey, etc. I was curious where the specialty sandwiches were listed, but since it was the lunch rush we made our final choices. Then, as I was ordering at the counter I saw the full menu and sighed as I knew I’d just have to come back for more another time. Moral of the story — full menu is taped to the counter, take a gander at that (or the menu photo on the Unilocal listing) to get your order down. I’m going back for the steak sandwich.
For whatever reason, there were a few minor mishaps with our meal. The lady at the counter wrote out our orders to bring back to the kitchen, and she was explicit in writing exactly what we asked for so that’s why I was surprised when one order came out with mac salad instead of chips and my bf’s sandwich was on foccacia instead of a croissant. From what I observed there seemed to be some confusion going on that day, not sure what it was. But again, we chose not to send it back because hey, why not try the foccacia as the bakery smelled of freshly baked bread.
We shared, splitting our sandwiches, each sampling the tuna and the chicken salad. The tuna was on brioche and the chicken salad was on foccacia. The heart of the sandwiches were delicious and freshly made. Next time, I’ll plan to ask for the bread warmed or toasted with butter maybe? It was a bit dry. The proportions were a little off and the chicken salad kept falling out so we’d only get a bite of the bread which was quite thick. I love me some carbs, but you could enjoy this open face to cut back on the bread. I loved the mac salad and could have eaten two more scoops. The whole meal was hearty and we had enough for leftovers, which served as lunch the next day. ~$ 7 for 2-​days of lunch, done deal.
Likely our lunch was a fluke and I plan to go back, hopefully bump the star rating after sampling one of their highly recommended specialty sandos.
P. S. Parking was a bit annoying, but there were quite a few street spots open off of Allan St.

If you work downtown, don’t miss out on some high quality grub. The steak sandwich was well thought out and put together nice. Good sauce and filling.

If this place had a better parking situation, it would be 5 stars. The steak sandwich is truly awesome. In all measurements — quality, quantity, price — it’s really good. You’d never notice it right away. You’ll probably get distracted by the Tala Vera sign. It’s always the sleepers that pack a punch, right?
It’s pretty small inside, but the smell of baked goods and sandwiches is overwhelming. Getting a sandwich, side and drink for $ 7.95 is a pretty sweet deal, especially when you consider how huge these sandwiches area. What I love about all the sandwiches is that they’re served warm. And the pork club? Mmmm. Makes a huge difference when it’s served warm. The croissants and pastries really shine here. Think puffed pastry with fresh cream, confectioner’s sugar, fresh fruit. And the cakes look like they’d be perfect for a birthday or bridal shower or special luncheon. It is, however, more of a take out spot than a sit-​down one, but for a quick lunch on a work day it more than suffices. I’ve only been here once but was reminded of how I want to go there again when I drove by today (and saw no parking). Hopefully the weather picks up soon and I can just walk there!

Holy mother of Mercy! This place is fantastic. I saw that it opened about a month ago, but the parking situation is horrible, so I didn’t stop. Today I was driving to my office on lunch, saw an open spot right in front, and stopped. I am so happy I made that decision. I walked in an immediately saw two big glass cases full of pastries that looked absolutely delicious! They have a few chalk boards listing their soups, salad and sammies behind the register area as their menu.
Their Café Sandwich section come with a side (chips or side of the day) and drink for $ 7.95. Their selection wasn’t that large, but I think that’s a good thing. It helps provide quick quality food for lunch breaks. Or their regular sandwiches are $ 6.95. I placed my order of the chicken pesto café sandwich. I had a choice of getting it on focaccia, brioche roll or croissant, all of which are baked fresh in house. I picked the brioche roll and the mac salad vs. the chips and pickle as my side. While I was waiting for my order to go, I started chatting with the guy behind me to see if he has eaten here before. His eyes open wide and he excitedly said, «yeah, it’s awesome.» He works across the street; he and his co workers are regulars there. He said he has yet to eat a bad meal or pastry from there.
My order took a quick 5 to 7 mins to be ready, I grabbed the box (shocked at how heavy it was), said bye to my new friend and back to the office I went. It was hard for me not to open to box until I got to my desk. It smelled amazing. Once I did, Ii was staring at this gigantic, golden brioche roll with loaded with freshly grilled chicken, just the fight amount of pesto, a perfectly cook roasted pepper and just enough provy cheese. I was so excited I started showing everyone in my office. Since I was starving I dove right in and the sandwich tasted just as good as it looked. When I cashed out, I was a little bummed that I paid ~$ 9.00 after tax, but once I took my first bite, I realized how much it was worth it! The mac salad was just as good, perfect parts of pasta, mayo, carrots and celery. I hate when mac salad is tangy and loaded with mayo. Theirs is perfect.
I quickly started looking up their website and Facebook page, and there were plenty of pictures posted of food others have ordered. I think next time I go back, I would order the curry chicken salad on a croissant, or the steak sandwich on focaccia! The guy who I talked to said their pastries are amazing and he recommended the strawberry, whipped cream pastry over the eclairs that were staring at me in the face.
When I left the bakery, I noticed a family sitting in the corner that looked really familiar. Then I realized it was the same family as the one I always see in Fina’s Café on Mill Street in High Falls. Apparently, Fina’s older brother opened up this bakery and they have future plans to expand and have fresh pasta and fresh baked bread to purchase. Great cooking definitely runs in this family, but I see some brother and sister friendly competition possibly happening:)
The reason why this place only has 4 stars is because of the parking situation. State Street is so busy, so street parking isn’t ideal. I know there isn’t much the owners can do about that, but street parking is no bueno.