Alessio Baking Company

I swing by here on my way to work and pick up fresh bread and a croissant. Crazy low prices super awesome staff. What a treasure.

What a treasure to rediscover the bread and baked goods of Dean Chiotti. My dad worked at Pierre’s bakery when we I was a kid, and we grew up on this bread — the sourdough, the marble rye, the seashell rolls, the onion buns, the perfect anise biscotti — we teethed on the grissini and loved to gaze at the baked goods in their little retail window, where Sherry who manned the counter would slip a cookie over to us while we waited for my dad to get off work. I’ve long dreamed of that sourdough — never finding any that quite lived up to the standard. THEN — we discovered Alessio’s! We picked up some of their bread a few months ago as a surprise for my dad, and at the first bite we were all transported. The flavor is unbeatable — as is the nostalgia. But this isn’t just about nostalgia — this is about delicious bread made to the highest of standards — this is artisan in its original form — when it wasn’t about pretension (not that is all about pretension), but when artisan was a «given» because it’s about deep-​rooted pride in your craft — in this case, in baking. Alessio is old-​school Portland. Old-​school Italian Portland — like visiting my Nonna in the kitchen at the Monte Carlo. Their storefront is more limited in selection, but it’s absolutely worth a stop, as anything you buy will be delicious — and a little bite of true Portland history.

Is there a lower rating than 1 star? BEWARE CONSUMERS.
After reviewing their website I drove to Alessio Bakery from Vancouver to purchase a quantity of Italian rolls for a graduation party. When I arrived I was told by a rude woman (who gets down right insulting later) that they are wholesale only and only sell ‘retail’ what’s on their day old rack. I told her that their website indicated otherwise and had a full menu of «deli breads, sandwich rolls, dinner rolls, specialty breads, & sweet goods/​pastry» that were listed. She told that was for their wholesale customers. I even mentioned their homepage starts with the greeting «Welcome to Alessio, your «friendly neighborhood bakery». I must have been at a different bakery because this woman (she certainly didn’t act like a lady) didn’t make me feel «welcome» and was anything but «friendly». In fact, she told me that their website was over 5 years old and was outdated and I «should have known to call first». There was no offer from her whatsoever to help me out even after I explained that I had driven from Vancouver and all I wanted was 4 dozen rolls. I even asked if there was someplace close by that she could recommend and was told no. So I returned to my car, and pulled up their website to confirm what I had read. Being unfamiliar with the area I checked the web and found no other listings for an Italian bakery in the area. I returned to the store to see if anyone else there could help me. I was speaking to a young man about the rolls I needed when this woman came out of the back room and demanded of me in a rather surly impatient voice «What do you want? I told you we’re wholesale only?». I told her I had checked their website again and reiterated that it describes itself as a neighborhood Italian bakery with a wide selection of rolls and breads. The response I got from her was to either make a purchase or leave. I told her I’d like to purchase 4 dozen rolls to which she promptly told to leave, which I did. I went to the sidewalk in front of their building to take a picture (which I got) when this woman opened the door and yelled at me to get off her property or she’d call the police. I told her that I was on a public sidewalk and not interfering with her or her business. I then took her picture to which she immediately retreated and closed the business door.
I normally don’t write reviews, and in fact this is the first review I’ve written with Unilocal.This was one of the WORST displays of customer (dis) service I have been party to in years and can’t help to think that the family ancestors that started this business would hang their head in shame for what occurred today. Truly appalling service. If their website is not up-​to-​date then take it down and fix it.

Shhh. My wife didn’t want me to let her hole-​in-​the-​wall bakery secret out… I guess she thinks it’ll get all popular and lose its simple brand of awesome. Basically, you come here for one reason and one reason only, but OH what a reason: $ 1 fresh-​baked overruns of fluffy rolls, buns, and bread. Once in a blue moon awesome soft giant cookies. Man may not live by bread alone, but it’s still a blessing.

Dan H is right. I smelled this place and then found myself buying way more than I intended to from a wide grinning sweetheart of a man.
I can’t speak to the breads yet, but the cookies are delightful, I tried several. Also, it’s 4 cookies for $ 1.50, most places charge that much for 1.
You could go here to support this wonderful shop or you could go for the more selfish reasons of delicious and cheap cookies and bread. That’s why I’ll be returning.
BTW– this place is hard to spot, it almost feels like you are walking into an office, but you’re not, there’s goodness in there!

Still trying to get this place into the minds of Unilocalers.
I imagine Alessio supplies bread to restaurants and cafes around Portland, but I’m sure getting some more customers wouldn’t hurt.
If you buy your bread products at Fred Meyer’s or Safeway, you should stop. Come here. You can get loaves of sandwich bread (white, wheat, pumpernickel) or bags of round onion or sesame or sub rolls (6 in a bag) for $ 1. It is all made on the premises. Plus the baker is super friendly.
This isn’t rocket science people. Please show these guys some love.