Corbin's Confections may not be anything special to many, but to others, it's like finding the pot…read moreof gold at the end of the rainbow. After having been selected as number 4 of the Top 50 most prolific Elites of 2025, a year when I also was awarded the Yelp Triad Squad Photographer of the Year Award at the Yelpies 2025 Award Ceremony, an event that honored the highest-performing Yelp Elites, and where last year I was awarded the Yelp Triad Squad Yelper of the Year Award, I decided that this year, as an All-Star Yelp Elite, I not only wanted to be the first to discover new restaurants and bring them to the attention of the public, but also to uncover those found in hidden paths that for one reason or another have not reached the public in its totality. And Corbin's Confections, in Salem, Virginia is the perfect example. I don't know you but to me, I love sweet treats and bakery items. A dinner is not complete if I don't have a sweet dessert. Yet we have people with food allergies that can't afford this luxury. Corbin's Confections was born out of the motherly love of a mother for her son, Corbin, who is anaphylactic to peanuts and all tree-nuts. She wanted to create a bakery that her son and other's with similar allergies, can experience the joy of eating baked goods without having to worry that something would happen to them, because of some ingredient that the food contained. Her mission was "To provide a place where anyone with gluten, peanut, or tree-nut allergies can get tasty treats." Today, I had the opportunity to visit this bakery and meet with Shana, the owner of this women-owned business. She was so friendly and welcoming and realized the service she was providing the community was a very special one. She told me that all bakery items there were gluten free, peanut free, and tree-nut free. It is also mentioned on the store window, right under the name of the bakery. Even though it was almost closing time, she still had some delicious and safe treat on display in the display cases, like cupcakes, donuts, and other savory items. We were interrupted by a customer who wanted to find out information about placing an large order for a gathering of some sort. Listening in was how I found out that she also provides custom options for special occasions and dietary needs, She also provides custom options for special occasions and dietary needs, including lactose intolerance. I thought to myself, how in the past some kids with food allergies might not want to attend birthday parties of their friends in order not to embarrassed by being the one one who didn't have a piece of the birthday cake. Well now, if the parents are aware that their sons and daughters have friends with food allergies, they can have the cake and other sweet treats made here, and that way, everyone can enjoy the party without any concern. Definitely see how this business can provide better quality of life to many in our community and therefore give it my total support and urge you to do the same.

I live five hours away, but every time I work here I make an effort to stop in. This place is…read moreconsistently good with great service. And everything is gluten free. A celiacs dream come true. My favorite today was the Danish and the oatmeal cookie. Yum!

As I was arranging a birthday celebration, the cake fell through at the last minute, and I was left…read moreeight hours to find a bakery with strawberry cake and strawberry frosting. I initially had called a few bakeries, including Bubblecake. From the first Phone Call, I was blown away at how accommodating & patient Hannah (I apologize if I mix and mismatched your names, ALTHOUGH I think I'm accurate) As the the hours FLEW by, I found myself with 70 minutes to get from Grandin, to Bubblecake (still unsure of my decision), to Best Buy (for final gift), back to Grandin, and to middle of Salem!!! As, I was on my way to Bubblecake (leaving the gas station in Grandin, because OF COURSE, my gas light) I called them and was inquiring about the cupcakes flavors, and sizes, but Kate was AMAZING! She was friendly and patient. She was explaining the size of the cupcakes with a comparison to her "fist", and because of my terrible hearing (thank you Marine Corps!), I thought she was saying fish, and finally understood "fist", so it made complete sense, and honestly helped me make my decision. When I walked into Bubblecake, I was greeted by Katie, and Hannah and up immediately. She answered all remaining questions, and helped me make my final decision. Hannah, Katie, and with the help of Ariana, BEAUTIFULLY prepared the 2 dozen of Strawberry Cupcakes with strawberry frosting in perfect packaging. Not only friendly, patient and BEYOND accommodating, but extremely proficient! The dream there is amazing, and to make it even better, everyone RACED about the cupcakes! When I mentioned where they were from, everyone agreed about how good "Bubblecake" is! Your reputation precedes you, but I want to thank Hannah, Katie, and Ariana for an absolutely stellar job from start to finish! I'll be back, and I know who my bakery is, celebration or not Thank you again ladies, and I'll see you in the future!

This modern looking bakery offers a wide variety of delicious cupcakes, cookies, and cakes, as well…read moreas other sweet treats. Surrounded by windows in almost all sides, it attracts the attention of those walking by as well as repeat customers who have already been through that initial experience. I am one of the second type. This is not my first time here, but the first time writing a review because I want the public to know about this fantastic place where sweet treasures can be discovered and enjoyed. The first impression when you walk in, is of how clean and organized the store is. Besides the great variety of sweet items neatly arranged, you can find the walls decorated with many artworks of many kinds and you can listen to relaxing music in the background. But this didn't just happen, a young lady and gentleman both are working arduesly bringing out the fresh cupcakes and arranging them neatly in their place. They warmly greet me and allow me to keep looking at all the items until I'm ready to make an order. While I continue looking, other customers with more experience and knowledge of the store and items come right in and order and take the items. They wrap everything so nicely that any of the items here can be bought and given as a gift to someone close. While the young man went to answer the phone, the young lady answers my question of if they still had the large cookie sandwiches that a good friend of mine and I bought last time I was here. She answers me in the affirmative and takes out a pan full of them with a transparent wrap covering them up. These things are not cheap but the taste is priceless. I ordered a couple of cookie sandwiches: one with dark chocolate and one with white chocolate. She nicely wrapped them and put them in a nice box bag with handles. I highly recommend this place when you're in the mood for something sweet or would like to buy something sweet as a gift for someone or bring something as a gift to a dinner invitation. All their dessert are amazingly delicious.

Fantastic food and great environment! Every time we are in town we stop by for a croissant!!read more

What a cozy family style feeling when you walk into this bistro. The pastry case was loaded with…read morebeautiful cakes & macarons. I chose the mango mousse cake - WOW it's light & airy & refreshing , the flavors & textures all compliment each other. The young gentleman at the counter was friendly and ready to serve. I also picked up two chocolate ganache macarons for my husband to try later on. I tried their strawberry & cream iced latte - it was just okay - I didn't get much vanilla taste in my latte. Overall, would definitely come back to try more of their desserts & maybe try lunch next time too!

I have been to many bakeries in my lifetime, many wonderful ones located in cities like San Juan,…read moreMadrid, Rome, Paris, Brussels, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Miami, and Washington, DC, among others. I have truly enjoyed dining in each and every one of them. But Bread Craft, located in the Star City of Roanoke, is in a class of its own. After being ranked 4th among Yelp's Top 50 Most Prolific Elites of 2025, a distinction recognizing my consistent community engagement and high-quality contributions, I decided that this year, as an All-Star Yelp Elite, I not only wanted to be the first to discover new restaurants, businesses, and establishments, and bring them to the attention of the public, but also to go back and write follow-up reviews on those places that impressed me the most during 2025, and Bread Craft Bakery, located in Downtown Roanoke, is the perfect example of one of them. Bread Craft is a premier, artisan European-style bakery established in 2006 by owner Alex Eliades, who besides having a passion for baking, has over 25 years of baking experience, and leads the bakery focusing on traditional slow-fermentation techniques. The bakery is known for its high-quality, scratch-made sourdough, pastries, and Croissants. It evolved from a wholesale operation into a popular 6,000 square foot café on Church Avenue, also supplying local restaurants. The bakery specializes in Franch and German-style baking, utilizing sourdough as a natural leavener. It servers breakfast and lunch items, including sandwiches, salads, and some creative breakfast egg entrées. They are open Wednesdays through Sundays from 8:00AM - 2:00PM and are well known for running out of items before the end of the day. For this review I visited the Bakery / Café for breakfast on two consecutive Wednesdays. The first Wednesday I arrived too late to be able to have their Chorizo & Eggs Cocotte from their Breakfast menu. Breakfast is only served until noon, and I found out about this on that day. So instead I had a Cheese Danish and a house-made Mocha Coffee. Both items were delicious. On the second Wednesday I arrived much earlier for breakfast. Luckily, right before a whole rush of customers arriving to place Take-out orders. As soon as I walked inside I immediately felt comfortable with its clean and contemporary architectural design and decor, and an exposed red brick wall that gave it a warm ambiance. One can see that the owner spent a substantial amount in renovating the place when they moved here, and that they took good care of it, because it looked as if it had just opened for the very first time yesterday. While I was looking over all the baked items they had, I received a friendly greeting and warm welcome from a lady behind the counter who seemed to be the manager and took my order. To start I ordered a Chorizo Quiche which happened to be the Quiche of the day, and a house-made Mocha Coffee. Then since I was planning to turn this into a Brunch, for my main entrée I ordered their Chorizo Cocotte from the Breakfast menu. And for dessert I had a Chocolate Hazelnut Croissant that was simply irresistible. Everything tasted amazingly delicious, especially since I love Chorizo. The Quiche had an amazing crust with the eggs inside cooked with the perfect amount of chorizo. The Chorizo Cocotte was served in an elongated bowl with two poached eggs over Spanish sausage, accompanied by three slices of freshly made Baguette. And if all this wasn't enough, the Chocolate Hazelnut Croissant was the perfect ending dessert to this fabulous put together Brunch. Oh and the coffee was the best of the best. I invite you to view my photographs accompanying this review to get a better sense of the place and the quality of their food. What an outstanding dining experience I just had at Bread Craft. Wonderful ambiance, amazing food, and extraordinary customer service. I highly recommend this Bakery/Café whenever you're in the area. I'm absolutely certain it will become one of your favorites bakery.

10 out of 10 recommend! This place has the best pastries and bread in all of Roanoke! If you're…read morethinking about trying it, do it! You will not be disappointed! Best almond croissant I've ever had. I am obsessed with the sour dough. They usually have daily specials but you need to get there early (before 10am) to try one before they sell out, especially on the weekend. The have a refurbished old cigarette vending machine in the front, ask the front desk for a token to get a piece of art from it! Tokens are $5 and well worth it and a fun activity! They stock the machine with little pieces of art work from local / regional artists.

The Full Moon Cafe has moved into another building on the same side of the street. The bagels were…read moredelicious and fresh. The cookies we took with us were a great treat for when we got home. They were a different type of chocolate chip cookie. Can't wait to go back again!

This place is a staple of Cave Springs. They have the best breakfast bagels and even chocolate chip…read morecookies. The husband and wife team are always so friendly and the place is super clean. Highly recommend.

One of our new local favorite hangouts!!! The interior is set up in such a fun and loving way. The…read morebubble teas are great and freshly prepared utilizing only the finest ingredients. We come here at least once per week. Customer service is excellent and you feel valued from the moment you walk in. You must check them out!

My husband found this place while working. He always told me about it and finally we visited…read moretogether and I can't express enough how amazing the drinks and food is here! Took me by surprise that they have Pho here too!! We will have to come back for that. The barista was super helpful and sweet, didn't loose patience despite the many questions and changes we made. We ordered Thai tea w/regular boba pearls (my favorite), Mango Tea w/mango poppers (popping boba), and a Watermelon Freeze. We also ordered one Egg roll and one Korean Corndog. Everything exceeded my expectations. The drinks were amazing and the snacks we got were delicious! You have to come heck this place out! Everything from the decorations of the establishment to the cups used for the drinks screams to me how the owner is giving their all to make this place a great place to grab a drink & a bite! It's a very welcoming place, relaxing atmosphere will most definitely be back soon!

The downtown, brick-walled space has charm, and the baked goods appeared to have quality. My…read moreexperience left something to be desired. Arriving several hours before closing, I found only a couple of loaves on sale, and a long line to get with them. I managed to snag the last one that wasn't plain white bread, and thought I'd add a slice of pizza as it looked appealing. While the ingredients were there, the little toaster oven they used barely warmed it up at all. I ate it there, but I'd suspect it would have been much better if I'd gotten it to go and cooked it properly myself. They don't open all that early on weekdays and I've struggled to make it in, and on the weekend, they struggled to meet expectations. Perhaps on a different day, they could do a better job of getting the right baked goods into my hands.

For some time now every time I passed by this bakery located on Market Street in the heart of…read moreDowntown Roanoke, I would try to look inside the store, but the screen doors and the reflection of the windows didn't allow me to, and I never saw anyone going in or out the bakery. So I never thought anything about it, and never had an reason to. But today I said to myself, I have to take the road less traveled and go inside. And when I did, I discovered the best kept secret of Downtown Roanoke. A bakery that brought me back to years ago, when I visited Paris, France. With beautiful original hardwood floors and exposed red brick walls, high ceilings, and wonderful lighting treatment, the restaurant projected a warm and cozy feeling with the right ambiance to relax and have a cup of homemade coffee accompanied by a piece of freshly baked bread, bagel, or danish; or even better, the creative discovery of the Sweet & Spicy Bacon with Caramelized Onion Scrambled Egg Pizza. Which I definitely ended up ordering and enjoying with a large cup of Cafe Mocha, which was only 25 cents more than the small cup. And was one of the best Mochas that I have ever had in any coffee shop, yet along in any bakery. The solid white with tones of black marble tables and black chairs, contributed to make the ambiance of the bakery the right place in which to enjoy a breakfast none other than those I once enjoyed in Paris, France. As I enjoyed my breakfast dining experience, steady customers came in to have breakfast as well, and many others to order takeout. One even came to order a beautiful made cake which they also pride themselves of having, as well as one of my favorites, the Peanut Butter Pie. And last but not least was the young lady server behind the counter. She warmly greeted me when I arrived and answered all my questions about this quaint local business, and many of its products, which were many. And who prepared the amazing Cafe Mocha. And brought it to the table of my choice, together with the amazingly delicious, first time discovered, scrambled egg pizza. I also had an "Asiago Bagel" with Cream Cheese and a Cherry Cheese Croissant. The other employees and one that I think could have been the owner, I was able to greet with my eyes and a smile, seemed so friendly and also contributed to make me feel at home. I highly recommend this cozy Bakery Cafe who also has wraps, hot paninis, sandwiches, soups, and salads on its menu to enjoy for lunch. What an extraordinary dining experience! I will never again walk by an unknown food establishment without stopping by and walking in. For it is those who take the road less traveled who discover and enjoy the best in life.

I stopped by On the Rise in Grandin and tried the Pecan Cinnamon Roll, fresh out of the oven. It…read morewas absolutely perfect--warm, gooey sweetness.

Amazing service 10/10 very sweet it's very slow wish more people came here. The food was fast very…read morefresh and warm. The owner was very accommodating for specific wants. Recommend the soups and sandwiches especially tomato cheddar.