Croissant & Co.

Croissant & Co. is a small deli and bakery located at the corner of Ferry St. SE and High St. SE in downtown Salem, Oregon. They can also be spotted at the Salem Saturday Market.

Inside, the place is small, with a few tables for patrons to sit at. A specials board is placed outside, with two smaller notices inside. I came in and ordered around 7:45 a.m. I got to see the 8 a.m. rush, with people working downtown stopping in for their morning coffee and snack.

About 8 a.m. on a Wednesday...lucky I already ordered!

Typical specials menu board placed outside

Since part of the place's name says "croissant," I went with the breakfast sandwich on a croissant ($6.50), adding ham and pepperjack cheese with a scrambled egg. There is also a cheaper bagel option (by about a couple bucks), if one prefers that over a croissant. The croissant was cool to the touch, but it retained a bit of flakiness, so I'd say it was prepared earlier that morning -- and done very well. It merely looked like a couple slices of regular packaged cold-cut deli ham, but the freshly cooked egg and gooey melted cheese left me with mostly positive memories.

Breakfast sandwich w/croissant, ham, egg, and pepperjack
(Croissant & Co.)

Cross-section

Their coffee tastes standard, with no real gourmet essence to write home about. I failed to ask about it, but I also thought it was on the watery side. Twelve ounces of that stuff is $1.25, OK by me. They have espresso options that I'd probably try next time.

12 oz. coffee

Being a self-confessed cinnaholic, I was very tempted to buy one of their substantial cinnamon rolls ($2.50), but when I saw some samples on the counter, I just went with one of those pieces this time. Very good and still fairly soft, but again, it had been probably been sitting out for a little while. The glaze or icing on the top had hardened into a sugary shell. Overall, balancing the price and the size of the roll, I'd say it's worth getting.

What their cinnamon rolls look like...pretty big!

Their large chocolate chip cookie ($2) measures about five and a half inches in diameter. It unfortunately broke in half on the walk home, but was just awesome. Soft and chewy, a comfort snack at its finest. Very high quality. A darn good deal here. Seeing all those chocolate chips peek through the surface made me a giddy panda!

Large chocolate chip cookie
(ruler used to measure how big it is)

This was an experience with more highs than lows. Croissant & Co. is a very good option if you're in the area, but it's just not the first place I'd head to for breakfast or a snack. Probably one of those times where it was really just an OK experience, but that cookie pulled a Superman to save the day. 7/10