Butcher & Baker Provisions

The carrot salad was a flop, but I did not care one whit after I dove into my massive kraft bag full of probably an illegal amount of bakery snacks. Stop. Here. Easy stop directly on the island thoroghfare, a well-known (and appointed!) rest spot with a drive up coffee counter but do yourself a favor and get out of that car and go inside for a fun seaside community experience. From impeccably prepared meats and meals (they even had borscht!) to supply you weekend around the fire with yummy thoughtful options including vegan and gluten free. Behold the bakery You can't go wrong. Three days later my Nutella brownie is still tempting me from the still-packed bags! Coffee cake perfectly for morning coffee, with pistachio butter cookies dipped in dark chocolate for teatime. Only critique? BREAD! Imagine the focaccia these creative bakers could surprise us with! The soft rolls for dinner or biscuits dough for breakfast! Worth herding the family in and out of the car. Promise.

We came here because of the outstanding recommendations, and because my husband wanted to try the chicken sandwich. I have a gluten allergy, and when I asked if they would sub out a breaded meat in a salad for grilled chicken, they said no. I asked how they could accommodate a gluten allergy, and I was handed an “allergen menu.” No substitutions allowed. There were several things marked GF that had soy sauce—which is not GF. There was one item that was GF and soy sauce free: The Walking Taco. I ordered it because there were literally NO other options. It was the worst thing I have ever eaten. It was a bag of Doritos with a bag of cabbage on top. There was a bit of salsa, a small amount of very overcooked beef, and some bland beans. This was $24. It was so awful, I couldn’t even eat half of it. My husband said his chicken sandwich was good, so if you are going for that, you’d be fine. Do not go if you have food allergies, and do not expect decent service. We won’t be back.

I want to like this place more. But the coffee drinks are bad, figuring out gluten free options is difficult, they refuse to do any modifications or substitutions on their menu items, and there’s no kids menu? I don’t get it. The food is great when we can find things we want… but the menu also changes all the time, so I can’t reliably dine here with my family. I wish they cared as much about diners as they did about their food.