Blackbird Baking Company

I came to Blackbird on a whim. I don’t hang out much in Lakewood, but this adorable baking company has me hooked. I love Blackbird because its part incredible baking company, part cozy café. Give me a good coffee, delicious croissant and strong Wi-​Fi, and I am thrilled for days. Oh, and easy parking? Hello, i’m your new best friend.
Blackbird has an impressive selection of breads, pastries and savory and sweet snack options. I loved the potato and cheese gallete, a flaky and filling savory snack that was a more than generous size. I also grabbed a chocolate croissant to-​go, and i’m embarrassed to say it didn’t last long. It was so relaxing to have a seat inside this welcoming bakery with a delicious, freshly baked gallete and get some business done. The atmosphere is super relaxing, and natural light pours through the windows. There’s also an inviting seating area to sit outside and enjoy your snack under the shade.
Almost everyone who entered left with a giant loaf of bread, as if we were somewhere in Europe, so that’s an excellent sign in itself. Moral of the story: Follow through on your bookmarks, Unilocalers! It’s the best ever when they turn out to be awesome.

My wife and I stopped in for some cookies and coffee. We had the café au lait, a chocolate chip cookie and a raspberry filled shortbread cookie and they were all great! The chocolate chip cookies were really fresh and warm. The raspberry filled shortbread cookies was the surprise winner. The raspberry was not too tart or too sweet, and the shortbread was cooked perfectly. Highly recommend the raspberry shortbread. Definitely coming back here.

Incredible bakery. The real deal. Thank you for existing Blackbird.

Everything is fabulous here! The BEST chocolate chip cookie, delicious breads, awesome iced coffee and everyone is super nice there!

Treated self to cappucino… bland and warm sadly. I know they’re espresso s are good normally. also 70° outside and stuffy inside… maybe open a door for some nice fresh air…

Top notch bakery by any standard. My only complaint is the fact the handful of times they were closed for vacation when I was in the area and decided to stop in. All the croissants are amazing!

Drove past here for years, but never actually went in. Now, I want to be reborn again, so I can live a different lifestyle. Go here, a lot.

The bread and sweets are perfect with olde time baking. The service is good and plenty of room in their coffee house to sit with a laptop and work alone or in a group.

Simply the BEST chocolate chip cookie out there. You must order ahead or get there early during holiday times. All of the pastries are fantastic as well. I highly recommend the coffee as well!

Best bakery I’ve found in western suburbs of Cleveland. Lots of hearty, crusty breads, pastries, cookies, croissants (the real deal), flat breads with olives or artichokes and other savory toppings. Everything is always fresh. Baguettes are excellent. Good place to have a coffee and pick up a goody to cheer up someone who needs something wonderful to eat. How can a person be depressed eating something wonderful? Kinda’ impossible.

The most delicious breads and pastries, both sweet and savory. Fantastic coffees and mochas. Great atmosphere for coffee dates or meetings/​interviews.
Kid friendly, too! They have a table and several toys to keep your kid occupied while you sip your coffee and chat with pals.

Everything they offer is made fresh daily from scratch by a dedicated staff of quality bakers. Their baristas are capable and make delicious drinks. The atmosphere is pleasant and spacious inside and there are nice spaces outside to enjoy your food and drink if weather permits.
The happy hour at the end of the day is a great way to get a good deal on their wares.
My personal favorites from Blackbird, aside from their artisan breads are of course their award winning chocolate chip cookies, mochas (hot or iced), just about all of their seasonal focaccia breads, and their sweet and savory tarts.

love this place. the peanut butter cookies. ohhh emmmm geeeee.
seriously THE best, hands down. peanut buttery, slightly salty, (if you dig that sweet /​salty thang).
coffee~ great.
nice place to hang with friends or if you want to get some work done.
extremely busy on the weekends.
bread. ahhhhh. lots of amazing choices. i get excited thinking about it. total carb girl over here.
it’s your small town bakery. craving the pb cookies as i type this :/

Uggg this place! The people who work here are so incredibly rude! When you say hello it’s like you are offending the nature of this establishment-​God forbid I ruffle your feathers by simply ordering something… umm last time I checked this is Cleveland not some exclusive bakery… I seriously question why I occasionally stop in here… but when I do I’m reminded by the rudeness why I’m not a regular and the baked goods are just OKAY… Grow up people stop being so rude and have a smile about you…

Delicious croissants. So buttery; soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside. The chocolate chip cookies were chewy/​soft on the inside with a crispy outer ring. The chocolate chips were melty and delightful. I had read how good they were and took my mom and sisters to get them. We also tried the almond chocolate chip scone and a jammy scone. All were excellent.
My mom got a peanut butter cookie, but that wasn’t my cup of tea.
I would definitely go back for a coffee or tea with a scone or croissant or just to get those wonderful chocolate chip cookies.

We walk our dogs and make this a spot to refuel before turning around and walking home. We collect one savory treat, one sweet one, and two coffees (and a dog biscuit for our little friend beasts) and enjoy them on the patio with all the other folks who are also planning their weekend.
The wifi is a bit slow, so it is a good palace to unplug and enjoy the finer things in life– loved ones, good coffee, and good pastries.

Exceptional! Always friendly kind service and always delish baked goods and drinks!!! My favorites are the sticky buns, blueberry corn muffins, rasp jammers, spinach and feta croissant, all the cookies…
I’ve moved away and craved blackbird! Luckily I get to have it as much as I want for the next month… And then the craving will commence once again. :)

CHALLAH
Excellent. Per their site, available Fridays only.
The texture and taste I’d hoped for. Similar to Hough’s (closed for years) Butter Loaf, minus the sugar glaze, sweet & buttery swirled interior, and sliced almond topping. Would like to see Blackbird offering something like that fabulous loaf.
All challah’s are not the same. Just like white, wheat, and rye, challah, too, has it’s variations in quality, ingredient ratios, preparation steps, and texture. But it’s a bread with far less room for deviation than the others. The challah from our largest grocery chain doesn’t come close to Blackbird’s authentic — more like an economy sandwich loaf disguised in a shiny puffy golden coat. And amazingly, about the same price as Blackbird’s. If you’d like to make unforgettable French Toast, use a good recipe (Food Network’s Robert Irvine has one) and definitely use Blackbird’s challah. Mine turned out fantastic — the best results I’ve ever had. It would also make great garlic croutons and grilled cheese sandwiches.
CROISSANTS
The best. Raspberry and Almond.
Two of three unexpected Blackbird treats from my sister-​in-​law, and the reason for a first visit. Excluding the excellent fruit and flavoring additions, just the flaky buttery croissants themselves were far better than the ones I’ve had delivered from France. (Through QVC… un-​baked, flash-​frozen, dry-​iced, and air-​shipped to the U.S.) Those were very good — but Blackbird’s are much better.
CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
Perfect. Buttery-​moist and tender-​chewy.
Impossible to improve. Even before taking that first bite, just seeing the generous amount of chocolate (perfect dough to morsel ratio — not like a super-​sweet candy bar) you, too, will naturally expect something fabulous. And that’s exactly how they’ll taste. Fabulous. A cookie so masterfully crafted, that any desperate competitor would risk prison time just to get their hands on the ingredient list and baking instructions. They’re THAT good. Wouldn’t be surprised if their recipe is a well-​guarded secret, with all that good stuff added and mixed in by owners well before their crew arrives. The filled bowls are then ready and waiting for employees to just scoop onto baking sheets. :o)
SHORTBREAD SANDWICH COOKIE
Wonderful almond flavor and slightly sweet.
Somewhat dry. Adding about 10% more butter to the batch would be my preference, but would still get these again.
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Blackbird had standouts, and also a couple of misses. But I’m sure that even Julia Child, Jacques Pepin and James Beard had their occasional oops results, too.
CRANBERRY & CHOCOLATE MORSEL SCONES
Way too dry. Crumbly interiors with firm crusty exteriors. Picked out a few of the cranberries and chocolate pieces — both excellent — but the bland, dry, dough was inedible. As if no fat (butter), cream, or even the scantest amount of sweetening had been added. Although filled with fruit and chocolate, because of the dough they didn’t fit into any dessert or sweets category, but were more of a dense and heavy savory version of a scone. Like unsuccessful dinner biscuits, meant to be eaten with a sauce — like beef stew or creamed chicken. Not with coffee, milk, or tea.
STICKY BUN
Although it had nice enough flavor, it wasn’t sticky. And it wasn’t soft and squishy, either. Firm-​textured, its clear sugar glaze had hardened to a stiff, thin, candy-​like coating. Nothing at all like iconic tender, puffed-​up, gooey-​pull-​apart Sticky Buns. (As if it had been overlooked for hours — maybe even overnight — had deflated, and all its sticky parts had dried out.)
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I don’t know if these were mistakes or their «takes», but to avoid disappointment and a few misspent dollars, before choosing something from here — or anywhere
—read descriptions, and if you have to, ask questions. You can’t rely on appearances. It may LOOK like it’s sweet, but it’s not… or soft, but it’s not.
And if these WERE mistakes?
We’ll be back for what we really liked — and for different ones, too — because I understand how accidents can happen. Something as seemingly insignificant as a brief distraction or interruption, and incorrect ingredient amounts might be added to a mixing bowl — or forgotten entirely. Or baking too long, not long enough, too high a temperature, or too low. Many variables in baking, requiring strict attention from initial measuring to final baking. It’s not rocket science, but successful baking IS a science.
That’s why Blackbird — and all smaller hands-​on specialty bakers — should taste-​test the baked results of every batch before offering them for sale. Just one or two small samples should do it. If better restaurants care enough to taste for seasonings from pots of soups, sauces, and other multi-​ingredient dishes before giving the *okay to serve*, artisan-​type bakeries should, too.

Blackbird is one of those places where you walk in and never want to leave. If the smell of fresh baked bread and homemade cookies doesn’t get you, it’s the infectious smiles from the workers. I stop in on a fairly regular basis, typically to get a cup of coffee and a loaf of bread. I don’t think in all my times at Blackbird I have ever not been greeted with a smile.
Their bread is made fresh every day, hand-​formed and then baked right there on site. Don’t believe me? If you go in early enough and peer through the shelves of bread you may be able to catch a glimpse of the bakers in action. They get there at 3am to make sure you get the freshest product possible (that’s some serious commitment). Trust me though, you don’t need to spy on the bakers to know this stuff is handmade. You can taste it. The bread is absolutely incredible. From the Rosemary Focaccia to the Rye Levain, this stuff is insanely good. No way a machine could come even close to turning out the same quality product.
I have always been a sucker for local business, but this one really goes above and beyond for me. When you walk in you know this is a close-​knit family just trying to bring a little slice of happiness into their customer’s lives. I know I know, super cheesy and romanticized, but it’s true!
So the next time you’re in need of some fresh salted chocolate chip cookies, or some kalamata olive levain bread, don’t go to the supermarket, look no further that Blackbird Baking Company.

I had read reviews calling this place both a coffee shop and a bakery. Today I tried to experience the former.
I ordered an Almond Croissant and an Almond Latte. The latter was great, the former was good for what it was — but it was lacking in almond filling — there was nearly none except at the end. The pastry was very large in size however and baked just the right length of time.
There was plenty of seating area to bring some work with you and hang out. There was a kids’ corner with some toys, but the noise coming from that area was not a distraction at all and I could have concentrated on work. There was also a nice big table for groups.
I like the coffee and the seating area. While disappointed in the filling, the bread/​dough part of my almond croissant was very good. Next time I am in need of bread for some cooking project I will come back to purchase said bread here. I am sure I will be pleased. And I will update my review. Their bread might earn them the 5^th star that is missing just like my almond filling was.