Scratch Bakery - Johnson City TN

RE: Scratch Bakery - Johnson City TN (JoeViturbo)

Sat, 10 Jan 2009 19:28:53 GMT

I've been in Johnson City for a year now and just made my first trip to Scratch today. I ordered a pizza and I loved that you could choose "Trust" which means I completely trust you to put what ever you want on my pizza and "Limited Trust" which means "I'll allow you to put what you want on my pizza except the things I mention. I chose "limited trust" because try as I might, I can't eat olives, also I love fresh artichokes but can't stomach pickled or canned ones.

My pizza was fantastic and covered in all sorts of things that I can't even begin to guess at. I'm pretty sure it has a pesto sauce, spinach, red peppers, green peppers, onions, feta cheese, mushroom, sausage and ham. It was all arranged as a dollar sign ($) on my pizza which gave it a beautifully quirky sentiment. It was a little salty but not overpoweringly so. Also, my pizza did have exactly five olives on it which I asked them not to put on it. They're big though so they should be easy to pick off. I'm not mad, quite the opposite, I look forward to going back soon.

The fridges were mostly empty which made me sad but it was late in the day.

I guess they're baking a lot of bread for the new Earth Fare supermarket in Johnson City which is cool. I guess I can always stop in there if I want some of their bread.

RE: Scratch Bakery - Johnson City TN (Russ Jackson)

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:21:50 GMT

quote:
Originally posted by scyscyscy

I was really excited when they first opened, even before they started with the pizza. I ran in on my way home one day to pick up some bread- and was talked to for at least half an hour. I'm all for friendliness and conversation, but this just wasn't the kind of conversation I could extract myself from. I just wanted some bread... As a new customer, I'd have been OK with even 5 minutes... but half an hour? Anyway, I don't want you to think I'm unfriendly- but it shouldn't take half an hour to get one loaf of bread! I hate to say it, but I haven't been back. The bread was darn good, but I'm afraid I'll get waylaid again. :(

Maybe it was a new employee. You could have politely said you were in a rush. I would wait an hour for a good loaf of bread. I remember driving to Dudley's Bakery in North County San Diego and that took an hour to get there.
Anyway that place looks great Larry. I wish I had a place near me like that...Russ

RE: Scratch Bakery - Johnson City TN (scyscyscy)

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:12:48 GMT

I was really excited when they first opened, even before they started with the pizza. I ran in on my way home one day to pick up some bread- and was talked to for at least half an hour. I'm all for friendliness and conversation, but this just wasn't the kind of conversation I could extract myself from. I just wanted some bread... As a new customer, I'd have been OK with even 5 minutes... but half an hour? Anyway, I don't want you to think I'm unfriendly- but it shouldn't take half an hour to get one loaf of bread! I hate to say it, but I haven't been back. The bread was darn good, but I'm afraid I'll get waylaid again. :(

RE: Scratch Bakery - Johnson City TN (angeltearsmc)

Tue, 13 May 2008 09:39:05 GMT

Thanks for the review, Larry - I've heard so many good things about Scratch, and drive by it often, but have never gone inside. I knew they did wood-fired pizza and bread, but had no idea they had that many other products. I'll have to stop in soon, or at least pick up a loaf at the Farmer's Market Saturday. Everything looks delicious! (And I love the "No Suck" sign... )

Scratch Bakery - Johnson City TN (RibRater)

Sat, 10 May 2008 12:44:33 GMT

I'm putting this under sandwiches but Scratch Bakery is much more then that. Located in a small building on a corner lot in the middle of the downtown area of JC, Scratch Bakery offers an amazing array of food products from ready to eat sandwiches to take and bake items like pizza and apple dumplings. They have a beautiful wood fired oven where they bake bread daily and pizza's only on the weekends. They also sell fresh sandwiches, hummis, and their own smoked meats (including local trout when available).

A few shots walking around the outside.

The cooler. You never really know what you might find in the cooler from day to day so checking in often is the plan! The first time I was in the bakery they had a few smoked trout in the cooler and one of the regulars was making them an offer..which they accepted (and they busted my chops for ordering a pepperoni pizza. That's not a pizza they like to make and it took about 10 minutes to convince them my wife and son were not eating anything but..they broke down and made it for me but I got some hard looks ;-)

Today I grabbed a pork cuban to go along with some soup I'm making at home.

Some of their smoked meats. They actually make many of the toppings for their pizzas from scratch including the pepperoni, bacon, etc - that's actually a hogs head on the bottom shelf..a prize from one of their recent catering events.

A shot of their bread storage area.

Some shots of the pizza area and their large wood fired oven. The oven is probably 8 feet deep. The loaves of bread you see were baked last night and are waiting to be picked up by a local restaurant.

Above you can see Jamie at the woodpile and then shoving some additional wood into the back of the oven.

They also sell fresh bread at the local Farmers Markets on Saturdays so if you're in kingsport, bristol, or JC on the weekend be sure to get by the store or your local Market and grab some of their great products.

Their official name and location...

Scratch Brick Oven Foodworks
(423) 943-4366
100 E Unaka Ave, Johnson City, TN 37601