James Beard semifinalist bakery with sourdough, doughnuts, pies


"Regardless of how you feel about caramel in a chocolate chip cookie, Ben’s Bread’s is a stellar example. At first glance, things progress as expected—with silky Valrhona chunks, salt flakes, an earthy bump from a bit of buckwheat flour, and loads of sticky caramel that have pooled in some parts and bruleed in others. The result is a bittersweet, chewy little number that would perform beautifully as part of a Halloween treat bowl among the fun-sized Twix and Snickers." - aimee rizzo, kayla sager riley
"You may not have seen a cookie as blue as Ben’s Bread’s blue corn cookie before, and you haven’t tasted one quite like it either. The starchy corniness paired with the buttery cookie dough toes the line between sweet and savory, recalling the flavor of a chewy corner piece from a deep-dish loaf of cornbread. Trust when we say it’s delicious on its own, but it is tempting to warm it up at home, throw on a pat of butter and drizzle of honey, and eat it just like cornbread." - Kurt Suchman
"A hyped Phinney Ridge bakery with the longest lines in the city at times; co-owner Ben Campbell was a James Beard Award semifinalist in 2024, and the shop focuses on highly sought-after loaves and pastries." - Eater Staff
"The crown jewels of this Phinney Ridge bakery are the tangy sourdough english muffins, which are springy with a tender crackle, and taste even better in breakfast sandwich form. Ben's is stuffed with egg soufflé and crispy country ham (or bacon, depending on the day) that shatters into a million pork chips on each bite, and it's perfect if you're a breakfast sandwich purist but you also happen to watch a lot of The Great British Bake Off. On Saturdays only, you'll find a fancied-up version on brioche with greens and fontina, but we'd sooner brave the slightly shorter weekday line for that english muffin." - aimee rizzo, kayla sager riley
"The pastries and loaves at Ben's taste like they were engineered in a lab by deliriously hungry chemists. Their bread is crustier and fluffier than a senior poodle, and the blue corn pound cake slick with lemon glaze has a perfect crumb that would spook judges of The Great British Bake-Off. Tangy sourdough english muffins are springy with a tender crackle, and taste even better as a breakfast sandwich stuffed with egg soufflé and crispy country ham that shatters into a million pork chips on each bite. If you aren’t the kind of person who sets an alarm on the weekends for a pastry run, now you are." - aimee rizzo, kayla sager riley