Kraftsmen Baking

The turkey gobbler is delicious. If you’re craving a taste of thanksgiving, it will satisfy. The butternut squash soup is also delicious. My only constructive criticism is the disorganization of their menu. Coffee & lattes are written on the board and there was one community menu that was torn & worn. The dessert menu was missing, as was the menu for quiche.

Worst latte in Houston, stale almond croissant. Not sure why you’d want to go to this place although it does look cool from the outside!

The iconic Kraftsmen Baking company has split off into the Kraftsmen Café now, but the MO remains the same: carbohydrates to the max. What better to start up in Houston than a wholesale baking institution that provides this super-​sized city of Texas. You have oil, you have lots of restaurants and shopping – just through a smidgen of baked goods.
It goes without saying that you can find many of these offerings in hipster coffee shops, those that only sell the most local of flour and water combinations and caffeinated beverages brewed from globally-​benefiting pods, sourced in the most intensely repressed countries – see Ethiopia, Rwanda, Guatemala, etc. etc.
For starters, I tested the waters with one of their muffins derived from the summer squash family, and by that I mean zucchini. I found it a little chewy, but lots of raisins provided moistness. Fortunately, they are also cranking out savories as well, and who can mess up a scone? Actually, scones aren’t that easy to produce, but at least they are trying.
Though the storefront closed, I wouldn’t recommend their products, which they deliver around town. I have perused the Houston market for quality starchy parcels, but I can’t say that I would send you this direction. Give some other bakery/​delis a shot if you are hankerin’ for a sammie or a loaf o’ bread.

I had really high hopes for this place, because it was listed as one of Houston’s favorites on 29 – 95 (a resource that’s never done me wrong before). I was imagining a bakery full of breads, pasteries, desserts … but all I found were breads.
I don’t really understand a place mostly selling sandwiches using the word «baking» in its title. My brother and I swung by for an afternoon snack, and I had a completely underwhelming and oversized blueberry scone. I am pretty sure they forgot the salt in the dough, because there was almost no taste. My brother’s spinach quiche, however, was amazing.
Perhaps we’d arrived too late in the afternoon, but even the take-​home bread selection didn’t wow me. The search for Houston’s best full-​scale bakery continues.

I love the location of this place, it is just so cute! Unfortunately due to some bad service we won’t ever go back. The first time we went they were out of everything I asked for. No tortillas for breakfast tacos, no crossiants. The second time we went back we brought guests from out of town. My sister in law and I each ordered 2 breakfast tacos. They brought her 1, when she inquired about the other the guy went inside got our receipt and showed us he only had 1 down for her. «see just one» If she wanted another she had to come in order, pay and wait. Despite the fact it was their fault and we just spent $ 45 on breakfast for 4. I was embarrassed and angry and won’t be going back. It’s funny-​going through other reviews I see others say they got their order wrong and there is a young guy that works on the weekends that is a d-​bag. Owners, are you reading your reviews???

Let me preface this by saying: there is a group of ladies i work with who *rave* about krafts’men, so i went in with high hopes.
unfortunately the place was a pure disappointment.
strike one: the spacial layout of the store is no good. the door is right by where you order, so if there are more than 3 people waiting, someone is either waiting outside or pushed up against the cream and sugar area. if you want to get your coffee you have to «excuse me/​pardon me» through the line… then, if you want to go outside, you’re again stepping on those same people.
strike two: they don’t accept amex and try not to take their own coupons if they can help it.
strike three: i ordered a grilled sandwich. grilled = put on a panini press to get grill marks, but in no way did it mean «hot» sandwich. rather it was warm bread with slippery, chewy not yet melted cheese and cold mustard. the texture of the slippery room temp cheese with the grilled but not hot bread was terrible.
strike four (one for the road): the guy working the counter was a complete dbag… and my latte was terrible. i’m guessing it’s a different crew when my work friends are going (i went on a saturday) and say it’s so great. as it stands, i’ll skip krafts’men in the future, and stick with the always delish brasil instead.

Nothing special about this place. We thought based on the prices that it would be bigger sandwiches, more similar to Katz. What you get is less than a 6″ Subway. We pay $ 25 for two sandwiches, two chips and two drinks. We can get the same amount of food at Panera Bread for $ 10 less!
Our Sandwiches:
Ol’ School
Salami, Melted Provolone, Spinach, Roasted Red Peppers, Red Onion, Basil And Dijon Mustard On A Grilled Crispy Baguette
(They were out of Spinach, Red Onions and Basil)
Effin’ Good Sandwich
Turkey And Salami With Red Onion, Provolone, Dijon Mustard And Mayo On A Flaky Croissant
(Again out of Red Onions, and also out of Croissants)
They did not tell us they were out of so much of what we ordered. It was just delivered without. The «Effin’ Good Sandwich came out with just Turkey and Ham! Yes they made it with ham and when we returned it and asked for the correct sandwich, the man argued with my husband and said it was the «Ol’ School.» My husband had to read the descriptions in the menu to him, that there was no ham in either sandwich we ordered!
My question is if they were out of so much why did they not tell us in the first place, maybe we would have ordered something else. Also why did we have to pay full price when we were not given the full sandwich.
The sandwiches were ok, but the bread wasn’t fresh. For a restaurant with «Baking» in the name it’s missing the mark on the bread pretty badly. Not worth the price.

Unlike the name the baked goods do not seem to be that well crafted.
Parking in the front is always a tricky as it also serves the library and the Black Lab Pub — this makes it impractical to just stop by and pick up some baked goods.
The café always seems to be under stocked usually no more than a few bagels but rarely a good selection of bread. The few times that I have bought loaves there were usually soft crusted and underwhelming — similar to bread I would (or rather, would not) pick up at Kroger.
Having eaten a few times at Gravitas, their sister restaurant, I was impressed by the Kraftsmen loaves that they display.
Unfortunately, in this case the bread looks better than it tastes.
A better made bread and a far better selection is available at Central Market.

I have been to Kraftsmen Baking a couple times, because it is really convenient for me and super quiet.
There is never very many people there, I am not sure if it is just hidden behind the bars and retail shops or not many people know about it. It’s a small little shop with free Wi-​fi, and a wide variety of sandwiches and salads. I have had the Turkey & Brie which was good but nothing exceptional so I decided to try the Heartland Chicken Sandwich when I was there last time. It was better but still not delicious.
The reason why I gave it three stars instead of two, was because its quick, quiet, and reasonable. Plus, I can do work there if I want.

I’ve been loking for this place for over 2 years. i remember seeing a review about it i think in the Houston Press.
I’m a really big fan of groupon and always look for disounts. i was thrilled when I finally found a groupon for this place.
I finally found it in montrose hidden in St Thomas University sector.
I parked my car on Colquitt st. because I had read the parking was terrible. I still could not find it… so luckily i found a Dude walking through a parking garage… he directed me to the green leaf Cove… and that’s where the bakery was hiidden.
I got to the bakery around 2:30p. Luckily no crowd at all. I looked over the menu and deceided on the Roast Beef, chips and a cookie.
I asked for wheat bread and they gave me an onion bun. (strike one)
They had no more cookies…(strike two). All they had was a basket of pastries. I choose some crusty pastry filled with brown sugar and hazelnuts
Overall, the Sandwhich was nothing to write home about. the bread was pretty fresh. The pastry was pretty good. Not too sweet, not too bland.
all this was $$$$ 10.01. Kinda Pricey. For a Sandwhich chips and a cookie.
Maybe I’ll go back and try another sandwhich and soup. The bread and baguette looked yummy in the basket. But I need to take aot of money with me next time I go, though… to pay for the $ 4.00 loaf of bread and the $ 3.00 baguette. The pastries look might tasty, too… but those are probably $ 5.00.

I have a bit of a love/​hate relationship with Kraftsmen. I love their location, but I think that the space is poorly designed. I love their sandwiches, but I think that they’re a bit overpriced. I love the patio, but the bird droppings everywhere put me off. Nevertheless, I find myself coming back to this place.
After several tries, I’ve figured out that the best thing to order is the club sandwich but substitute the bread for a croissant, Oh-​so-​delicious. The sandwiches come with your choice of chips that I wish you could forgo as none of them are particularly appealing. The sandwiches are made to order, and you can definitely tell by the freshness and crispness of the bread and veggies.
The best thing to do here is come early on a Saturday morning and get a couple of bites to go, then head on down to Hermann Park or the Zoo with a loved one and make a date out of it. I do this whenever my Gf and I have had a long week and it’s just the perfect way to unwind.

I’ve just left here. And am pretty indifferent to the experience. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But not good either.
The turkey and brie sandwich I had (with chips for $ 7.75) didn’t have any condiments on it and lacked/​needed more salt and pepper. Also, the turkey was lunch meat style.
On the plus sides, though, the generous portion of avocado was nice, and the service was friendly and efficient. Large, clean bathroom.
But I have to end on a bad note — the wireless internet wasn’t working (I was warned by the nice girl who made my sandwich that it is hit and miss usually). But not a problem — just walked the 3 yards across the way to the Public Liberry to use their wi-​fi.

Starting off with all things positive, I like to go to Kraftsmen for their chai and the quiet space with internet access. I am picky about my chai. I think that Starbucks is too acidic and Diedrich’s is just off the mark. Kraftsmen is also really good at bread (hence the name). They have the best croissants! They also have a good lunch — some satisfying sandwiches:)
What knocks them a couple of stars is their breakfast, their prices for common items (bottled water and juices are too pricey) and the bathroom maintenance (a couple of times there have been no supplies and messiness). Now, I know that people don’t go to a place to check their bathroom, but I do think that they should maintain cleanliness. Oh, and the breakfast is an afterthought compared to the rest of their menu. My feeling is if you are going to do breakfast, do it well (it is an easy meal to get right).

This is a dependable litte café next to St. Thomas University and the Montrose library if you need a quick, healthy fix for the day. They offer gourmet sandwiches on their own in-​house baked bread, salads, soups, quiche, breakfast, dessert, coffee, and tea. They also have free wi-​fi and are generally efficient and courteous. I’ve only had one bad incident here where I wanted to complain, but didn’t — I just didn’t go back for a loooong time, and when I did, the culprit was gone.
My favs here are the quiches (rich, eggy, with a flaky, buttery crust), soups, tuna sandwich (on biologique bread, hard boiled egg slices, provolone cheese, drizzle of balsamic and greens), garden sandwich, turkey and brie (on a poppy seed baguette, with avocado – you can get it sans turkey if you’re a vegetarian), and the sticky bun.
I especially like that it’s pretty quiet here and you can sit outside and enjoy the day, weather permitting, or chill inside and you will not be bothered. Also, if parking’s an issue on the street, if you use the attached garage, they will validate parking with your purchase.

I came here today for the UYE Shazia set up. First off I knew it was going to be a bad experience when the old lady in front of me came back with her sandwich and said there’s no bacon… this isn’t bria… and isn’t this supposed to be toasted??? Yeah I should have known this was going to be an eating disaster.
I ordered the soup and half sandwich combo, and added a slice of quiche. The soup was potato bacon soup… I tasted no bacon… tasted like something out of a can. The «effing good sandwich» was EFFING TERRIBLE!!! I had to go get it myself too. Now the only thing that was redeeming was the quiche. Very flavorful!!!
I would probably rated this place a 1 star but the conversation that followed this meal made up for the bad food.
BTW: Parking for this place is bad but if you just go around the side there’s plenty of street parking.

If I were to give this a collective review averaging out everyone’s dining experience here (including the silly man that sat downwind of my table full of cigarette smokers), I would give this place a two star review. Based on my meal alone I would give it four and a half, subtracting the half star for overhead pigeons. In average, that comes to four stars, yes? I think the math is off somewhere, perhaps it was my bread.
After going round in circles with menu options, I thought I’d stick with my current trend of sliced fruit in sandwiches, and went with Sharia’s recommendation of the Green Gobbler ($ 7.50). It was good, but what really made it amazing was when I quietly realized mid-​conversation with Jay and Cory that my bread had pumpkin seeds in it. I heart you Biologique Bread, you are my new Seeduction bread. The filling was just so-​so. I think what would have sent this sandwich over the edge would have been if they had substituted Brie for the bland Provolone. If I go again, I will get Gretchen’s Green Gobbler: Turkey, BRIE (ix-​né on the ovolone-​Pre), sprouts (sunflower if they could sub them), green apple slices, and apple butter (again, Adriatic Fig Spread would be better).
I also got a medium Chai ($ 3.50). Amazing. The guy put a great deal of effort into foaming the milk. It was gorgeous. *I* didn’t mind that there was a line developing behind me; me and my chai were totally worth it. It was art.
I mentioned the birds. Not Hitchcock, but rather the non-​bathroom shy pigeons spending the beautiful day in the trees above our table. Gross. There were no food or people accidents, but there were a few close calls. We migrated a few times.
Another half-​star demotion (again the bread sends this place into extra-​star reserves) was that they list breakfast on the online menu, but in real life, there were no omlettes. No eggs, no bacon for the past couple of months.
While it was sad to note that people were upset by a few major errors on the part of the chef, I was in awesome seeded bread euphoria, mixed with a splash of best chai ever. I didn’t want to send myself over the edge by also ordering a pastry or dessert (financially and sugar-​wise), but the cookies, bars, and pastries looked amazingly good. Also my joyous smiles may have been viewed as «taunting» by several Unilocalers.
Postscript-​For all of you fellow old Houstonians, this is where Cyrano’s used to be.

I totally love this place. My favorite sandwich is the cold fish — smoked salmon with granny smith apples and arugula — so good! In fact, I crave it for weeks after I have one.
The coffee here rocks, too! Fully bodied, full flavor! mmmm I have not had the fancy-​cappu-​espresso what nots. Just the coffee, add cream. yummy.
I’ve had several other things here too — salads, soups and sandwiches alike — and I was very pleased with everything. Very fresh.
The place can get a little crowded at lunch what with the counter service and limited seating. When you can grab a table, though, it’s very relaxing and a nice place to sit and hang out.
It is a bit on the pricey side, though, so Kraftsmen is not an everyday sandwich experience, but if you really want to splurge a little on a truly excellent sandwhich, this is the place!

As much as I wanted to keep this place a secret I am spilling it out.
This place by far is my favourite Sunday brunch place. It’s so mellow and peaceful unlike daily review, empire café, adobe café etc.
The brunch here is nothing extra ordinary but it has an English feel to it which I absolutely love! They don’t have a wide menu but whatever is on it is amazing and fresh. The portions are reasonable nothing like Hobbit Café where you can serve an entire army with one meal.
I usually order their omelette. Their Green Gobbler is great as well.
They have few out door picnic tables where I normally sit. Great place and Houston should have more places like this.

Kraftsmen Baking is like the ultimate good and bad place to go.
The good: parking at the library garage is free with verification from kraftsmen.
The bad: you will have to park in the library unless you get lucky. On our visit we turned into the lot and had some guy come in through the exit of the lot and bull rush his way into the lone vacant parking spot. I hate people sometimes.
The good: the place is cute, cozy, and clean.
The bad: man, the girl (22 – 26 year old) working the register was so inhospitable that I was instantly turned off. Not because she was aggressive, rude, or angry but because she might’ve not said a single word to us the entire time. Like a robot. I don’t want to be best friends with my latte maker but maybe a «Hello» or «What would you like to order?» would be expected…
The amazing: their lattes are really, really good. The espresso shot is very strong and just fantastic. It puts Starbucks to shame and I love Starbucks. Drinking the latte here was like transcending into a deeper understanding of coffee. I wish I was kidding.
The bad: It was $ 5.
I give this place four stars just because the lattes are so damn good.

This is not your ordinary sandwich place. What sets them apart is their fresh, soft, yummy bread.
I came here for lunch after visiting the public library next door and had a Kraftsmen Garden vegetarian sandwich with a bag of sea salt and vinegar chips, for under $ 10.
The staff was very friendly and efficient, although I could imagine it might get busy during a lunch rush. Indoor seating is limited, but there is covered outdoor seating too.
Parking in front of the building is not easy, but they do validate garage parking.
If I lived in Houston, I would definitely come here again!