Beyond Bread Artisan Bakery

This place literally has the best croissant I have ever had. As if I’m teleported right to France.
Their cappuccinos and bread are also outstanding. I am enthralled by this place and almost had a croissant everyday for the last month because it’s just so good.
Cozy Small owner biz feeling. Sad they got rid of their couches that made it more comfortable to sit and chat, but otherwise pretty amazing.

Beyond Bread is a cute little space in front of the bus stop on west fourth and alma. The bakery/​café meets any café-goer’s basic needs (sandwiches, coffee, baked goods). I ordered the pumpkin and dark chocolate muffin for $ 3. It was moist, but there wasn’t enough dark chocolate and the size always makes my heart ache, if they are anything smaller than Whole Food’s giant muffins (or am I setting the bar too high? Whole Foods’ muffins are MASSIVE and FILLING!)
The space is pretty small. The décor is quite nice and comforting, kind of a rustic quality to it. Beyond Bread does not have the variety of Terra Breads, or the sophisticated air of Parallel and 49^th, but if you don’t feel like going to a commercial coffee shop (pssst, Blenz just around the corner!) then try it out. And tell me how those sandwiches are, because I’m not sure if $ 9 is a decent price…

The soup of the day sucked today. I ordered the split pea and carrot ($ 6+). I got super thin pea water and two pieces of carrot, with one piece of carrot peel. How lovely.

I accidentally discovered the lemon croissants here… and I mean lemon infused as opposed to piped in lemon cream/​curd. When you bite/​cut into the croissant, you can definitely smell the lemon essence although it did not taste as «lemony» as I had hoped. Nonetheless it was delicious — light and flaky with a hint of lemon. I would come back for it again.

I always stop By when I’m in the hood. Lots of great selection but the amaretto colours are to die for!

The café with the Best bread in the city also makes the best sandwiches, try the Porchetta, Turkey or Potato grilled cheese. They are sure to delight! The staff goes way above and beyond to accommodate their patrons no only in taste; When things aren’t quite right (they rarely aren’t) their friendly staff will go out of their way to make it so. No questions asked. But it’s not just the sandwiches that keeps me coming back here, the almond croissant ad macaroons are moist and flavourful. And of course, no café would be complete without awesome espresso, which of course they nailed! There are two couches and a couple of tables for you to enjoy your afternoon at. If you are anywhere west of Burrard, this is a stop not to be missed!

We were looking for a bus stop in the neighbourhood, since all other stops on the street were closed due to some road work, and we stopped here for some water and coffee.
We did not buy any bread (it was too hot and we weren’t that hungry), but we did try some croissants (lemon and almond ones — almond were better in my opinion, and I was sorry that I actually bought a lemon one instead of more almond croissants) and they were nicely crunchy and some of them still a bit warm.
The coffee was good as well. No wait time at all, despite the place being quite crowded (it is small but very nicely furnished). I loved the outside seating. There are only two tables, but it was enough for me.

Love this place. It’s my go-​to place for artisan bread. I love that it’s different varieties everyday so I get to mix it up. The potato loaf is probably my favorite of the ones I’ve tried. Even though I live in Burnaby I go out of my way to get bread from this place. The croissants and kouign amanns are better than most places too. Best of all, the homey feel and friendly staff.

Excellent bread with original combinations, but at $ 7 – 8 for a loaf… I don’t think it’s worth it. After all, it’s bread prices like that that started the French Revolution.
We also seemed to be disturbing the person behind the counter who served us.

A hidden gem in kits, hand made breads and small batch roasted coffee… current owner improved and expanded the seating area. A refreshing experience, a different kind of bakery where you don’t really feel you’re in Vancouver. I’ll definitely be back again.

Came off west 4^th on a walking tour and found this little gem. Its good reasonable and the food selection decent. Sandwiches and salad were very tasty especially the panini turkey. HMM!

This place deserves three and a half stars from our visit. Four stars for the yummy croissant, really flaky, crisp on the outside and moist on the inside, and of course it was buttery. Three stars for the coffee. Got to love that our first cup of coffee that was acceptable on our trip wad here. Still had an over roasted flavor, but it was at least acceptable. Its funny, my husband and I thought the coffee experiences in Vancouver would be similar to our coffee experiences in Seattle. Nope. Seattle is much, much better.

I live nearby this bakery and it’s definitely my first choice for a coffee and morning snack if need be. There are also a great selection of of hot and cold sandwiches made on the bakery’s bread. These look fantastic.

I was pretty excited to come out here after having their bread at Farmer’s Apprentice. Finally made it out there after a morning of venturing out in UBC/​Jericho beach land, and found that the folks behind the counter aren’t as friendly as I’d expect. That’s cool though — I didn’t come for chit chat. Just give me my country loaf and I’m off.
Got a smaller Country Loaf and an amaretti cookie. The amaretti wasn’t my favorite, but the country loaf was pretty solid. Mine was still slightly warm when I got it too! If you’re out in Point Grey area, it’s a great option for bread for dinner that night!

On Fridays they make pizza! Oh so yummy! Check out their facebook page (Beyond Bread) as they told me they post their pizza menu there. I gather they have different ones each week. We ordered a sausage & basil one and one with speck & arugula last night — both were delish! We will make this a regular Friday night treat!

Really very nice place with helpful staff clean and bread is tasty with a nice finish. They make a very good vegan muffin, The bread prices are very steep but quality is good. Sandwichs are good but I had better in other places. Not really a place I make a speical trip for but if your in the area its worth a stop.

This bakery serves as the supplier for La Ghianda and their rustic sandwiches, which I have found are excellent both on the day of and also as leftovers for the next day. The bread is moist, flavorful but durable enough to weather a day or two more in the fridge even when sliced.
Loaves here aren’t cheap (they start at $ 6) but they have a good assortment of hearty country loaves as well as some beautiful looking desserts. I had an amoretti, which was crunchy on the outside and fluffy inside, with a beautiful almond liqueur flavor.
There are also sandwiches which I look forward to trying, as well as soups.

I first discovered this place a year and a half ago — and it’s even better now. Their freshly-​baked breads are truly to-​die-​for, and if you have time to eat-​in, you must try a bowl of their scrumptious soup (with a slice of the fabulous bread on the side, of course). The comfy seating area is perfect for a short and yummy break, and their coffee & tea beverages are excellent as well.

I was told by my doctor that this place had buckwheat bread. I recently found out that I’m allergic to gluten so I had to find a replacement bread. I went into the store and asked the owner if he had any. Dear god. That man is the most arrogant prick I’ve ever come across. And I’m from Europe. So I’m pretty used to arrogant behaviour. All he had to say was that he didn’t have any and that would’ve been it.
But he went on a tirade about how he only makes real bread and he doesn’t follow what’s trendy. I told him I was allergic to gluten and he said «maybe I shouldn’t be eating bread then».
I can’t comment on the actual bread in the store but to me rude behaviour is not necessary. I was very polite to him.
I went to a few different stores looking for buckwheat bread and everyone else was polite when they told me they didn’t have any.

* New location with expanded offerings *
The Transylvania Bread place from Broadway closed down and relocated to this new location with a different name and a wider range of products. They still have their signature hearty Eastern European style bread, but now also offer meals and coffee and desserts.
I had the Transylvania Peasant Soup. This was a rich thick hearty vegetable soup filled with carrots, cabbage, beets, celery, potatoes, and celery. It was very well balanced. 4 stars. Photo:
It came with a side of their classic bread which still has that same good crust and chewy dense crumb. 4 stars:
The sandwich had goat cheese brie, basil, pesto, and roasted red peppers on a housemade Eastern European style baguette. They grilled this after ordering. The bread had a good crust, but the chew was not as good as their traditional bread. It was perhaps just a bit underbaked. The fillings for the sandwich were reasonably good, but nothing that really popped flavour wise. It also was a fairly small sandwich for the price, so it didn’t present great value overall. 2 stars. Photo:
The sandwich came with a side of olives and sundried tomatoes. These were fine, but the combined saltiness of the side with the saltiness of the brie was a bit too much salt overall. Photo:
So while their basic peasant bread and peasant soup were a strong 4 stars, I’d shy away from their baguettes. Perhaps I just have peasant roots!