Upper Crust Bakery looks like the neighborhood bakery you hope every town still has. A well known and inviting storefront, trees overhead, the front door propped open, and a chalkboard outside advertising something local or offering a catchy sentiment. Nothing stands out to grab your attention, which somehow makes it all the more inviting.
Step through the door and the room opens up more than you'd expect. Most people aren't looking around, though — they're focused on the display cases, tilting their heads the way you do when narrowing down too many good options. Overhead, menu boards run from breakfast to salads and sandwiches, including the Upper Crust Club (turkey, ham, bacon, Swiss, lettuce, tomato, aioli on honey oat). Fresh squeezed orange juice sits over ice by the registers and to the side is a full coffee bar. The mochas here are enough to remind you what the big franchise stores have lost over the years, and the other coffee choices are just as good.
Then there's the cases, and this is where Upper Crust stops being a bakery and becomes more of an argument. How do you choose?
The first case holds petite flourless chocolate tortes alongside individual carrot cakes mounded with cream cheese frosting and candied carrot curls, plus petite cheesecakes in half a dozen fruit variations: raspberry, lemon curd, apricot. Behind them, a full cream cake sits on its pedestal, waiting to be picked up by whoever pre-ordered it.
Whole cakes line the top shelf: Chocolate Espresso, Vanilla Cream, a confetti-sided layer cake, Tuxedo, Old Fashioned Fudge. Below them: Main Street Lemon Cupcakes, chocolate mousse, éclairs, lemon coconut bars, basket tarts glazed with fruit. The handwritten labels somehow remind you that everything is handcrafted by a dedicated kitchen staff and employees who show up well before sunrise to make sure the cases are stocked. That same spirit is what makes a Saturday farmers market feel worth the early alarm when you know all of the best and freshest items are waiting for those that show up first.
There's a great area inside to sit and enjoy your coffee and treats, or you can enjoy a table out front in the warm sun. If you've ever worked a morning out of a neighborhood coffee shop, you know this kind of room.
And on your way out, just inside the entrance, there's a corkboard covered in Chico. High Sierra Music Festival. Chico Sings community song circles. A babysitting and tutoring card. Main Street Barber Shop. Handmade Palestine. Different local services offered. Kids' scholarship programs. And there's local magazines fanned out on the shelf below, waiting to be taken home. Just another way Upper Crust shows up for this town — the same way the best local businesses here always seem to.
Upper Crust Bakery has a way of making every visit feel like a good idea. Located at 130 Main Street in downtown Chico, the bakery is open Monday through Saturday 6:30 am to 6 pm, and Sunday 6:30 am to 4 pm. (530) 895-3866.