Carmel Bakery and Coffee Co.

Yelp!

Since 1906 or 1911, this bakery has been shelling out cannolis, biscottis, and pretzels galore. As we walked back up to our car from the Cottage of Sweets, we passed by this cute little bakery and decided it was high time for coffee. Sarah mentioned that when visiting her grandma back in the day, she'd duck in to this bakery and gobble up one of their -at least I think- iconic pastry pretzels. The website for Carmel Bakery and Coffee Co. (Ocean Ave & Lincoln, Carmel) is currently under construction, but it did offer the following info:

Since 1911, Carmel Bakery has been a Carmel tradition... equal parts bakery, deli, Starbucks coffee bar, and neighborhood hangout, Carmel Bakery specializes in Scottish shortbread, English scones, Italian biscotti, and giant soft Bavarian pretzels.

WOW. Got the whole Europe thing covered now, don't ya?

As you walk by, there is a wide window that just cannot be avoided. The caramel apples strike first, followed by the gingerbread men whisper hello, and then you see them - a mountainous stack of glazed, salted, crispy, crumbly pretzel pastries. Oh heaven. Yes, I would like to go inside...

Sarah ordered one of those scrumptious, knotted, sweet baked dough beings and thankfully let us all try. It provoked a conversation about the nature of pretzels. This was a sweet pretzel, but most people think only in terms of savory (salty) pretzels. Wikipedia helps clarify (as always) "The pretzel shape is used for a variety of sweet pastries made of different kinds of dough (flaky, brittle, soft, crispy) with a variety of toppings (icing, nuts, seeds, cinnamon)." I also learned that the phrase "tying the knot" originated when a pretzel was used to tie the knot between two prominent families. The loops were symbolic of everlasting love. How funny! The article is actually extremely interesting believe it or not. Read more here (at least open it in a new tab - you might want to read it sometime).

They offer sandwiches for ($6.95) including Turkey & Swiss, Baked Ham & Swiss, Roast Beef & jack, Chicken Salad & Jack, Tuna Salad & Jack, HOT French Dip Tri Tip with Jack Cheese, and a HOT Meatball sub. Other lunch items include, homemade soups, salads (mixed greens, tuna salad, chicken salad, Caesar), and garden wraps (steak Caesar, chicken Caesar, turkey & jack).

Tyler was pleased to see that they offer a Bakery Breakfast Burrito for $5.50 (two other types Arturo's for $0.50 more and Grande for $1.50 more). If you'd like to read about his breakfast burrito experience at Carmel Bakery, click here (when he posts I'll link to it). Last weekend I was able to join him on his trek to Baldemiros to try their breakfast burrito. I'll let you know my thoughts in an upcoming post.

As for drinks, this place has DUN DUN DUN Starbucks! Everyone on Yelp was freaking out about that. OH Heavens! Starbucks is in one of OURRR Carmel shops?? ... But we reject big businesses for the mom & pop variety. Oh wait! The businesses lining Ocean Avenue still manage to sell everything ridiculously over priced so why does it matter?? Sheesh. I like Starbucks.

Anyways. Drinks include all the iced drinks you can think of. Prices are steep with a 16 oz. frappe at $4.65, an iced vanilla latte at $3.95, a grande americano at $2.50 and a grande cappuccino at $3.50. Their coffe of the day will run you $1.60 - $2.10. They offer teas, chai, cider, hot chocolate (MMM sounds good right now, I'm cold in my house). They also have the cutest doggie cookies!

Here's an idea, grab a yummy treat for yourself and trot down to the beach (photo from Yelp):

We just sat around and talked for a few hours, it wasn't that busy on a Wednesday night. Eventually they dimmed the lights and we knew that we had to leave. They were polite though and didn't yell at us about closing hours.