At long last, Pensacola’s first Great Harvest Bread Co. is opening its doors to the public at 7 a.m. today at 321 N. DeVilliers St. in DeVilliers Square.
It will pay to get there early as the highly anticipated bakery and cafe will be handing out loaves of their famed homemade Honey Whole Wheat bread to the first 50 customers who place orders at the shop.
Great Harvest is known for offering a variety of freshly baked breads, along with breakfast and lunch options, including hot and cold sandwiches and salads. Their cases will also be stocked with wholesome, sweet treats such as cookies, scones and flavored bars.
They take their grains seriously at Great Harvest, milling the wheat for their bread in-house daily to create items such as the bread for their BLTs, the whole grain slipped into their cinnamon rolls, their savory biscuits and sweet berry cream cheese scones.
Customers feel like they’re in on the process, as the open-concept kitchen allows them to see the dough being rolled at the communal table and smell the sweet goodies as the tray is pulled out of the oven.
They also have a full coffee menu.
Some of the bread flavors will be daily staples such as their Rustic Sourdough, Farmhouse White, Honey Whole Wheat and seed-dense Dakota. These can then be used for the base of their signature sandwiches, such as the following:
Some lucky customers scored a sneak peek on Thursday ahead of their grand opening, devouring all-day breakfast sandwiches and loaves of moist pumpkin chocolate chip teacake. The universal reaction was shock that the more nutritional recipes could taste so divine.
The Dillon Cookie, for instance, is made with whole wheat, oatmeal, walnuts and chocolate chips. Similarly, the brownies are 100% whole wheat, while the cinnamon rolls are a blend of white and wheat flower.
After their successful trial run, owner Rishy Studer is ready for the community to see all they’ve been working on.
“They’re the nicest people,” Studer said of her employees, who are quick to greet customers and walk them through placing orders. “They’re all hard workers.”
Once Great Harvest opens at 7 a.m. on Friday, and will be open regularly from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday for dine-in and carry-out.
The official ribbon cutting will take place when its neighboring business, Savoy Marketplace, which is filled with restaurants, local vendors and a yoga studio, opens this summer.
Studer has been at the heart of both projects, contributing to the historic Belmont-DeVilliers neighborhood.
By creating a walkable destination for the Belmont-DeVilliers community where neighbors can shop for fresh produce, gather for lunch, or even sign up for an exercise class, it is strengthening the community’s overall fabric.
“I would love to see this become a popular area for this section of town,” Studer told the News Journal in a previous interview.
For real-time updates and information, follow Great Harvest Pensacola on social media.
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This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Great Harvest Bread Co. bakery and cafe opens Friday – finally!
Reporting by Brittany Misencik, Pensacola News Journal / Pensacola News Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
