Bon Fresco Sandwich Bakery

First time there was 1 month ago to pick up some lunch for my boss. I’m not a sandwich eating girl but it was free so hey… It was sooooo DELICIOUS! I definitely would recommend anyone in the Columbia/​Annapolis Junction area who doesn’t know, to find out and go there and leave happy!

Some co workers and I went here for lunch a while back. Excellent choice! There were a bunch of delicious looking options and I wasn’t disappointed with my choice, though I do now regret not trying the london broil sandwich.
The shop is tucked away off the road, so I wouldn’t have stumbled on it without Unilocal

The soups here are always delicious.

Stopped in for breakfast this morning. The London broil everyone raves about, they have it on a breakfast sandwich. After ordering it does take a few minutes to get your food out, because it is real food. Be patient.
Breakfast sandwich was delicious. Coffee is nothing special, but probably the best cup of coffee for 5 miles around.

I was a regular at the Columbia Bön Fresco location for YEARS. I work at NBP so you know the food is good if you’re willing to spend 20 minutes driving to a spot on your lunch hour… Anyway, the owner is super sweet and EVERYTHING is amazing– soups, sandwiches, baked goods etc. Their breads are amazing. I read a couple other posters complaining about the wait, ingredients and price. My response is call ahead and then pick up your order; if you have an allergy or diet concern, just ask; and their ingredients are fresh and everything is made from scratch so I think the price is well worth it. I’m a huge fan of the London broil, capri, tuna and the turkey and cheese. And every soup I’ve had is super yummy. Run don’t walk!

My husband works near here and suggested to eat for lunch. This is like ethnic Panera, but their bread is better! The service was wicked quick even though it was durng the lunch rush hour. I got a grilled chicken platter salad. It was so yummy… best salad I have had in such a long time. Everything in it was divine, the chicken was tasty, the cous cous was perfectly cooked as well as its fresh mozarella cheese! And to top it off, they give you a loaf of ciabatta bread… I couldn’t finish the bread but I definitely saved it. My husband ordered a chicken sandwich served on same ciabatta bread and ate every last bite.

One of the best made-​from-​scratch cinnamon rolls!

I Haven’t been to this spot in a few months, but every time I go its always a good experience. Bön Fresco is tucked away in a little shopping center off of Guilford Road. They have a nice polite staff that helps get you in and out pretty quickly during the lunch rush so don’t be hesitant if you see a little line. To be honest, I haven’t had a sandwich from here that I didn’t enjoy. The ingredients are always very fresh and very flavorful, on top of that their sides are pretty healthy and compliment there amazing sandwiches very well! The icing on the cake is their home made bread, I feel a key component to every sandwich outside of the toppings is the bread. Bad bread can make a sandwich disappointing very easily, but Bön fresco knocks it out the park. The bread is nice and crunchy on the outside but soft in the middle which makes for a great bite. My two go to sandwiches are the Capri and the picante chicken breast, both loaded with flavor and pretty filling. The Picante Chicken breast sandwich is served hot and has a little kick to it you like hot sandwiches. If your in the mood for red meat, the London Broil sandwich is also very good! If your not in the mood for a sandwich or trying to watch your carb intake, Bön Fresco also makes great fresh salads and soups too that are also very tasty.
I would recommend Bön Fresco for lunch either take out/​dine-​in or a quick pick up for dinner on your way home. If you come around lunch time it can be a little busy so make sure you have a few minutes to spare.

I love this place! I am a vegetarian, and they have plenty of delicious and healthy options for me. Love supporting locally-​owned establishments and this is a hidden gem! Potato salad and lentils are to die for.

Great sandwiches, but can be expensive for the potions. Their bread is made fresh and has a great crisp. Wouldn’t go out of my way but is the best lunch option in the Fort Meade area.

This is quite a breath of fresh air compared to the limited competition in the immediate area. (Ahem…café joe). ALL the staff have very positive upbeat attitudes which can go along way. The food, soups, salad, platters, and coffee are all amazing. Being a creature of habit I usually go with the Pollo sandwich with 2 sides of couscous. You can’t go wrong

I’m pretty laid back and understanding, so the lunch rush doesn’t bother me at all. I would compare the wait time to Panera — minimal!
Okay, the food. I have been there three times now and tried something different each time. I am a vegetarian and try and do vegan as much as I can… There are so many options compared to the food truck offerings that come around the office buildings.
I venture to say I wouldn’t even mind getting the wrong order (as long as it wasn’t meat) — because everything I’ve tried is amazing.
Everything is full of flavor from the herbs and spices, the bread is amazing and just makes the sandwich all that better.
My three orders: Grilled Vegetable Sandwich and lentil soup, the Grilled Vegetable Platter with couscous with chickpeas, and the latest was the Mozzarella & Tomato sandwich. Try them for breakfast too — the chocolate croissant — Crazy good.

This is going to be a long rant of a review so here are the important points up front:
1. This place jipped me
2. The owner, Jeff, pretends to be caring and accommodating but is actually extremely cheap and does not hesitate to inconvenience and swindle customers for the sake of his own greed and gains
3. The food is undeniably good and customer service generally well-​rounded, but not worth the indignant treatment I experienced
4. I’m still kinda ticked about how things were resolved
I really liked this place’s food, I used to frequent the Columbia location about twice a month, but I’m afraid I have to relinquish my loyal-​customer status and leave a pretty negative review against Bön Fresco after a migraine-​worthy experience I had with the owner, JEFF.
I ordered 25 pastries for an office party which, at $ 3 a pastry, ran me $ 75. As a good and loyal customer, I tipped them $ 5 (not 20% I know… But this was a pickup order). After I got to the office, I realized that Bön Fresco shorted me 5 pastries. No big deal right? I could just call and have the price adjusted. WRONG. I spoke to the manager, Jeff, who apologized profusely, and instead of offering me a refund for the 5 missing pastries, he claimed that he would «hook me up if I had another event coming up.» I took this to mean he was going to give me a free assortment of pastries, which would have been awfully generous. He told me to call back whenever I needed that «hook up.»
It just so happened that Veterans Day was the following week, so I decided to be the office hero and go out of my way to fetch yet another massive batch of Bön Fresco pastries! After all, Jeff was gonna «hook me up…»
I called and placed the identical order of 25 pastries. It was at this time that generous Jeff said he would only charge me for 10 of the 25 pastries. Needless to say I was a little bewildered to be charged at all, since he initially refused a price adjustment on my initial wrong order, and basically made me go out of my way to place an entirely new order… Anyways, 25 pastries for the price of 10 was still a great «hook up…» Even though I wouldn’t have placed the second order to begin with had I not assumed it would be free.
THE DAY OF: I show up to Bön Fresco to pick up my order. I counted this time, sure enough, 25 pastries were there. All is good right? WRONG. Upon glancing at the bill, I realize that they charged me for 20 pastries… The total was $ 60 plus tax… The bill was only supposed to be $ 30… What is going on???
Let’s do some math. The first time I paid for 25 and got 20. The second time I paid for 20 and got 25. What does that mean? It means I ended up with 0 compensation for my trouble. In total — I PAID $ 148 FOR STUPID PASTRIES WITHIN THE COURSE OF A WEEK!!!
I found myself literally in a state of shock at this point. I was so beguiled by the experience that, as if in a trance, I signed the check and left (Don’t worry, I had good enough judgement to not leave a tip this time). As I drove back to work, pensive, fuming, blood boiling, I decided to call Jeff once again. I explained to him the entire aforementioned situation, and that I was feeling rather ripped off. He admitted that it was kind of crappy that I ended up with 0 free pastries, but also laughed at me for thinking I expected 25 free pastries, and laughed at me again for thinking I was getting 25 pastries for the price of 10.
Fully meeting my expectations and inconveniencing me again, for like the 100^th time, Jeff instructed me to call him back «after lunch» and that he would refund me for… (DRUM ROLL PLEASE)… 5 PASTRIES! THAT’S $ 15 OF THE $ 148 (not including the gas, time, and intellectual labor wasted in dealing with this nightmare) I begrudgingly agreed. At this phase of the game, I realized that I was dealing with a man whose priorities did not include fair or just treatment of even the most loyal of his customers. At the end of the conversation, Jeff told me that he just «aims to create happy customers.» MISSION FAILED JEFF!!! MISSION EXTREMELY EXTREMELY FAILED!!!
If Jeff were a man of vision, he would have seen that adequately resolving a situation with an inconvenienced customer were definitely worth retaining that customer’s loyalty. Instead, Jeff lacked that vision, and I hope that this review and my lack of business that resulted from his poor business acumen costs him more than the cost of 25 pastries.

This is my favorite sandwich shop. The variety is nice and the sandwiches are made fresh. They also have a delicious selection of soups with a different two soups featured each day of the week. My favorite soup is the spicy peanut. I tend to eat here two to three times a week. Sometimes I stop in the morning for two sandwiches, one for breakfast and a second one for lunch. The London broil sandwich is amazing for anyone who likes meat. And I like how they use mixed greens instead of plain iceberg lettuce like other places.

A friend recommended Bön Fresco, and I’m incredibly glad that he did! I never would have looked for it otherwise. It’s in an industrial area, and looks like a warehouse outside. Inside is a cozy lunch spot (though their menu says they have breakfast sandwiches and bakery products too). Not much seating. I love birch beer and you almost never find it, so I was thrilled to see it on tap with free refills. My friend recommended the London Broil if they had it (it’s not a regular item, but a frequent special). They did, and it was terrific. The meat was thin, rare, and incredibly tasty, served on fresh ciabatta bread with greens. It was so good that I was inspired to order a prosciutto sandwich to go for my dinner. Eaten a few hours later, the prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, and ciabatta were terrific! This will definitely be my new favorite place if I make another trip to the area!

Great lunch spot. The bread is what makes the sandwich here. Any of the sandwiches with italian cold cuts are delicious. If they are serving the London Broil that day, make sure you get it.

This location is in a weird place. It’s in a warehouse, nestled among a ton of other warehouses.
I got a pork loin sandwich and a cup of tomato saffron soup. The sandwich was made of pork loin, two slices of a bread I can’t remember, some greens (most likely arugula?) and some olive oil-​based dressing.
When I first bit into the sandwich and had some of the pork, I was initially disappointed. That bite of pork was very lean and didn’t have a lot of flavor.
But as I went through more of the sandwich, that impression changed significantly. I got a bite that came with a bunch of the greens, a small strip of fat, and a little bit of that olive oil, and then the sandwich came alive. The oil transported the subtle taste of the herbs used to season the pork. Those herbs brought alive the rest of the pork, giving me some of that meaty, slightly-​tangy gaminess that comes from a good piece of pork. And then the greens added a freshness that kept my mouth wanting more.
And I don’t want to forget the bread. The bread was amazing. A nice hard crust with a chewy interior.

I guess I got the wrong sandwich. I went in around lunchtime and there were several people seated and just a few in line so I was helped immediately. That was nice, as I was expecting a rush. I scanned the menu and got my staple, turkey. The
Fresh Roasted Turkey Breast to be exact. Eh. it was bland and dry. I even got mayo AND mustard. The turkey was the same, bland and kinda dry. The type you’d get off a Thanksgiving turkey breast, but not as good. I got a little side of potato salad (.50 for a TINY cup, *shrug. I never really understood these things, portion control I guess) and it was ok, better than the sandwich actually. But it REALLY needed dill. You need dill on mostly potato anything. It just works so well.
So I was pretty disappointed. I’d would like to go back and try something else though… I’ll update once I do.

I could eat Bön Fresco’s London Broil sandwich for every meal, and now that their second location is open for both lunch *and* breakfast, my dreams can now become a reality!
All my favorite sandwiches from the original location are there, but now there are breakfast options in the mix too. I’ve only been once, but the egg, cheese, and London broil on ciabatta was great. I think the roll was a bit smaller than the lunch ones, but at four bucks, it was still a bargain. I am looking forward to trying their croissant sandwiches next.
We did a large order (about 25 sandwiches) for the office, calling it in the day before. This gave them the chance to make sure they had everything needed on-​hand, and bake extra bread the next day if necessary. Our order was ready on-​time and 100% accurate, exactly what I come to expect from these guys.
I spoke to the manger there, and he said that business was going well. Their prime location and the fact that they’re clearly carrying on the Bön Fresco tradition of excellence should mean many years of success!

There are two Bön Fresco Unilocal!reviews for this location; so please check my other review. This place is great, everything on the menu is excellent. I recommend the London Broil, Brie Sandwich and Venice.