Ethan B.
Yelp
This is some of the best coffee I've had in 6 months or more. Bear in mind, I'm from Portland, Oregon -- one of the coffee capitals of the world. We're quite proud of our coffee scene, and Butter Bakery could beat out most of the options in Portland.
I had an oat milk latte and an americano, plus a few food items. Let's start with the americano.
Now, I'll admit, I'm not the most skilled barista. I have some sense of how to pull a shot of espresso, but I'm not brilliant at it. With that as context: I do not exaggerate when I say there was more of that delicious creamy head on the americano than I've managed on some straight shots I've pulled. The espresso roast was subtle and sweet -- I waited too long to write this review, so I couldn't cite precise notes, but this is definitely a roast I could enjoy sipping on and slowly analyzing, while still being very approachable. The americano was perhaps a tiny hair more diluted than I would have liked, but it didn't quite reach "watery" either. I choose to see this as a deliberate choice to further open up the profile of the espresso.
The oat latte was expertly foamed, with the right amount of oat milk so as not to overwhelm the espresso. It was on the dry side, almost a cappuccino, which is exactly what I prefer in a latte (if I wanted a cortado, I'd ask for a cortado). I don't know which oat milk they use, but it was sweet and creamy and simple and complemented the espresso beautifully.
There's also a food menu that, while not hugely extensive, is packed full of gems. I very much enjoyed the pesto mozzarella tomato panini with extremely its fresh ingredients. It's about the size you'd expect for a cafe panini, and thus a bit more expensive than I'm comfortable with, but I'll chalk that up to the location -- compared with other local options, Butter Bakery Bar and Cafe is absolutely a contender for a budget lunch.
Lastly, I'll just mention: I did not try the Mediterranean mains options, so I can't speak to their quality, but seeing things like mezze on a cafe menu is a nice change of pace.