Great Harvest Bread Company

There’s always something that you can enjoy right there or take home to share with the family. My favorite is the Savanah (?) bar. It’s like an instant shot of good health that tastes awesome as well. If I bring a loaf of apple scrapple or banana bread or whatever home, the other things take a back seat until we finish what we have from Great Harvest.
They’re always generous with their «samples». It’s a treat to go there. If carbs-​watching wasn’t such an issue or fad, it’s bread heaven.
We miss the prior owners Raja and Anwar and their team, but Megan and her crew rock.
Enjoy!

If you’re in the market for chi-​chi, white-​flour baguettes and boules (lovely but empty calories), this isn’t the place for you.
Great Harvest grinds wheatberries into hearty, whole wheat flour and creates healthful products. The store makes a terrific whole wheat «toaster» bread — have it sliced when you buy it, and use its wholesome and nutty flavor at breakfast or in sandwiches. This is the bread you’d make at home, if only you had the time.

Great Harvest Bread Company is one of the best bakeries in the area. They have a very friendly staff and generous samples.
My family loves their Apple Scrapple, Challah, Cinnamon Extreme, and White Bread «Bunnies». We also enjoyed their Savannah and Kahuna Bars as well as their Turtle cookies. They have several other type of products as well.
Be sure to get a baking schedule so you will know when their breads and other goodies will be available. Also, ask for a Bread Card so that you will get a free loaf when you buy 12 loaves.
Enjoy!

I first came here in the past 6 months, and I have been a frequent return customer since then. I love the cinnamon extreme bread, and I love the plain, white rolls. Everything I’ve bought has been wonderful and has stayed fresh for several days after purchase. I’ve used the free samples to make informed decisions, because my standbys are so good I like to pit them against other contenders. I’ll be back soon for chocolate babka, but I couldn’t resist the cinnamon extreme warm from the oven on my last visit. I believe it switched ownership in the last year or so, and though I have nothing to compare them with from before, I think they’re doing a great job.

As of this writing, we’ve been to this location twice (I’ve also been to the Herndon location a few times when I lived out there). Both times, we’ve been warmly greeted by the staff offering us a generous-​sized sample of one of their breads. We can’t resist how good they are and always leave with more.
In addition, my wife loves the apple scrapple and I love the brownie!

There are at least two approaches to bread. Both, I think, are entirely valid.
One approach is the light, fluffy, airy school of baking, perhaps best exemplified by a well-​executed baguette. In contrast, there is the whole grain, staff-​of-​life /​bread-​as-​a-​meal approach.
This latter school is where Great Harvest lives, and they do an exquisite job. Their Dakota and Artisan 9 Grain loaves are particularly fine examples of the genre. They’re not cheap, but are worth every penny.
The counter help are unfailingly delightful and efficient. And, as others have noted, the samples are more than generous.
So, why only 4 stars? Because, I respectfully offer, GHB Co. wraps these truly wonderful loaves in plastic too soon, preventing (IMHO) an optimal crust.
Folks, you make absolutely fabulous bread (I’m enjoying a toasted slice of your whole wheat as I type this), but I implore you to leave more loaves unwrapped (or at least let them cool longer).
That said, GHB Co. remains one of only two bakeries in this neck of the woods (Alexandria/​Arlington) where I’ll buy bread. (The other, btw, belongs to that first bread school of thought which I described.)
P. S. — There was an ownership change 3 months or so ago. I had no quarrel with the prior owners, but the new ones do indeed rock. My sense is that the quality and consistency are better. More better, even.

Bread is amazing, sweet berry loaf, mouthwatering, I don’t really eat bread like that and this place awesome, so upset that they will not be making the sweet berry this month. great variety so hard to choose what to get, lady was very nice

Their bread is simply amazing. And the new owners are awesome. If you’re not sure what to have they’ll give you a sample. A big sample. I go there as often as I can. I would recommend them to anyone.

They had me when I walked in the door and smelled the wonderful smell. They offered a taste of one of their breads and I thought they’d hand me a bite-​sized portion, but I was handed a large slice. And was sold immediately on the apple scrapple. I’m sure I’ll be back soon to try a savory!

I go here 2 times a week to get bread. Last year things weren’t tasting consistently good, but I’m glad I never gave up on this place. Quality has dramatically improved and the bread is now always delicious! New owners started a few weeks ago and then seem really nice. I gave them some feedback about one specific type of bread and they remembered the next time I came in. My impression is that they are truly invested in the success of great harvest and ultimately the quality of the product they are selling.

I stopped in here by chance while out marketing for my job. The employee, Kyle, was very helpful and nice. He offered me and my coworker a slice of one of 4 different loafs and made a recommendation when I couldn’t make up my mind. I had a slice of cinnamon chip bread and it was AMAZING! I will be a frequent customer. Great tasting breads and bakery items made fresh daily and great customer service!

Must try the cinnamon explosion bread, especially when it’s fresh out of the oven. The prices are steep for bread, so we only buy on occasion. Great service, lets you try many different types of breads before choosing the one you may want to buy.

Just don’t go there asking for rye bread. When I asked if they had any, the guy looked around, picked up some bread off the bottom shelf and dropped it on the counter. It looked nothing like rye bread but he insisted that it was. I stupidly bought it, hoping it tasted better than it looked. It was bad, don’t know what the bread was, something pumpernickel maybe? We went to Whole Foods and got a much more normal rye. Sorry to have made a special trip to find this place, maybe the other breads are much better.

There are many negatives and many positives to this bakery location.
Positives:
— Free samples — they give you a large slice of bread (your choice), and if you ask nicely they will give you a second one.
— There is great variety of items, and it changes daily.
— The tomato and cheese foccacia bread is amazing — very much worth it!
— The brown sugar bread is also very very delicious. Pairs well with coffee!
— The caramel bars are super tasty.
— Parking is not difficult to find.
Negatives:
— The prices — wow, items are very pricey here. I understand things are house-​made and local, but $ 7 for a loaf of bread? A bag of biscotti for $ 9?
— The staff was hit and miss — one guy was very friendly and eager, while the woman was confused by our order. We wanted to get multiple things, and she stared at us like we were crazy. It was odd and uncomfortable.
— The menu is posted to the left and high up of where you walk in so I didn’t even see it until after being in the store for 10 minutes.
— If you want to get individual bars (the caramel or lemon bars), you, the customer, have to bring a pre-​filled box of four bars to the cashier so she/​he can take one out and put it in a separate box for you. I think this is weird; they should have individual bars at the register or in the glass case nearby.
— The lemon bars — not good at all. Too much crust and not enough sweet lemon flavor.
— The space was a good size, but it seemed a little dusty and unclean.
Bottom line: this location is alright. If I am craving the brown sugar or tomato foccacia bread, I may return. Probably won’t be for a while though.

I’ve bought several types of bread at Great Harvest and I have yet to be disappointed. Their blackberry cream cheese scones are amazing and I really enjoyed all of their sweet breads such as the Apple scrapple or the cinnamon roll. Even the white bread is delicious and very flavorful. I have not tried any of the desert so I cannot comment on them. I’m glad to have them in my neighborhood.

I was starving yesterday and the only place open near my work was Great Harvest Bread Company. At first I was skeptical, as I hardly ever do the bakery thing. For me bread is pretty much just something to hold a sandwich together, or something restaurants throw out to appease the hungry herd when the kitchen is in the weeds. However, from the moment I entered this little nondescript shop, I was convinced that I was going to rediscover my love of bread. All of the warm, toasty loaves brought brought back memories of my mother baking bread on a Sunday morning.
The baker somehow immediately recognized that I was new to Great Harvest, asking, «First time?» I replied that it was and without missing a beat he ushered me to a sample table loaded breads that I had only imagined in my dreams, The table was filled with warm challah, brioche, and other artisan breads which I had never seen before. He quickly cut a huge slab from a speckled loaf and handed me a sample.
«Here, try this.»
«What’s in it?»
«Spinach and Feta,» he replied with pride.
I took a bite, and it was as if I were Marcel Proust drinking from his tea cup; in that one bite all memories of my mother’s bread came flooding to me. Soft. Warm. Yummy. And yet, this bread had more, for the spinach and feta made for the perfect complement to the bread. In fact it was a meal in itself. I had to admit that it was better than Mom’s…Sorry, Mom.
Over the next few days, I ordered a loaf of this delicious bread as well as an Asiago cheese filled wonder. Thanks to Great Harvest, I now realize that bread can be more than just something to hold a sandwich together. It can be everything.

I have stumbled by this place by a chance. Waiting for a friend of mine in the car dealer, I went there to grab a cup of coffee and I was impressed by the hospitality of the staff there. They offered me a free try for a piece of loaf bread and I chose the cinnamon one and it was fresh, tasty, and tasted like it just came out of the oven, which I believe was the case. They also offered me a warm chocolate cookie. I am a little picky when it comes to coffee and I didn’t have high expectation for their coffee, but they surprised me as well with the level of quality tasty coffee they serve.
I don’t go to this area much, but they definitely earned a new customer and I will go out of my way to visit them whenever I can to buy the cinnamon loaf and other fresh bakery treats.
Five Stars to the hospitality of the staff!

I want to like Great Harvest Bread Company, and the people in the store were super nice, but the bread was just not there. I picked up a loaf of their Spinach Feta bread yesterday. It’s filled with pretty spinachy green flecks with a very, very slight taste of spinach. However, the feta was completely and totally undetectable. In lieu of feta, my loaf seemed to be filled with ground black pepper — which unquestionably was the most overpowering flavor of the loaf — spicy, biting, black pepper. Maybe I got an off loaf, or maybe the dough wasn’t mixed well and I got a butt load of black pepper, but it wasn’t good.
I may try them again and don’t want to give up hope, but for now, 2 stars is all I can give :-\

For $ 5.50, I got a huge, heavy loaf of rustic honey whole wheat. Despite being preservative-​free, it lasts about five days. They will slice it for you if you ask, and you’ll want it sliced because this massive loaf of bread is extremely dense and chewy.
I also tried a cookie, and then got a second cookie free for being a first time customer. The cookies are also gigantic and larger than any cookie I’ve seen for sale anywhere else. The cookies are also very chewy and sweet.
There are different flavors of bread available each day, with one or two breads always available. Is it worth the price? I would say so; the only comparable product would be the loaves of rustic bread baked and sold at Whole Foods, and these are tastier and not as dry. If you want to try them, they give generous samples with butter.

I adore this place — more importantly my Mom adores this place, and my the 6 hour drive to NC to see my parents rarely begins without first stopping here to «carb load» my RAV4.
I’ve never had a bread I didn’t like here and when the staff hands me a hunk of something I’ve never tried before to taste — I’m usually doomed (or more accurately put my credit card is). Among my favorites that they offer are the Apple Scrapple, Banana, and Cinnamon Chip breads but the 9-​grain, pumpkin spice and cheddar garlic ones all wander home with me from time to time too. And at the risk of channeling Rachael Ray — the blackberry cream cheese scones are simply delish.
The staff is exceptionally friendly and helpful. Many times I’ve gotten still warm bread and they’ve packed it up in a paper bag and given me the usual plastic one and twistie to use when the bread has cooled. I love that they’re idea of a «small taste» is still a small hunk of bread — as opposed to the HUGE hunk they normally cut off.
They don’t make everything every day — so the easiest thing to do is just pull up the menu on their website and plan your nom noming accordingly.