Bolo Bakery & Cafe

On Saturday, Mrs. HFG and I decided to go see the last Harry Potter movie. Not wanting to stand in line with a bunch of screechy teens (or the sketchy adults that follow screechy teens around :<) we decided to catch the 10 AM screening out in Plainville.

Knowing that I knew a trip to the movies on Saturday AM would probably mean no delicious pancakes, my wife quickly suggested we try Bolo Bakery & Café in Plainville, which she said had gotten some good internet reviews. When I hesitated, Mrs. HFG correctly sensed I was still trying to figure out a way to get her to make pancakes before we left so she quickly added “I think the people that own it are Portuguese.”

Bolo (which has several food-related meanings in Portuguese) is, in fact, owned by Portuguese immigrants Antonio (pictured at left) and Isabel Abrantes. After years of work and saving, the Abrantes opened a bakery in Parkville (then still the center of the region’s Portuguese community) in 1984 which grew and – with the help of the Abrantes’ son - ultimately morphed into Bolo.

Like its name says, Bolo is both a bakery, offering the full range of pastries and breads, as well as some fabulous-looking wedding cakes, and a café, offering breakfast and lunch.

For breakfast I decided to have the chorizo, cheddar scramble ($6), which consisted of 3 eggs, cheddar cheese, and a generous amount of chorizo sausage. This is a classic Portuguese-American dish (every diner in New Bedford and Fall River has some variation of this on the menu) and Bolo’s take was exactly what I wanted, with good quality sausage and cheese and eggs that were scrambled just right.

The dish comes with toast and either homefries or fruit. I opted for the fruit and in lieu of toast I decided to try 2 pieces of French toast, which were absolutely delicious. In fact, they reminded me very much of rich French toast my mother makes.
I also had a nice cup of coffee and some OJ.

Mrs. HFG opted for a cup of coffee and an omelet (3 eggs) with goat cheese, onions, and spinach ($5.50 - $.50 more than the menu price because of the extra filling). As with my eggs, Mrs. HFG’s were perfectly prepared and the fillings were all fresh and delicious.

The service was friendly and prompt, which is exactly what you want in a breakfast place and exactly what I expect from hardworking Portuguese-Americans. In fact, one of the waitresses looked like so much like my goddaughter’s younger sister that Mrs. HFG teased “honey, these girls look just like you. These are your people!”

Obviously, Bolo isn’t fine dining and it isn’t even a Portuguese restaurant, despite its provenance and the good number of Portuguese inspired menu selections. Rather, it’s a great little breakfast spot with a bakery attached to it. Like I said earlier, although I didn’t sample any of the pastry, it looked great. Still I’ll let you know for sure when I eat my way through it some other time! :p

Here’s a link to Bolo’s website - http://www.bolobakery.com