Normandy Farms Bakery

Four stars is a solid review for this place. Let me tell you why:
The baked goods are absolutely incredible, yes.
There is a selection of easy to grab breakfast sandwiches, I recommend anything on a pretzel roll. The eggs are especially delicious. Bagels, muffins, pies, brownies, just about anything to suit your fancy.
With its location on one of Charleston’s oldest cities, the architectural details inside are exquisite. Crown molding, old old hardwood floors. And the décor inside matches with lots of antiqued heavy wood.
The reason I’m giving four stars instead of five is the coffee. It’s good, but not great, and comes out too slowly.
Overall though a fantastic place to go grab a quick morning or afternoon bite and some joe.

Working downtown in the French Quarter area of Charleston calls for regular coffee refueling. This is the only place I go.
Bake House is pretty good, and should get extra kudos from me since it was originally opened by the same owner as my Red Hook favorite — Baked. But… personality goes a long way and there’s not much personality behind the counter. It’s pretty much «hi, whatcha want?, that’ll be…» and that’s it.
The Vendue has a coffee shop, but ew… Starbucks blows. I really expected them to bring in a fancy indie gourmet establishment… but, alas… mass produced burnt coffee won.
The downtown location for Normandy is quaint, with a long farmhouse table and quick sit counter space. I get mine to go, so that’s irrelevant to me.
Coffee… excellent. Love. Particularly the iced coffee. It’s dangerous, because there are refills available. Fortunately/​Unfortunately, I can’t leave work for multiple refills.
Ladies — lovely. Two young ladies work the counter on a regular basis, and both are sweet, friendly, helpful and inviting.
The baked goods — always amazingly tasty, always fresh:
— The ECLAIR: this is the most amazing dessert I have had in Charleston. Yes, it beats out that coconut cake that everyone insists every tourist get over at Peninsula (tho that is pretty amazing). Their éclair is exactly why I’m posting this review right now, actually. The most important aspect to an éclair (to me) is the filling. I can’t stand when you get all dry dough and barely any cream.
Normandy’s éclair dough is flaky and crisp, and doesn’t get at all soggy. An excellent shell for its most important duty: the vehicle for the amazing pastry cream. The pastry cream, itself, is light, creamy, delicate and dotted with vanilla bean. The amount of pastry cream is what has won my heart.
— The Breads: So, I moved to Charleston from Brooklyn, NY. I am a snob about my bread. The baguette, in particular. Normandy knows what they’re doing, and have provided the best breads this city can find. I can’t eat any other bakery or grocery store’s bread with happiness. It’s only Normandy’s. Bread with cheese… bread with olive oil… bread alone. Amazing!
— The Sammiches: There are very few options downtown that are a quick pick up that aren’t heavy, boring or not fresh. Normandy’s sammiches (and salads) are fresh every day. It’s a wonderful option, especially when you’re not spending $ 12 to get a mediocre something delivered to you.
As a side note — if you live in West Ashley and bike at all, the most amazing thing about a morning commute into the city is passing behind the Windermere location as they are baking everything for the day. What a wonderful smell!!!

Probably one of the worst coffees I’ve ever had… and it’s hard to mess up an iced Americano. Service wasn’t that great either. I definitely would choose a different coffee shop from the many around downtown.

Given my proximity to this gem, I find myself here for lunch to grab a salad or a BLT several days each week. The BLT is my main weakness, and their pastries are not far behind. Not to give away my secret, but the trick with NF is that you have to get here early — like, before the Noon lunch crowd, or the sandwiches are gone in a flash. So, if you’ve not been here and you think I’m crazy buzzing about a BLT… let me just say that this BLT will have you craving another almost as quickly as you are done with the first one. They grill them and there is this sauce — no, no, no, not your typical spiced up mayo, rather i am unsure exactly what is in it, but it makes the entire sandwich. Worth the stop-​in.

Our first morning in Charleston, we went out searching for breakfast and were surprised to find that nothing was open. We were happy to stumble across Normandy Farms Bakery and discover they still had some bagels left. We all got bagels and enjoyed them there in the bakery before venturing back out into the heat. The coffee and bagels were VERY hot! But yummy :)

I had 20 minutes left on the parking meter after my appointment at Kuhn and Kuhn (39 Broad St.) and I was starving. I recalled that Normandy Farms Bakery had a shop close by. I didn’t need the address (BTW, it’s 19 Broad Street) … once I saw the shop window, filled with baguettes and other boulangerie delights, I knew I was at the right address.
It’s cute … it’s small … the selections are limited, but, yes, they sell their great pastries; however, I was interested in a freshly made ‘breakfast sandwich’ and was disappointed to find the only options were pre-​made on a biscuit or pretzel roll, wrapped and ready for customers who wanted grab and go service.
So, I ordered my iced coffee … and while I was waiting … the magic happened! I noticed a selection of Bagels … yes, they sold Everything Bagels … freshly boiled and baked each morning … and a selection of flavored cream cheese … and OMG … lox with capers and red onions.
The price … just $ 5.00. Yes … this is not a typo.
While I could have sat on a bench inside the small seating area and people watch, I needed to get back to my car as the meter was ticking. I could not believe my eyes when I opened my order in the car … my perfectly double toasted Everything bagel was LOADED with lox. It was pure heaven. I’m ashamed to admit that I devoured it before I snapped a picture … but, I have to return to K&K next week … so, I’ll be back … and promise to snap a photo before I dig in.

I work on Broad and we seriously lack in food options, especially if you get hungry before 11am. Brown Dog, formerly Brent’s, had a really good breakfast selection but they no longer offer breakfast. So the next best thing, or really only thing, is Normandy Farms. Before it was Normandy Farms, it was Jake’s, which wasn’t bad but didn’t offer anything near that Normandy Farms does. For that alone, I give it 4 stars because if we didn’t have NF, we wouldn’t have any place close by to grab a coffee and bagel.
With that said, most of what I’ve gotten has been good, albeit a little expensive for what it is. The bagels are good, especially the sea salt one. Most of the pastries have all been good. I also like their pasta salad and their tuna salad sandwich. I also really like their giant cranberry and white chocolate cookies. There have been a couple of negatives though. There was one time where I bought one of their pre-​made bacon, egg and cheese biscuits and there must’ve been half an egg shell in there (I went back and switched it for another biscuit sans egg shell). Also, there have been times where I’ve gotten a pastry and could tell it wasn’t fresh but rather a few days old.
NF is rather small so there’s not too much room if you’d like to sit down and eat but I’ve never seen it get overcrowded. I do like that they offer a community laptop, which is probably much appreciated by tourists passing through. I only go in there during normal weekday hours and have never experienced what the other reviewer has regarding them being closed at odd hours. All in all, I think Broad is lucky to have a place like Normandy Farms.