Steff D.
Yelp
Scratch has changed *a lot* over the years, but one thing remains the same: their absolutely exceptional baked goods, pastries, breads, and bagels!
Scratch is extremely popular and it's almost always busy. Like line-out-the-door-and-down-the-block busy. And they frequently run out of bagels (the goodie they're probably known the best for) because they really are *that* good (I will forever be smitten with their dense, chewy, abundantly flavorful Everything - formally known as Seed - bagels) and *that* popular. So if you're looking for bagels at 9am on a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday morning and it's nice out (read: not downpouring or a blizzard)... there's a good chance you just won't get any. Before the pandemic this issue was alleviated with their Toast Bar. During the pandemic this issue was alleviated with their online ordering system (which many locals are frustrated they discontinued the use of, but we understand the importance they feel of being a community gathering space). Now? Even though the interior is brand new, we're back to the way things used to be circa 2018 (eg "out of stock"). If I want bagels, I try to get there at opening on a Wednesday or a Thursday, and I buy as many as they'll let me (there's a limit, and that limit changes depending what day or time of year it is). They hold up REALLY well in the freezer though, so yay!
Two final notes:
1) For locals who haven't been inside in a while: the new interior is *very* different. It's set up in a big circle, so when you enter, you give your name and order to various people along the way (there's one employee to hand you your bread, one to hand you your bagels, one to hand you your baked goods, one to hand you your pastry, etc. - the days of help-yourself are long gone) and at the end of the loop you pay for everything. I think people (and I've noticed employees too) are still figuring out how this works, because I watch people dip in and out of the line however they want.
2) For non locals: YOU CANNOT GET A TOASTED BAGEL WITH CREAM CHEESE HERE. You can get bagels. You can get house made cream cheese (the herb cc and the pimento cc are especially delicious). And you can take them back to wherever you're staying and slice, toast, and spread yourself (some folks even bring their bagels down to the beach, rip off pieces, and dunk it in their cc containers). But it's important to note: Scratch is a bakery, not a cafe.
Okay, okay two more final notes that only matter at holidays:
a) If you like pecan pie, their maple bourbon version is probably the best you'll ever have.
b) One of the *all time greatest* baked goods in the state of Maine is Scratch's CHOCOLATE cinnamon rolls. Their regular cinnamon rolls? Not for me. But the chocolate ones? There's nothing else like them (melt-in-your-mouth, chocolatey but not overly sweet, hints of spice, all the love). Unfortunately, they are offered about as often as blue moons occur, so if you happen to ever see one: GET THEM. And get me a couple as well, please!