Serious bakers. Serious about making an impact
Heritage
Mission
B-corp
COMMUNITY
Irresistible bread and pastry
Whether you’re savoring insanely flaky pastries and flavor-packed rustic breads or digging into delightfully messy sandwiches, you can trust we’ve focused on every detail, from start to finish.
Our rigorous local sourcing, dedication to traditional techniques, and devotion to the very best flavor create food worth slowing down for. We invite you to share an experience built on craft and time that’s always fresh and 100% delicious.
We pioneered artisan baking in the Pacific Northwest
In 1989, Gwen Bassetti opened Grand Central Bakery on a hunch: that Seattle was hungry for delicious, hand-crafted rustic bread. From those early days of baking 80 artisan loaves a day in historic Pioneer Square, Grand Central Bakery has grown into an enduring company that produces thousands of loaves a day, delivering to grocers and restaurants throughout Portland and Seattle and drawing devoted customers into its neighborhood cafes.
We are still guided by integrity and passion to do what is right: keep time and tradition in the baking process; source the best ingredients from those closest to the land; treat vendors as true partners; value employees as the heart of our organization; and create warm and welcoming customer relationships.
Through sustained growth, Grand Central Bakery has been able to delight more customers and work alongside more businesses and community organizations that have similar values.
Decades after helping spearhead the American artisan baking revolution, Grand Central Bakery remains beloved — for its welcoming neighborhood cafes; truly delicious breads, pastries, and sandwiches; and the idea that connection to the community around you matters just as much as the food you eat.
In 2018 we became the first bakery in the Northwest to attain B Corp certification. This commitment lays out a road map for Grand Central Bakery to be a force for good, operate with transparency, contribute to a thriving regional food system, offer fair compensation and opportunities to grow, and give back to the communities we serve for years to come.
Our bakery is a force for good
We’re committed to equity and inclusion
Our values of delicious products, teamwork, outstanding customer service, sustainable food production, fair compensation, and excellence guide every decision we make. As an artisan bakery established with white ownership and leadership, we acknowledge that systemic and historic inequities founded on racial injustice and white privilege serve as a barrier to fully realizing our values.
Part of your community
We give annual grants and company-matched employee donations to local and regional nonprofits working on immigrant rights, diversity and inclusion, and land stewardship.
Employees use paid company time to volunteer as they choose in the community.
We offer generous in-kind donations from our bakery to feed the hungry and help community organizations raise funds.
