The Bread Peddler

Amazing cheese puff pastry — so moist!
Equally delicious chocolate flourless cake — beautiful flakey top with moist interior.
I also appreciated the open space with a tonic seating.

Authentic french bakery in downtown Olympia. The Unilocal reviews should show how polarizing the overall experience can be, but there is a reason this is one of the most popular weekend morning destinations in town.

Their food is always delicious, quick and well-​priced. It’s lovely and usually packed because everyone else knows the excellent quality they offer.
Excellent bread, pastries, coffee, tea, soup. Literally never had anything I didn’t absolutely love.

Went for lunch, ordered a cold sandwich and my friends order soup… I tried to order my sandwich with tomatoes and extra mayo but they told me it comes pre-​made and it would be difficult to make it differently, counter person seemed very put out so I just told her I would take it as is in that we had only 30 minutes to eat lunch. After waiting about 30 minutes, I went up to the counter to inquire (and after about 5 minutes of being ignored, another customer had to tell them I was trying to ask a question), the counter person indifferently said she would check into it… another 10 minutes later, finally received food. Sandwich was okay and my friends soup was delicious. I feel that the delay was intentional, there is no reason that a cold sandwich or soup should take 40 minutes to be made/​brought to table. the server never apologized for the delay, just dropped the food off and walked away. Terrible service!

My 2011 review remains unchanged: Over priced for stale goods and a dirty environment.
Stopped in today for afternoon tea with my daughter. The bus-​your-​own tables did not look like they had been wiped down between customers. Does the customer have to do that too?
Our table had food crumbs and wilted lettuce from some one’s sandwich. Of the 4 chairs at the table, two had large holes in the upholstery.
I had a slice of pear upside-​down-​cake. It was dry and stale save for the top where the pears were. Dry as dust. I actually coughed on my first bite, it was so dry.
Olympia food places are famous for their hip/​chic «kitsch» and indifferent service. But this local hang out is below even that.

The attitude of the employees used to be something that I could overlook given the quality of the baked goods here but after attempting to have lunch here more than once, the lack of service, speed and quality are keeping me from coming back. Standing in line at this place feels like the Soup Nazi episode of Seinfeld where if they did not orders EXACTLY as the owner felt they should, they got nothing. I have gotten dirty looks and poor service for my inability to pronounce some of the very complicated french names of some of their items. As for actual meals here, the thin and flavorless french onion soup topped with burned black cheese was one thing but the second time, the sandwich that I ordered lacked half the the items that it was supposed to have… after being sent back twice for being the WRONG ORDER! It takes 30 minutes to have a piece of quiche warmed if they are having lunch, so this place not a good option if you are interested in a quick bite on break unless you stand in the huge line to get a cold pastry… if you can say its name. Also, if you bring a child into this establishment, no matter how quiet and well behaved, they will continue to give you dirty looks.

Locals don’t go here anymore for a reason. Service is severely lacking, ingredients floundering, prices way too steep. The Bread Pedler is slipping…

A great spot for breakfast and lunch. Extraordinary desserts with an emphasis on house baked French goods. Breads, croissants, tarts, you name it. This is the spot for artisanal baked goodness in Oly. Some things are standard like the gâteau basque, the tarts rotate daily. They also do salads and sandwiches, and serve local Batdorf & Bronson coffee.
The lines can get rather long depending upon the time of day, such as lunch or 10 on a Saturday. Bit don’t be put off by it they usually whip through it rather quickly.
The breads have a dark hue but that’s just the awesome baked goodness from the oven. I’ve purchased many of their loaves over the years, and they’re always baked to perfection!

Do not expect:
Poached eggs served warm or
Delivered in under 40 minutes, or
An offer of compensation.

Great selection of authentic French baked breads, pastries, sandwiches and soups. They are even open for dinner Thursday’s through Saturdays.
Espresso, poured/​drip coffee, teas– whatever quenches your thirst.
A popular place for lunch, dinner, or a quick treat!

someone should teach this restaurant owner how to cook a bowl of borscht. A red mushy paste with no discernible cabbage or vegetables and big chunks of stew meat is a poor excuse for a bowl of borscht. This place bills itself as a «french» restaurant on Facebook, but I see no connection. Bread? Sure, that’s french, French Bread is french, but not the chewy whole grain stuff, that’s more of an Eastern European bread. And if you charge over $ 7 for a bowl of soup, it should have some character. No dollop of sour cream or fresh herbs in sight.

Love these guys! The food is delic and the service is good!
It is my go to place for soup and sandwiches & desserts!
Thank you Bread peddler!

This place is fantastic. A nice convenient location in downtown Olympia with friendly service and spectacular baked goods. The chocolate cork was an extreme chocolate experience and the chocolate croissant was good. The breads looked great & the way they had the baguettes lined up, it was just like in Paris. The frittata was baked just the way I like so I’ll be going back to try it soon. A great experience overall.

Great quality, consistently. We have been coming here for years. The bread is wonderfully chewy. My favorite treats are the blueberry account with jam and the chocolate cookies, little gems.
Breakfast is solid. The eggs Benedict are worth getting.
The also do dinner, we’ve tried that a couple times and its good. Not crazy great.

It looks good on the outside, the inside is done well, the staff are dressed professionally but don’t let that fool you into buying anything from this place. The menu suggests that the person who wrote it knows the restaurant business and they very well may have a lot of experience. The inside has a rustic and classy look but the employees is where this place is failing. I don’t expect to be greeted at the door and have my hand held through how and what to order but if announce that I’ve never been there I don’t think I should get a head nod and a blank stare. I think that if I order a sandwich explicitly from the menu that the response should be «will there be anything else» not «well the croques are really good» followed by an explanation of the process of how it’s made, I mean we were already passed that point right?
As far as the food is concerned the sandwiches are pre-​made with grocery store deli meat and you could see that all of the bread in the displays had been burnt.

This place had so much promise. It was a cozy little lunch spot with tons of great looking pastries and interesting sandwiches. Unfortunately, after explicitly ordering a hot turkey sandwich without guacamole for my pregnant wife, a pastrami sandwich for myself, and a quiche. I waited over 20 minutes during a pretty normal-​looking lunch rush to get a cold turkey sandwich with guacamole and a dry, open-​face pastrami «sandwich». The staff were apologetic about the turkey sandwich, and gave me a pastry to compensate for the mixup.
Even still, it was such a simple order and such a long wait for a disappointing lunch that I doubt I’ll ever go back. If you do head over there, stick to the pastries in the display case, don’t waste your time or money on the to-​order menu.

3.5 stars — I was in Olympia for a few days (I’m from the east coast) and a local recommended the bread peddler to grab a bite for lunch. I’m glad they did because this spot is certainly a place I would find myself frequenting if there were one near me. The menu has a variety of great sounding sandwiches– I chose to go with the Turkey sandwich with guac and cranberry aioli and also got myself a cappuccino. My cappuccino was ready very quickly– It was extremely delicious, we just don’t get the quality of coffee everyone over here seems to take for granted! It was certainly the star of my experience. The sandwich arrived shortly after the cappuccino– It was pretty good but the quantity of filling was on the dainty side– I’d probably explore their other sandwiches next time I get the chance to go. I also can’t wait to get back to try some of their delicious looking treats!

Atmos: Moderate size — about 14 tables. lots of natural light.
Tea: Harney & Sons! Great quality.
Apple Slipper: Great! No too sweet at all. Lovely flakey layers of pastry.
Almond crossiont: Ok. It’s a bit tough to bite/​chew. It’s not very light or flakey.
Frittata of the Day: Ok. A bit on the watery side. But the flavors are nice. A little on the salty side but mostly just due to the bacon.
Service: Slow and seemingly inattentive. Plan to mostly assist yourself and come with patience and you’ll be fine.

I am in town from Seattle for training, and feel like I found a gem!
The breakfasts are just the right size, the sandwiches and salads are so fresh.
I think it’s clear when you walk in that you order at the counter. Everyone has been very courteous and smiling.
It does get really packed at lunch, but once you taste the food you know why!

The Bread Peddler is delicious!
We have tired their French onion soup, house salad, fresh bread, two soups of the day (Breton’s Seafood Stew & Italian Sausage Lentil) and mocha lattes. The French Onion Soup is a must try here! It’s delicious, made-​from-​scratch and worth every penny. Their house salad is a yummy mix of greens with a super light, refreshing salad dressing. Their fresh bread is also one of the best items they have! Each item seems to come with different bread and we have enjoyed trying them all. The two soups of the day were awesome! The Seafood Stew had amazing, tasty chunks of lobster and crab in it and the sausage lentil soup was also super yummy.
Overall I would highly suggest The Bread Peddler for breakfast, lunch and dinner (Call and make sure their open for dinner before you go)!