The Bakery Society Pittsburgh

Today is the 2nd and perhaps final day of the "soft opening" of TBSP. The first bakery incubator in the region I got the opportunity to meet and tour with Phil E. the bakery manager.Phil explained to me that unlike Smallman Galley these bakers are be trained and build their reputation in order that at the end of their 18 month run here, they can start their own bakery. I had the opportunity to meet and greet three of the resident bakers-Christina, Jewel, and Sam. Chris, the bread maker was due in later but I did manage to purchase one of his day old French breads to take home.Phil showed my husband and I around the unfinished premises and some of the ideas he's planning. There will be a classroom for promising bakers. Other bakers can come in periodically and sell their goods. He took us into his office where he showed us mannequins acquired from the old Kaufmann's dept store windows which he hopes to showcase at a later date. He also has several dated but still working appliances such as an old time wheat grinder that empties out on the third floor. Much of the 2nd floor is under construction but the 3rd floor houses the main kitchen itself with many of their items donated by local businesses. The kitchen can be rented out for community bakers. They also plan to hold events here with other businesses.I was blown away to see an actual Middleleby-Marshall oven company oven. He showed us how is rotates and is still operable. He was gracious to answer my questions regarding gluten free, vegan, and of course holidays.For gluten free they have a very small selection but they hope to get in Patrick from Paddywagon in Dormont next week to make gluten free and vegan baked goods. Special orders can be taken including wedding cakes, challahs, or anything else large scale to meet your needs.Everything here is local and farm sourced and all the ingredients are fresh. Back to the first floor where the bakers were just starting to put out all those delicious goodies. The choices will blow you away-quiches, biscuits, croissants, muffins, cookies, etc. Didn't see a cake but I'm sure those will pop up later in the day. Their coffee comes from Prestogeorge in the Strip district.Now this is how it works. Hanging on the wall is a picture of each baker and a vertical color stripe by their names and bios. Each of the cases will have the corresponding color noted on the item so you can tell which baker made it. Believe me, it is so easy to just look at all the goodies and forget who made what. In addition they were giving out some free samples of yesterday's baked goods. I got to sample a peanut butter brownie, a raspberry croissant and a carrot muffin. My husband sampled the same brownie. These were all melt in your mouth good! Phil explained to us that anything that doesn't sell is donated to the baker's charity of choice.Since we wanted to take home a taste of everything I ended up buying a mini quiche, a huge apple crumb cake, and chocolate chip cookies from Christina, the chocolate brownies from Jewel, and a loaf of French bread from Chris. We got to see the dough Chris plans to use today to make a walnut bread along with his specialty sourdough bread and more. They do not have a bread cutter yet but they hope to get one soon. Believe me Sam's glazed donuts looked outstanding but we decided next visit. Another interesting thing they have is this wooden coin with their symbol on it. They have cute sayings on the side which you can vote for. The most votes will determine the next T-shirt they use.The concept doesn't stop here. We got to meet and chat with the curator Maria who has bakery related art on display throughout the store. She plans to rotate aspiring and talented artists to display and sell their work here. She had also mentioned the possibly of teaching classes here. Throughout the store you can see old knickknacks and items of yesterday including the old streetcar that used to run on Brownsville Rd.Finally, we got to meet and chat with Jami P the executive manager who oversees operations and was open to any ideas I had. Everything here is very reasonably priced and it is so easy to go overboard.Once home I had the quiche which was already fully cooked and warm along with one of the chocolate chip cookies. They quiche as dense and quite filling-very good. The cookie-soft and moist.The bakery society of Pittsburgh hopefully plans to start their regular business hours this coming Mon. They will be open six days a week with slightly reduced hours on Sat. Located on Brownsville Rd in Mt. Oliver, metered street parking is available or you can catch a couple of bus routes since this is the main street of the neighborhood.

I really want this place to succeed. It hasn't gotten more organized since opening, and could be getting worse. Staff in the store is challenged, keeping inventory must be expensive. It's a tough business in a struggling neighborhood. please support this business for the people with a dream while it finds its niche.I am disappointed that this morning they had nothing pumpkin so I bought a peach crumble and was overcharged for it as a pumpkin bread pudding and a baguette which isn't great and it was a white bread on my receipt at $3.50. not great and not worth $3.50. I'm sad and not encouraged that they will survive. Maybe somebody had a bad day

This review is solely on their donuts. I've never actually been to this bakery but the idea of a bakery in mt Oliver is exciting! My coworker brought in donuts from the bakery society. I got a chocolate frosted. The donut was soft and chewy. It was a really good and airy not super dense. The frosting was light and not over powering. I'd stop by and get some other goodies if I was in the area!

I was definitely skeptical.. but pleasantly surprised! Stopped in to grab an assortment of goods for a dinner party. I HIGHLY recommend you get the thumbprints... I'm a thumbprint lover, and these blew me outta the water. The boys ate the cookies and recommend the snickerdoodle and M&M. The semi sweet brownie was also a favorite. It's a little out of the way for me, but I'd stop back if I was in the area and in need of some sweets.

Maybe more of a 3-star for food quality alone, but I'm rounding up because the neighborhood really could use it. I went on the 3rd day of the soft opening and had a fougasse and an oatmeal raisin cookie. The fougasse had a really nice yeasty flavor, but the texture was too chewy and the crust wasn't crispy. Maybe it'll get better with time. Oatmeal raisin cookie was good but not mind-blowing; neither foldable nor crunchy. But both were definitely pretty solid, and the bakers know what they're doing.I imagine things will improve with time, and I look forward to returning for future iterations.

Appears to be closed for now. Possibly remodeling but didn't see a notice when walking by. Concept and reviews seem interesting.

I like the idea but simply from a bakery perspective not great. Cases were more empty then filled. I asked what pumpkin products they had and they said none cause they don't sell good. I looked the the case and there were pumpkin cookies. Which I guess the girl working wasn't even aware of.