The sense of smell, more than any of our other senses, influences our ability to recall past events and experience. Fragrance is considered one of the most potent mediums for conjuring up a memory. True enough, one of the most enduring sensory memories of my youth is associated with the amazing aromas that greeted me each time my mom baked bread in her oven. How I wish I could relive those experiences now. Stupid kids that we were, my siblings and I preferred our sandwiches made on Rainbo or Wonder Bread (available for the staggering price of 25-cents per loaf back then). We thought only the “poor kids” packed school lunch sandwiches (in the days before free school lunches were the norm) made on homemade bread…worse yet, sandwiches made on tortillas. My how times have changed.
Sadly, today the singular joy of incredible yeasty bouquets wafting through the air is one younger generations may never experience. Though bread baking experienced a resurgence during the dark days of the Cabrona Virus, much of it was done on bread makers. From the standpoint of aroma, it just isn’t the same as loaves of bread being made on an old-fashioned oven. If my 95-year-old mom were to drink from the fountain of youth, I’d ask her to bake a few loaves for me. There’s just nothing better than the aroma of bread baking…or tortillas on the comal.
When the Air Force graciously assigned us to RAF Fairford in the Cotswolds, England’s most picturesque region, we were minutes away from some of the very best bakeries in the country. Talk about old-fashioned, fresh baked deliciousness. One Yelp review’s apt description described the offerings at one of our favorites: “None of the supermarket rubbish which is great for fishing but not for humans.” Our favorite bakery in Lechlade on the Thames introduced us to yeasty floury baps stuffed with local Cheddar cheese and Branston Pickle, widely considered “the best British condiment.” We loved large, sticky lardycakes so much that we named our beautiful Yorkie Lardycake (it’s a good thing limburger didn’t have the same effect on us).
In England, some restaurants and pubs either baked their own breads or sourced them locally. Among our favorites was The Mermaid (since renamed The Cotswold Arms) in the spectacular village of Burford, often referred to as “the gateway to the Cotswolds.” The Mermaid served granary bread (classic English brown bread made with a mixture of whole wheat and white flours, with cracked grains of malted barley and wheat) with meals. We’ve never found bread comparable to it on this side of the pond.
In the United States, mom-and-pop bakeries have been making a comeback after decades of domination by corporate behemoths seemingly interested more in mass production and profit than in quality. In the past three years (2023 – 2025) three of the Duke City’s independently owned bakeries–Coda Bakery in 2025, Burque Bakehouse in 2024 and Ihatove Bread & Coffee in 2023–were semifinalists in the James Beard Foundation’s “Outstanding Bakery” category. Great Harvest Bread Co. may be a corporate entity, but its roots are local. Founded in 1978, Great Harvest considers itself “the nation’s first family of independently-owned and operated whole grain bread bakeries and cafes.
Today there are more than 200 Great Harvest bakery and cafe franchises located across the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii. All franchises adhere to the Great Harvest philosophy:
Be Loose and Have Fun.
Bake Phenomenal Bread.
Run Fast to Help Customers.
Create Strong & Exciting Bakeries.
And Give Generously to Others.
Great Harvest Bakery’s second Albuquerque location launched in 2004 in the Montano Plaza (Coors and Montano). While that location is no longer open, you can still visit the city’s first location (circa 1989) on the southeast intersection of Montgomery and Juan Tabo. At its heart and in the way it operates, Great Harvest is a true old-fashioned bakery that honors bread-baking traditions. Bakers are lovingly preparing the day’s baked goods–kneading breads by hand–starting at about three in the morning. Using premium wheat berries from America’s “golden triangle” where North Dakota, Montana and Canada meet, that bread has homemade qualities. It’s all made-from-scratch daily.
Walking the aisles at Great Harvest is a real treat. As you peruse the aisles, you’ll encounter 50-gallon steel drums seemingly used as platforms for displaying pastries or sundry comestibles. Study those drums more closely and you’ll see them labeled “Sioux Bee Honey” followed by a date (01-13-2025, for example). Those barrels actually contain or once held 50-gallons of honey used in the production of the bakery’s honey whole bread (the store’s most popular bread) and honey whole wheat bread. That honey is also used as a natural sweetener for pastries and desserts.
In Mathew 4:4, Jesus explained that “man cannot live on bread alone,” but you might be tempted to do so after sampling Great Harvest’s “staff of life.” Sampling is one of the great treats of which you’re able to partake at Great Harvest. At one of the bakery’s stations, you’re actually given a slice of the bread of your choice. Ask that it be slathered with butter and the accommodating staff member will do so. Bread is just one of the many wonderful options available at Great Harvest. In addition to delicious, homemade whole grain breads, Great Harvest’s bakery offers gourmet sandwiches (including vegetarian options), artisan hard-crusted breads, muffins, scones, cookies, bars, cinnamon rolls and other specialties.
29 March 2025: If you’re jonesing for a very good sandwich, let your wandering take you to the station in which gourmet sandwiches are created for you. An overhead menu lists available sandwiches, including a sandwich of the month. For March, 2025, that sandwich was a corned beef on rye (Swiss cheese, coleslaw and whipped horseradish) in honor of St. Patrick’s Day. Though my preference would have been a traditional Reuben sandwich, the corned beef on rye was no slouch. Coleslaw is a sweet alternative to sauerkraut, but the whipped horseradish provided just enough of a kick for me not to miss the sauerkraut too much. This sandwich is ongeshtupped (Yiddish for overstuffed) and messy. The lightly grilled rye is a superstar, the perfect canvas for a truly great sandwich. The corned beef is thinly sliced and there’s a lot of it.
29 March 2025: Since enjoying the phenomenal El Cubano at Sammy’s Cafe & Deli, my Kim didn’t think she’d ever find a Cuban sandwich nearly as good. After a couple of bites, she proclaimed Great Harvest’s The Cubano (turkey, ham, Swiss cheese, stacked dill pickles, housemade pickled red onions, Dijon mustard spread) nearly as good. It’s available on Great Harvest’s focaccia, farmhouse white, honey whole wheat or any other bread of your choice. This is not a conventional Cuban sandwich, but you can’t quibble about authenticity when enjoying a sandwich so much. It’s easy to pick out stand-out ingredients on any sandwich, but it’s not usually pickles that get noticed. These housemade pickles are fabulous–not tart like dill and not overly sweet like bread and butter pickles.
Among the first and best breads we discovered when Great Harvest launched its Albuquerque bakery in 2004, is the nine grain bread which is reminiscent of the granary bread we fell in love with in England. The Nine Grain bread may find its genesis in healthy fiber, but it’s incredibly delicious and the closest we’ve found to the granary bread served in the Mermaid restaurant in Burford . For a great sandwich creation or breakfast toast, a wonderful alternative to traditional white bread is the cheddar cheese bread with a sharp cheese and buttery taste.
29 March 2025: When morning cravings for toast seem overwhelming, quell those cravings with Great Harvest’s sourdough bread. The great staff will even slice it for you. This sourdough has the characteristic deeply tangy and sour flavor of all great sourdough bread. Sliced thinly, it crisps up a bit on the edges but the insides are pillowy soft receptables for butter or cream cheese. The best thing about getting up is a slice or four of toasted sourdough bread and a steaming mug or three of coffee.
29 March 2025: Dessert options include chocolate chip cookies, each individually wrapped and packaged in quantities of six. As you might expect from such a high-quality bakery, the cookies are fabulous. Also quite good are apple cinnamon pastries replete with apple bits, frosting and cinnamon. Not surpisingly, the bready portion of these pastries is outstanding Cinnamon rolls are monstrous in size. Cookies, scones, bars and brownies are tempting.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention how well the staff lives up to one of the bakery’s tenets “Run Fast to Help Customers.” At every stage of our visit, we were very well taken care of by polite and friendly staff members.
Great Harvest Bread Co
11200 Montgomery Blvd NE # 4
Albuquerque, New Mexico
(505) 293-8277
Website | Facebook Page
LATEST VISIT: 29 March 2025
1st VISIT: 4 December 2004
# OF VISITS: 4
RATING: 22
COST: $$
BEST BET: Nine Grain Bread, Cheddar Cheese Bread, Snickerdoodle Cookies, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Corned Beef & Coleslaw Sandwich, The Cubano
Great post! One correction – The Juan Tabo/Montgomery location is the original location, which opened in 1989. The Coors/Montano was a secondary location (prior to that, they also had a “satellite location” in Taylor Ranch).
Thank you, Rachael. I stand corrected.