Scratch Baking

Everything here is made fresh and the menu changes seasonally. Most of their menu is locally sourced and they work with local coffee roasters. A great early weekday breakfast spot or a Saturday/Sunday brunch destination. It is centrally located to downtown Durham and you can walk around to explore other really cool Durham spots after your meal. And they don't even have a microwave so ignore the people who say they do.

Update: It is with great sadness that I made my way to "Mama" Scratch for my last brunch and am posting final pictures as she will close by the end of February 2018 so that Phoebe Lawless and co may focus more on The Lakewood and Baby Scratch. Please continue to support both of these places as they continue to make phenomenal food and baked goods. Peace Great for brunch and the pie is out of this world! Go early on weekends since it gets crowded for brunch. Everything here is delicious right down to the granola.

This place is alright. The guy behind the counter was not friendly and made it seem like we were bothering him by asking if they had non-dairy milks or even skim, which they did not. Couldn't tell you whether they don't offer it or were temporarily out. All we know is that they have 2%. The pies were good enough, though the crust on my chocolate chess pie was slightly burnt. The shaker lemon pie had a great crust and was very lemony. All told, though, they really didn't give us a reason to return and we likely will not.

Quaint breakfast spot in a rare quiet part of downtown Durham. Despite being in the middle of all of the construction going on in Durham right now, the little side street that Scratch is on provided a nice respite from the noise. On top of that, they have delicious food and baked goods. I got the Fickle Creek Duck Egg Sandwich and it was amazing! So many flavors! My wife ordered the chicken empenada and enjoyed that as well. Also, picked up some chocolate donut muffins for the road.

Scratch Bakery is an awesome little place for a lunch, brunch or breakfast or the classic slice of pie and coffee. Pie flavors cover some traditional chess pie but extend to things like an amazing lemon or muscadine.

Made from scratch buttermilk biscuits we're crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside and the best part of he meal. The bacon jam biscuit was sweet and salty, very well done, but I would have liked a little more jam to make it a little sweeter. Scratch serves bottle coke with real sugar, the best coke there is, and my wife had a standard cafe americano which in her words "wasn't bad." The atmosphere is quiet and quaint. Clientele was mostly college age folks which I attribute to the restaurants proximity to the University. Seating for about 25 folks inside and additional cafe style seating out front. As you walk into Scratch, the seasonal menu is written on the chalkboard wall to your right and an exposed brick wall on your left lend to the trendy rustic-industrial atmosphere.The honey lavender chess pie had good flavor but unfortunately it had a soggy bottom. All in all we think that Scratch deserves a second chance to impress us and we will visit again.

Always enjoy Phoebe Lawless, Scratch Bakery in Durham, NC. Never disappointed in their service or their food they serve! I enjoyed a nice breakfast, seared egg with cup of cappuccino, and sitting outside was a great way to start the week! Love their chocolate chess pie! Great to see Derek behind the counter too!

I really want to love this place but I can't. I went to Scratch Bakery last week to meet up with a colleague. This is about the third time I've visited. I went the first time on the recommendation of my hairdresser. The coffee I ordered tasted burnt. I ordered the tartine that tasted good but had been heated up in the microwave and was cold in the middle. I can pass on these instances but I can't pass on this: poor customer service. The last person who took my order made no eye contact and put forth very little effort to make me feel welcomed or appreciated as a customer. I get better customer service at my local coffee chain, which is not what I expected.

Brilliant little cafe/bakery with great breakfast/brunch dishes - we've been twice on different visits to Durham, and will definitely be back! Chocolate chest pie is worth buying whole, just so you can have some for later...:-

Best breakfast I've had in town so far. The biscuits are also the best I've had in Durham. The seating is a little light and there is outside seating, but it's such an amazing breakfast place. Highly recommended.