I woke up Saturday morning in an unusually happy mood. I tossed my sky-blue comforter on my bed, threw on a pair of jeans and a hoodie and suggested going out for breakfast with my family.
It was my dad’s idea to go to Heirloom. A few weeks earlier my dad, mom and sister tried it for the first time and raved about it. It was decided: we would spend our morning at Heirloom Bakery.
I arrived with high expectations. My dad loved their homemade pop-tarts and my mom claimed it was the cutest new breakfast place that would soon be all the rage. For the most part, Heirloom lived up to these reviews. I’d give it an A+ for presentation because of its dainty and comfy atmosphere.
However, I was let down by the food. I’m not saying it didn’t look tasty. There was so much to choose from: strawberry rhubarb pies to banana nut muffins, granola parfaits to Build-Your-Own egg sandwiches. In fact, the food looked so appealing that the hardest part was deciding what to order. Well, the second hardest part. The first was paying the cashier for the over-priced food.
I’ll start out with the good stuff. It’s a darling bakery with a cozy atmosphere. The wooden walls and floors gave it a simplistic vibe. Framed black and white photographs lined the white and grassy-green wallpaper. Water-filled mason jars sat on tables, ser
ving as water glasses. A small flower arrangement in a teal blue vase sat on each table, along with a card that read “Be a doll, bus it all.”
I ordered a classic cinnamon roll and a bottle of Shatto chocolate milk. The cinnamon roll was nothing special, but maybe I’m biased because I’m so used to Dolce Bakery’s fluffy, sweet cinnamon rolls. Heirloom’s was dry and the icing was cold. The Shatto milk was creamy and delicious as usual, but I didn’t judge Heirloom based on that, because it was prepackaged by the Shatto company.
I really wanted to love Heirloom, so I gave it another chance a week later when I went for lunch with a friend. I took my time to order, making sure I would actually like my food this time. I split a BLT with my friend, ordered a maple oatmeal and pecan scone, a chocolate chip cookie and a chai tea latte.
The BLT didn’t disappoint me. I usually don’t go for BLT’s, but this one made me want to order it again. It had just the right amount of crispy bacon, fresh lettuce, blood-red tomatoes an
d creamy mayo, evenly spread on toasted, homemade rye bread. The $10 price was a little high, but I didn’t regret it.
The chai tea latte was better than I thought it would be. Topped with a thick layer of white foam, it had a subtle spice to it and was almost more of a chai tea than a latte, which made it even better. I’ll make sure to order that again when I return in the future.
Unfortunately, neither the maple oatmeal and pecan scone or the chocolate chip cookie lived up to the BLT or latte. I love maple, so I was ready for this scone to blow me away, but it was definitely a let-down. The deal breaker was that it was dry and there wasn’t enough maple on it, and the nuts took away from what little maple-taste there was.
The cookie didn’t wow me either, mostly because there just wasn’t anything special to it. I’m an avid baker when it comes to chocolate chip cookies, and these were far below my standards. It was a waste of $1.85.
I visited Heirloom one more time last week to see if it could make up for its underwhelming food. I ordered a $4 homema
de apple pop-tart, which my dad claimed was what they’re known for, and a slice of cheesy pesto bread. I also got another chai tea latte and BLT, and my friend got a $1.85 moose-shaped sugar cookie for the Royals.
The glazed pop-tart was amazing. Or at least the first few bites were. After that the apple filling was almost too rich to finish, so I offered the rest to my friend. I’d order the pop-tart again, but with a different filling. The cheesy pesto bread was cold, tasted like it had been sitting out all morning and didn’t have enough cheese or pesto.
Overall the food was overpriced. My total was $20 for a slice of bread, a BLT, a pop-tart and a latte. Still, it was fun to go to for the aesthetic, but after spending that much money, it didn’t make the cut.
I’d definitely go to Heirloom if I’m in the mood for an artsy and simplistic venue, but I wouldn’t go for the food.