Bread & Friends

A cortado served in a glass.Bread & Friends is a welcome addition to Portland’s speciality coffee scene, which opened in April this year in a lovely old brick building in the heart of downtown Portland (Maine). Although the location, on Fore Street, between Monument Square and the waterfront, is new, Bread & Friends has been around for a while, popping up at farmers’ markets around Maine, selling its artisan bread.

However, Fore Street is a whole new venture for Bread & Friends, which mills its own flour and bakes all the bread, pastries and cakes on site, selling them fresh each day from racks behind the counter. The four friends behind Bread & Friends could have stopped there, but inside they have added a coffee shop/brunch restaurant spread across two rooms which wrap around the on-site bakery. There’s also a row of tables outside on Fore Street.

This is no ordinary bakery café though. Rather than settle for the ordinary, Bread & Friends has created something amazing on Fore Street. The food is outstanding, while the coffee, from Bolt Coffee in Providence, is very bit as good, with the Seven Hills blend and decaf on espresso, joined by the Mass Appeal blend on batch-brew filter.

You can read more of my thoughts after the gallery.

  • This handsome, solitary building on Fore Street, right in the middle of Portland, is home...
  • ... to a new arrival: Bread & Friends! Here's the view from the corner with Center Street...
  • ... while here's the view from the other side of the street, complete with outside seating.
  • This runs all the way along the front on Fore Street, sheltered by a row of umbrellas.
  • Bread & Friends is on the corner with Cotton Street, going back to the door by the '2'.
  • However, this is only an exit. To get in, you need to go around to the front, where...
  • ... you'll find this solitary table for four on the corner.
  • This remaining outdoor seating is formed of pairs of two-person tables like these.
  • That one was at the far end, past the left-hand door. There are then three more pairs...
  • ... before we get to the right-hand door, which is Bread & Friends' main entrance.
  • The door here conveniently has the opening times and the menus displayed on it.
  • The door, as seen from the inside of Bread & Friends.
  • Turning around, you are faced by the counter on the left...
  • ... while on the right is a polite notice to join the line to be seated (it's table service).
  • Don't worry if you come in the other door by mistake.
  • Just turn right and head through the opening in the wall...
  • ... and you'll find yourself in the other room. There are tables here...
  • ...with four of them lining a bench along the right-hand wall. A round one is at the back...
  • ... while three of them are two-person tables like these.
  • Finally, there is a single five-person round table in the windows at the front.
  • The remaining seating is off to your left, past the counter...
  • ... where this long room runs along the front of Bread & Friends.
  • There's a pair of round tables at the far end...
  • ... and a line of three tables under the windows at the back of the room.
  • ... which offer views into the bakery at the heart of Bread & Friends.
  • Another view of the tables in the second room.
  • Before you go back to the main room, don't forget to check out the artwork on the far wall.
  • To business. Since it's table service, you only need to come to the counter to order...
  • ... coffee to go, or to buy some bread, which is displayed on the wall behind the counter.
  • There's also a handy menu. Sadly all the pastries were gone by the time we visited.
  • The La Marzocco Linea is at the front of the counter...
  • ... where you'll find the Seven Hills blend from Bolt Coffee of Providence, Rhode Island.
  • There's also decaf on the second grinder.
  • If you prefer filter, Bread & Friends has a batch brew offering, which is made...
  • ... using the Mass Appeal blend, also from Bolt Coffee.
  • If you are staying, you'll be shown to a table, given a number and a carafe of water...
  • ... along with the brunch menu.
  • This was good since Amanda & I had come for brunch. Here's our full spread.
  • We each had a demi-baguette, served with butter and strawberry fennel jam.
  • There was also a devilled egg...
  • ... fried potatoes...
  • ... and French toast, all of which were outstanding.
  • Drinks are on the other side of the brunch menu, so naturally we had coffee.
  • I had a cortado (left), while Amanda had a latte.
  • For the first time I might have regretted my choice based on cup envy.
  • Amanda's latte came in one of these awesome bespoke cups made by Campfire Pottery.
  • Neat latte art too.
  • My cortado was served in a regulation glass.
  • It also had some neat latte art...
  • ... which lasted all the way to the bottom of the glass.
  • I returned a few days later to get more bread, also stopping for a quick espresso...
  • ... which came in another glass. It tasted as good as it looked. Finally, I took home...
  • ... a bag of the Mass Appeal coffee which we enjoyed in our cafetiere each morning.
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Bread & Friends is part of a small, isolated block on the corner of Fore Street and Cotton Street, surrounded by open-air parking lots in contrast the maze of narrow streets which make up much of downtown Portland. However, don’t let that description put you off, because Bread & Friends occupies the ground floor of a glorious, old brick-built building that faces onto Fore Street, while running back up the hill along Cotton Street.

Originally two separate spaces, Bread & Friends has two front doors, although the right-hand one acts as the main entrance. A row of tables lines the front of Bread & Friends, starting with a pair of two-person tables at the left-hand end. Next comes a further three pairs of two-person tables between the two doors, with a final four-person table on the corner of Cotton Street to the right of the main door.

Inside is the first of two rooms, which together are arranged in an L-shape around the bakery. Long and thin, this one has the counter on the left, with seating on the right, a five-person round table in the windows at the front joined by four two-person tables along a padded bench against the exposed brick of the right-hand wall. At the far end, a long corridor runs back past the bakery, visible through large windows on the left, to the rest rooms and fire exit at the back.

To your left is the front of the counter, where you’ll find the La Marzocco Linea espresso machine. Beyond this, an opening in the wall leads to the second of the two rooms, which stretches along the front of the bakery, visible though large windows on the right. A long, padded bench with three two-person tables runs under the windows, continuing along the far wall and returning a short distance along the front wall, stopping at the second door. This forms a neat, U-shaped alcove with a pair of round two/three-person tables.

Although you’re welcome to buy bread or coffee to go at the counter, Bread & Friends has full table service, so if you’re staying, you’ll be greeted by a member of staff and shown to a table where you’ll be given the menus and a carafe of water. Amanda and I had gone for Sunday brunch, but any chance I had of sneaking in unrecognised was undone by the head of coffee, Madelyn, who had previously served me at Gracenote in Boston, and who recognised me as soon as I started talking…

Between us, Amanda and I had a devilled egg, fried potatoes, French toast and two demi-baguettes (one each), all of which were outstanding. While the devilled egg was a touch spicy for me, the potatoes were as good as the best diner potatoes I’ve had anywhere in America. The French toast, meanwhile, was made with the lightest, fluffiest bread, reminiscence of the bread I’ve enjoyed on many occasions at Bread, Espresso & in Tokyo. Finally, the demi-baguettes were perfect, crunchy on the outside and soft inside, as good as any I’ve had in France. Even the strawberry fennel jam was amazing.

With food that good, you don’t want the coffee to let you down and fortunately it didn’t. I had a cortado, served in a glass, while Amanda had a latte in a ten-sided earthenware cup, in both cases, the rich, chocolate notes of the coffee coming well through the milk. I also popped back a few days later to pick up some more bread (baguettes, seeded sourdough and focaccia), enjoying a quick espresso at the same time, the Seven Hills blend really shining, rich and well-balanced. Finally, we bought a bag of the Mass Appeal, which we enjoyed in our cafetiere each morning that week.


While I was wandering around, taking photos, Amanda had a behind-the-scenes tour of the bakery (you can see her through the windows in one of the photos). As a talented home baker, she found this fascinating, learning all about the bespoke ovens that came from Spain and the various production areas of the bakery. Just as exciting was the grain mill which Bread & Friends uses to mill its own flour for some of the baking, although there are plans to expand this to mill the majority of the flour.

505 FORE STREET • PORTLAND • ME 04101 • USA
https://breadandfriendsmaine.com +1 207 536 4399
Monday 08:00 – 13:00 Roaster Bolt Coffee (espresso + batch brew)
Tuesday CLOSED Seating Tables, Tables (outside)
Wednesday CLOSED Food Brunch, Cakes, Bread
Thursday 08:00 – 13:00 Service Table
Friday 08:00 – 13:00 Payment Cards + Cash
Saturday 08:00 – 13:00 Wifi No
Sunday 08:00 – 13:00 Power No
Chain No Visits 16th, 21st July 2023

If you liked this Coffee Spot, then check out the rest of Portland’s speciality coffee scene with the Coffee Spot Guide to Portland.


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