Dirty Apron Bakehouse is a great, local bakery in downtown Fayetteville that the locals rave about. While I thoroughly enjoyed my food, which I’ll discuss in a bit, there were some slight issues that I believe are holding these guys back a little bit. So, let’s get to the breakdown and talk about all the things!
ENVIRONMENT
This very eclectic, homey bakery is walking distance from the Fayetteville downtown square. It has plenty of cute outdoor seating with some sun coverage. However, there are only three very tightly situated stools for indoor seating.
On a 95 degree day, there were three of us strangers seated elbow to elbow, as I shoved this messy sandwich into my face. It wasn’t pretty and too close to comfort. Perhaps adding a fan or two outside could make the summer heat more bearable in a mostly outdoor-seated restaurant.
Finally, while there is a small parking lot that appears to belong to the bakehouse, we are forbidden to park there. It is a private lot for the apartments next door and you may get towed. So, find somewhere along the street to park and don’t melt on the walk.
MENU
While the menu is small, consisting of a few sandwiches and salads, it was still hard to pick just one thing! Every sandwich sounds amazing! Here’s a link to their site’s menu since this pic may be hard to read. Menu
FOOD
It is important to mention this bakery makes all of their own naturally leavened sourdough loaves. They are all made in small batches, using a mid nineteenth century French technique. Apparently, this makes the bread more digestible and gives it more flavor and texture.
While I really wanted to take a loaf home, they only had one country loaf available. All of their specialty loaves are only offered on occasion. However, you can pre-order a specialty loaf two days in advance.
So, I decided to just get a sandwich to enjoy the country loaf.
After I finally picked just one of the sandwiches to try from the menu, I knew I’d also have to get a chocolate croissant! I’ve heard rave reviews and those are my favorite pastries. However, the lady working there alerted me they only have those on Saturdays. =( So, there were only a handful of options for me to choose from and some were a day old, so they’d be a $1 off! I guess Wednesday isn’t a great day to come here for baked goods/bread.
Almond Croissant
I went for the almond croissant. Even being a day old, it was delicious! The lady heated it up for me, too. It was the perfect sweet appetizer before my sandwich. (I wanted to wait to eat it for dessert, but that didn’t work out.)
Jimmy Pesto: $9
Description: Pesto, tomato, smoked chicken, mozzarella, balsamic reduction on house-made country sourdough.
I decided on the Jimmy Pesto, but ordered it without the thick, beautiful mozzarella (I’m allergic) and asked if a fried egg could be added instead. Most of the other sandwiches come with a fried egg, and I couldn’t miss out. I was told yes, but it would cost an extra $1. I asked if I would get a discount for not having mozzarella on my sandwich, then, and that was a definitive “no”. I do feel like if I’m leaving off an ingredient and trading it for one that is cheaper, couldn’t I just get an even trade? No, so my sandwich cost $10.
The sandwich was HUGE. I couldn’t eat all of it….probably because I was full of croissant. There was a small amount of pesto spread on the bottom piece of bread, I longed for more. A tomato topped that, followed by a heaping of smoked chicken. I broke my egg on top of the chicken and then drizzled the balsamic reduction over the top. Eating this baby was messy. The crusty bread’s middle was so soft, it made it a little difficult to hold. Don’t worry, I figured it out. I think toasting this sandwich’s bread first just a bit would make it a little easier to hold. But who complains about a messy sandwich that tastes great?
Overall, I’d like to return to this gem on a Saturday to get a chocolate croissant and call in one of the specialty loaves the Thursday before so I can try something like an Everything loaf or a Rosemary Polenta Rye. Yum!
