Umpleby’s Bakery & Café — if you haven’t eaten there, you’ve heard of it. Maybe you have friends who work there, maybe you’re a parent and your student took you there for lunch last parents’ weekend or maybe the little South Street locale has been sitting on your to-do list. No matter your relationship to the café, I have reviewed it for you and am excited to give you some insight into one of Hanover’s favorite spots.
Umpleby’s, nestled between Red Kite Candy and Chew & Co. Design on South Street, invites you in through its rustic aesthetic. The cute small town feeling that you get walking down Main Street only continues as you open the wooden door and walk into the bakery.
Umpleby’s has it all — especially for sandwich lovers. The restaurant has a variety of breakfast sandwiches from which to choose, a great selection of sandwiches for lunch and other foods if you feel like stepping out of the box. They also have coffee, tea and other drinks, and a pastry case that entices the customer into buying a sweet treat.
The store also has local artwork on display for sale, while indie music plays in the background. Inside, customers can find tables clustered on either side of the room. If those are full — which they often are — the café also offers outdoor seating options for those who can brave the summer heat.
The staff is nice, comprised mostly of students who make the space feel welcoming and relatable. Visitors of Hanover and Dartmouth also flow in and out of the shop.You can see the anticipation as they decide on what they should order. The line gets long if you arrive during the lunch rush, but I have never seen someone give up their spot — a good sign of good food.
Speaking of the food, let’s talk about it.
Having gone with a group of friends, I can comment on multiple items off the menu. One friend got “The Martha Quest” — a chicken salad my friend described as “everything one needs on a hot summer’s day.” Another got “The Bertie Wooster,”' a sandwich with turkey, bacon, sliced apple, lettuce, cheddar and mayonnaise. This offering had the “perfect” mix of sweet from the apple and salty from the turkey and mayonnaise. Another got the house salad, which — while said to be great on its own — was elevated by the scoop of chicken salad they requested on top. Another got “The Howard Roark” — with a twist. While this menu item typically comes in sandwich form, my friend requested the option be turned into a salad (you can do that), with roast beef, lettuce, tomatoes and Ump’s own horseradish mayo. They left feeling full and happy.
I got “The Sherlock Holmes.” Ask almost anyone and they will have positive things to say about this sandwich. With two eggs, bacon, avocado, tomato and cheddar, it's hard not to like. I figured it would be best to review because who doesn’t love a good breakfast sandwich?
My first bite: the avocado was delicious, the bacon was crunchy and my immediate favorite part was the toasted wheat sourdough bread (show up early if you want sourdough). This sandwich is an elevated take on your classic breakfast sandwich. I added the “Franks Hot Sauce” that is provided at the condiments table, a sweet and spicy hot sauce that, as a fan of a little kick, really made the experience.
I will advise caution when using the hot sauce containers because they can spray everywhere, sometimes on your clothes… But that didn’t happen to me, of course.
The sandwich was delicious, but it lacked salt and pepper. After expressing this to a friend, they explained to me that, apparently, it is imperative to salt your own eggs when you visit Umps because they don’t do that in the kitchen. While I do think it’s fair to keep salt and pepper off the eggs until they are mixed with the other ingredients — especially salty bacon — just remember to grab the shakers from the condiments tables.
The sandwich wasn’t stuffed with ingredients. The cheese didn’t cover the whole sandwich, the avocado was only spread in the middle, etc. While these complaints are nitpicky — and nitpicky complaints definitely don’t ruin a good sandwich from a good establishment — they might present one area for improvement.
Overall, you can get as into the weeds as you want with improvements, but in the end, a trip to Ump’s with your buddies, with your family or on your own is never short of a good time. Maybe avoid trying to get work done during lunch hours — because you’ll be too distracted by a happy tummy full of good food, good conversations and good laughs with those around you.
Rating: ★★★★
