I recently decided to pay a visit to my go-to destination for baked goods: Levain Bakery. I picked up three cookies: one Oatmeal Raisin (my personal favorite), one Chocolate Chip Walnut, and one Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip.
One of the best things I love about Levain is that you can tell their cookies are always made fresh. As soon as you walk into the store, you can see a handful of people working behind the counter baking and preparing the cookies. Depending on the time of day, Levain can be extremely busy. I visited the 74th St. location between Amsterdam and Columbus at 6:45 PM, 15 minutes before closing, on a Friday in early May, and the line was out the door. Since I was in a hurry, I walked a couple of blocks up to the 76th St. and Amsterdam location. This location closes at 8:30 PM, and there were about seven people ahead of me in line. Since the orders are fulfilled pretty quickly, I only had to wait about seven minutes.
Another great thing about Levain is that you can easily tell which of their items are sold out. All of their available items are either placed directly inside the glass casing on the counter or on the bread racks to the side. When I arrived, many of the items were sold out for the day. I wanted to try the Chocolate Chip Brioche, but I’ll have to return another time! As soon as I got to the counter, it took no more than two minutes for me to place my order, pay, and receive my cookies. It’s a good thing I got there when I did since the line for the 76th St. and Amsterdam location was out the door by the time I left!
I headed home with my usual cookie order and decided to snap a few photos to share with you. Below, you can see how thick the cookies are, and they’re fluffy and chewy on the inside. At $4 per cookie, I think the price is quite fair. This is just slightly more than what you would pay for a cookie from Starbucks or Whole Foods, and, in my opinion, the quality of Levain cookies is far superior to the quality of the cookies at Starbucks, Whole Foods, or any supermarket bakery.
As you can see below, the size of Levain cookies is also substantially larger than the size of your average cookies.
The main criticism I have for Levain cookies is the short amount of time the cookies remain fresh. I find that it is best to eat these cookies within the first few hours of purchasing them. While they don’t taste stale after a day, there is a noticeable difference in the texture and flavor of the cookies; the outer layer of the cookies becomes progressively harder, and the flavor becomes slightly duller. If you eat them right away, they’re warm and scrumptious!
One way Levain could further improve its menu is by increasing its variety. There are currently only four cookie flavors available for purchase: Oatmeal Raisin, Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip, Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip, and Chocolate Chip Walnut. I would highly recommend that Levain widens the variety of flavors they offer, and I hope that they become more conscious of allergens. Many people, such as my sister, are severely allergic to peanuts and tree nuts, so having half of the cookie menu include nuts is a big downside in my opinion. It would be fantastic if Levain started introducing new flavors in the future!
Quality: 10/10
Value: 10/10
Length of Freshness: 7/10
Flavor Variety: 5/10
If you’d like to see other reviews on local bakeries, let me know in the comments below!
These look so yummy!
I know! They’re delicious 🙂
I’m hungry Thank you. I can’t wait till it opens on the east side!
Me neither!
The goods from Levain Bakery looks delicious! I know I would LOVE the chocolate chip walnut, hehe.
It’s really good!