Brown Bear Baking

I think there's a consistent issue on Orcas with quality for price. Brown Bear is a really charming space with polite staff, comfortable yet minimal seating and a warm atmosphere. Where it starts to lose me is pricing. We paid $36 + 20% tip for two sandwiches. The roast beef was decent enough, but we didn't get much flavor from the filling or the bread. Using something like a croissant or baugette would've made more sense - the bread felt heavy, and only the top of the bread carried flavor. The apple and ham option had most of the same issues, though the unique combination is admirable. Service was polite, though if you're in a rush I can't say it was worth the 15 minute wait. Finally, the included side salads had a LOVELY vinaigrette! Unfortunately, they were pathetically small for the cost. To purchase one of these salads independently, it costs $5. It'd be cheaper to buy some greens and a lemon from the store. You'd have lots of leftovers too!

Sandwiches: 3/5 by no means gross, just disappointed in the relatively mediocre quality for the price.

Salad: 3/5 (i·o·ta /īˈōdə/Definition: an extremely small amount). That's all the description the salad needs.

Service: 4/5 As is the standard on the island for the most part, the service is friendly and excellent. One can't blame price gouging on those just trying to pay rent.

Overall: 3/5 I don't have a problem with expensive. I simply ask that when I pay that much for such a simple dish, I get what I pay for. (Like you do at Roses, their salami and provalone sandwich is excellent and half the price).

Excellent bakery! Great breads, quiches and sandwiches. Don't forget the pastries! Beware, closes early.

Yummy food. Friendly service. The croissants are amazing.

Very fresh, very tasty, but super over priced. We got the salmon quiche and peach croissant- would recommend both but they were pretty pricy so I’ll ding them on that. $7 for the salmon quiche and $5.50 for the peach croissant. If you’re on a budget, run across the street to the supermarket and you can get a killer ham, egg, and cheese breakfast muffin for $3.19.

The NOLA Roast Beef sandwich is the most delicious roast beef sandwich I've ever eaten. This place is pricey, but worth every penny. Kale salad went directly into the trash and I didn't even care. Sandwich made up for it.