which is up north in Escondido...
Of course, I did a little research to make our trip worthwhile. Our original intention was to view an exhibit on comic art, but we didn't want to go to Escondido just for that so...
it helped that I had this coupon...
which cemented my decision to go here for a late breakfast. It's in a small strip mall, Mohnacky Plaza and is next to another bakery (a vegan place, ugh).
If you've ever been to the San Diego Farmer's Market in Barrio Logan, Belen Artisan Bakery usually has a booth there. This is their brick and mortar shop. It is owned by a husband/wife couple. Very nice folks.
Pastries were at the front counter...
Different types of loaves were along the wall on your left. One man came in looking for their sunflower flaxseed loaf and was disappointed that there was only one left. He wanted four and they wouldn't be making more until the next day. He bought the remaining loaf and placed an order for that next day. He must really really like that bread.
By the way, the sign says, "If you touch it, you buy it"!
They also offered breakfast items...
along with sandwiches and salads.
There was plenty of seating. They also had these cool retro booths.
We liked the "Build your own" sandwich option.
Bert got some coffee (which wasn't that great) to go with our sandwich...
The sandwich that Bert and I shared was on a ciabatta loaf. He chose roast beef, cucumbers, tomatoes, avocado, garlic aoili and provolone cheese.
TC chose a crepe - her fillings included bacon, cheddar cheese, and what she thought were black olives (which was listed on their menu board). Instead, her crepe had an "overabundance" of kalamata olives which she hates.
Her crepe had a lot of bacon which she liked, but it got to be too salty. All that bacon, was.
We had a few of the olives, but it really was just too much!
We really liked the bread for our sandwich.
Nicely toasted and airy inside. I liked the parts where the sauce was soaked into the bread.
What we did NOT like was the beef. There were only two slices and even then, the meat had a wierd look to it and a strange texture. It seemed too rubbery and thick to me.
Although we admired the variety of their loaves, we didn't leave with any purchases other than having eaten our breakfast here.
The folks running Belen are religious, as you can see by the quote on their van. There were also a few more biblical quotes painted on the walls in the bakery.
Other than that roast beef not really meeting my expectations, we still enjoyed our sandwich. It was hearty and having one half of it was really enough for our breakfast.
Update - Heh heh. Looks like great minds think alike. Cathy from Mmm-Yoso also posted on Belen! Hot off the press. Here's the link to her post which is more detailed (photos of interior plus more into on their breads).
Belen Artisan Bakers
2250 S. Escondido Blvd. Suite 112
Escondido, CA 92025
(760) 740-5963
The website listed on yelp is NOT this location. It is another Belen Bakers but in Minnesota!
This was a good start to our day. While on our way to our intended destination, another place I flagged on the Garmin popped up. Bert was kind enough to oblige my request to "stop by and take a look"....
2 comments:
Two ciabatta bread rolls were our first purchase here (burgers you know), cc. Sorry the roast beef wasn't good; so far we've had the turkey and it was warmed in the pan and really nice. I've always liked the Belen bread and now am happy we found the Brick and Mortar on one of our Wednesday Escondido shopping trips.
hi cathy - so funny. i put up my post, then saw kirbie's side blog and saw your post, so i went back to add your link.
we liked the ciabatta bread very much.
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