OWL Bakery

Owl Bakery - Old-World Leavened Breads and Pastries
Local Expert's Rating:
4.5 / 5
The Bottom Line:

Owl Bakery is a bakery like you’d find in the Old World. The master bakers here specialize in European-style leavened breads and pastries, which are served alongside coffees, teas and wines. Everything is made using organic and local ingredients whenever possible, and the quality of these baked goods is some of the best you’ll find anywhere.

- The SmokyMountains.com Local Expert Team

Owl Bakery has a fine selections of beverages, but it’s the breads and pastries here that have won awards. The bakery has brought breads and pastries like you’d find in the Old World to the Smoky Mountains.

The highlights at Owl Bakery are, by far, the naturally leavened breads and European-style pastries. You won’t find overly frosted cookies or donuts bloated with a corn syrup filling. Instead, the displays are full of old-fashioned baked goods like those that have delighted bread lovers for centuries. Many of the selections show a French influence, with croissants and financiers highlighting the lists, but there also are plenty of other selections that rotate daily.

For something more substantial, a limited selection of heartier breakfast dishes and light lunch fare is available. Sample selections include a variation of avocado toast, small salads and lox.

The beverage menu consists of coffees, teas and wines, and each option is a good selection. The coffee and many of the teas come from Carolina-based businesses, but the wines are imported from elsewhere so that quality isn’t sacrificed.

In everything they do, the staff at Owl Bakery is firmly committed to using the best available ingredients. This means incorporating organic ingredients into almost all of their dishes, and sourcing from local suppliers whenever possible. Prices reflect the premium ingredients, with most pastries ranging from $2.95 to $4.65, but the little extra cost is well worth paying.

A few of our menu favorites at Owl Bakery include:

Loaf of Bread
The bread selection changes daily, but every loaf is baked to perfection. Slice and eat — you don’t even need butter.

Traditional Croissant
Don’t know what to get when you’re at a French-inspired Old World bakery? You won’t go wrong with a Traditional Croissant. Fluffy, chewy and full of butter, this pastry reaches another level when it’s made by a master baker.

Filled Croissant
Do you love croissants but don’t want a traditional, plain one? There are plenty of filled options that include both sweet and savory choices. Choose from Heritage Ham & Gruyere, 68% Nicaraguan Chocolate and others.

Cake
When celebrating an occasion, go all-out and get a house-baked Cake. They’re just as good as the other pastries, and each one simply looks amazing.

Latte
The perfect complement to a baked good, the Latte is a wonderful combination of silky-smooth steamed milk and bold espresso.

Insider Tips:
– Before visiting Owl Cafe, check the bread baking schedule. Bread is baked seven days a week and comes out after the pastries. See what day has the type of bread you’d most prefer, and show up just as its coming out of the oven to get the freshest loaf possible.
– While the lunches look and taste wonderful, they are smaller than many places serve. Get a lunch if you want something light, but head elsewhere if you need something really filling.