The Works Bakery Cafe Reviews

Decent food, decent prices, good selection. Took a little longer to prepare than I expected. Ate outside on a cold day.

I've been a regular at The Works in Portsmouth for 2.5 years now and I have to say I have never had an experience that was anything short of excellent. The staff are fast, friendly and have superb customer service. The storefront is clean and inviting always. The food is delicious!! Bagels and coffee are among the best in Portsmouth. If you're a visitor or local of Portsmouth, check this lovely place out in the heart of downtown!

Great for breakfast and lunch. Quick bites. Good smoothies. Prices are comparable for Portsmouth. The lines can be extremely long and if you go when it's busiest, be prepared to wait a while.

Love The Works! Great coffee, bagels, and breakfast sandwiches. They are also a local business that should get our preferential patronage. Please help me support local businesses.

The tiny pieces of chicken thrown about. The sauce. The mess. The HORROR. Every time I think about trying this place again, I think of this sandwich. It haunts me.

I had a great salad very reasonably priced with friendly service all good .

Great tasting breakfast wraps. At first the service seems chaotic, but it actually works pretty well.

Lame, expensive and the food stunk. I had bacon and eggs. Not impressed.

Great bagels, friendly staff. Owner is often available and also very friendly

PLEASE READ THE REVIEWS BEFORE GOING HERE - Absolutely the WORST place I have every been to for lunch in my entire life.

4-5 girls standing behind the counter acting like they were incredibly annoyed that we entered and wanted to order something to eat. These people were so unbelievably rude - I was actually stunned by what I encountered here.

My friend and I drove up from Boston today with our mothers to visit Strawberry Banke and have lunch. After waiting 10 minutes at the end of the counter each person had an excuse why they couldn't take our order. "I'm cutting bread", "I have to clean this area", "I'm busy". We were the only ones there.

As soon as I moved toward the cash register to ask the next person for help, a guy got in line behind us and the girl immediately took his order. I asked her what was going on and she said, "You lost your spot when you moved toward the register. You have to get back in line and start over."

NEVER, EVER, EVER have I encountered more rude, dysfunctional, and inappropriate behavior. These people are beyond belief. For God's sake PLEASE don't waste your time and money.

Needless to say the food came out at all different times, the place was filthy, and the help is downright RUDE. A girl with a long braid who left at 3:00 on Tuesday, May 14th should be FIRED. The "Manager" is a joke. She should be fired, too. Maybe she could get a job in one of the local tattoo shops. I think she would be much more comfortable there.

Who the hell OWNS this place???? Don't you even read the reviews? Are you just raking in too much money to care? And the link you posted in other reviews to contact you - like your store - it DOESN'T WORK.

On a recent rainy Saturday afternoon, my wife and I walked through several packed coffee shops. We stopped at The Works because it was the only spot with a free table, and one near the windows at that. We bought mugs & they let us have free coffee refills. At the end of the day, the staff gave us the leftover pastries.

Good tasting food, decent hot drinks, and friendly staff--and an uncrowded cafe. I couldn't ask for more.

Best quick stop healthy option breakfast place around.

Fast service even when busy, and the quality & taste of the food has been consistently exceptional. Friendly staff as well
*Environmentally friendly packaging for orders To-Go*

Great Food and customer service. Great variety of sandwiches, smoothies, salads, breakfast (all day)

This place is great, healthy selections available, fresh homemade soups, salads and sandwiches. As well as the great food selections it's a wonderful place to meet friends, relatives or new friends. You will not be disappointed

Nice place for a quick bite on a quaint town. Very friendly people.

Nice quiet cafe with some good food options. I got a sausage, egg, and cheese on a bagel with a sodie pop for breakfast. Yes, I drink sodie pops for breakfast.

Everything tasted quite good, but being from the New York area the bagel was not what I expected. It was kind of a hybrid pastry-bagel thing. I liked the taste but if you're looking for an NYC style bagel this might not be your place.

The staff is always so friendly and they do an amazing job when it gets busy. My go-to breakfast place

A staple of Portsmouth, and a great place for breakfast or lunch.

No kids menu. Smaller portions appropriate for kids must nothing specific listed for kids. Food is high quality and tastes good.

I tried out this Cafe for the first time. I ordered a Thai marinated chicken wrap. I ordered the wrap to go. I will say that the flavor and ingredients were great.. I'm giving 3 stars because it was a huge mess. The wrap was ordered to go. When I took it out of the bag, it was completely soaked and dripping. It was like trying to contain soup inside of a wrap. All of the ingredients fell out. If it wasn't for the wax paper there would have been a bigger mess. I couldn't use my hands to eat the wrap. Had to resort to using a fork. Maybe cooking some of the liquid out would help.. The employees are very kind and the place is neat and clean.

My favorite breakfast downtown in Portsmouth. The line moves fast, the service great and the coffee is good as well.

Great food and staff. Definite go to place to satisfy your hunger in a comfortable setting.

vegi tofuti is amazing and vegan along with most of the bagels.

Good local bagels - not the best I've ever had, but definitely better than anything you'll get at a Dunkin's or Starbucks up the street!

Stopped in for a late lunch and was not disappointed! The staff was so friendly and brought out our food and got us waters so quickly. The food was delicious. Don t skip the Mac and cheese, it is decadent for sure! All the other things we tried were so tasty too! Great place to eat!

More a cafe than a bakery. Limited baked goods available in variety and quantities. Ended up leaving since it was not what we were looking for.

Bagels are amazing. And the schmear options are really fresh and delicious

Very nice selection of good quality and healthy sandwiches. They are very tasty too.

Friendly service but the food was just ok for me. This place reminded me more of Panera and with so many other cute and local coffee shops around, its hard to compete.

Went there a few times on a previous trip to portsmouth. Good coffee and decent muffins and croissants.

Best bagels, best service, and best veggie cream cheese I've ever had.

Great food healthy vegetarian option s. Nice atmosphere. Friendly service. Best bagels around too.

Great Place Have coffee there. Breakfast Friendly owner and staff. Go everyday

Everyone behind the counter is smiling AND they get the order correct. Don't be discouraged if the line is to the door...that's certainly a good sign since the food is tasty, the menu is excellent and the service is quick. For parents, they don't have a play ground or balloon guy there but it's kid friendly and the potty room is inside for easy access. Again, worth the wait if you encounter a line.

The bagels are always amazing and the staff is super friendly. I have never had a bad experience here. Definitely my favorite bagel place on the Seacoast.

Good coffee, friendly staff. Quick walk from Hilton Garden.

Great little cozy cafe. I really enjoyed my drink and the staf was extremely friendly!

Centrally located, this local chain is a great place to catch a 'quick-serve' breakfast or lunch. This is my go-to place when I am looking for a quick and tasty bite to eat. Good coffee (especially iced). Dagwood and Turkey Guacamole are great sandwiches.

Fast service. Friendly staff. Will come back here again. Can be crowded.

bad coffee decent bagel. dirty tables but its very much a self service place so what can you expect

I stop in here for lunch most every work day. Great variety on the menu of delicious & healthy choices. Today I was surprised to see them bringing awareness to the gender wage gap. Thanks Works

It's a good place with plenty of seating n booths too. I love their Veggie Tofo spread..it has little bits of veggies in it...more than some other places. Plenty of drinks n food items to choose.

Stopped in for lunch, we loved the atmosphere here and the food! Lots of healthy choices on the menu which was great. They also have lots of menu items that are from local farms, and they have a focus on sustainability which is great. Service was a bit confusing as to when you pay, we ordered first, didn t pay and then when we went to pay they thought we were ordering again. Seems like it would be easy for someone to leave without paying. Otherwise a wonderful little spot!

One of my favorite sandwiches in town is a garlic bagel with turkey swiss and bacon from Bagel Works. It's expensive though (due to their charging a lot for each extra)

It is clean with plenty of seating and the staff is friendly and efficient. You can find newspapers to read and in the summer they have outdoor seating.

I've never had breakfast there before, so check other reviews for that ...

Great food here. The tomato avocado bacon sandwich was one of the best I've ever had. Staff is super friendly. Really enjoyed both times I came here.

Not much to say. It's a good place for sandwiches and bagels.

With all of the other options for food in drink in the area, I'd certainly recommend heading elsewhere. My first impression, as well as the second, was that of mediocrity. Only memorable in that it serves the weakest espresso drinks you've ever had. Also, bad service.

Love this place! Great coffee and sandwiches! Best BLT in town... Always in and out quickly, very friendly staff.

I drive to Portsmouth from Haverhill just to get a sandwich which should say a lot. Fresh mozzarella sandwich and the artichoke melt are to die for. They usually have a vegetarian soup and all of their fresh baked bread is awesome. Bagels are good too and they have olive cream cheese which I love. Everyone is super nice and despite the perpetual line they are very quick to make your lunch/breakfast. It's like a well oiled machine in there.

Friendly fast service, and the breakfast menu is priced great for downtown portsmouth

Great bagels! coffee. ..and everything else. Comfortable seating indoors and out.
Great staff..always smiling. We always take our visitors here.

Great service, excellent NY style bagels, smooth coffee. Clean, friendly and safe for a great breakfast or lunch.

I was driving around and found this place on a whim. I walked in and the amazing smells were almost overwhelming. I ordered the green machine smoothie a coffee and the spinich and sausage breakfast burrito. I am in absolute heaven. This place does healthy food right!! Super cute inside and very friendly staff. Will recommend to ANYONE!!

The Works is fantastic. I've been a weekly regular here for about 5 years. Their food is fresh and delicious and it's a terrific option for a quick and affordable lunch - soups, sandwiches, plated meals and a variety of drinks both hot and cold. I'm eating the Farmer's Veggie sandwich as I write this (my favorite). Their staff is a force to be reckoned with. They are diligent and determined and it's an impressive sight when you see 6-8 of them behind the counter working hard to prepare everyone's meals on a non-stop basis. Huge props to management for training and maintaining such an effective team!

Unfortunately, I have to dock one star for one simple reason: it's inconvenient to go in and order just a coffee, namely while it's busy. When it's not busy it's not an issue, but The Works is busy most of the time. Because all transactions are processed through one register you have two options: 1) wait in the (deservedly) long line which lengthens your visit ten-fold, or 2) awkwardly wedge your way into the front of the line (cutting off customers who are in line and ready to pay for their food). The layout of the cafe contributes to this but it's not very convenient for grabbing a quick cup of coffee.

Highly recommend for a quick lunch, less so if you want a coffee to go.

Just absolutely amazing! Had their ham and swiss breakfast sandwich on everything bagel and it exceeded expectations. My wife had the spinach, ham and cheese and just loved it. Great job, can't wait to move to New Hampshire and frequent you guys.

Amazing as always. I haven't been here in a while ever since our office moved to a new building away from the area. I miss coming here and I was happy to find that the food was still as good as ever. I treated myself to my regular sandwich, the avocado turkey bacon sandwich and the tomato/bacon Mac and cheese. My boyfriend got one of their specials, it was a melt but I forgot the name and a side salad. He enjoyed his melt so much that he had his boss take a bite of it to try it out. I would come back here again when I am able to be in the area. The food is always freshly made and I haven't been disappointed by then at all.

Great sandwiches with fresh ingredients, locally sourced. Vibes were great with artwork available from local artists. Highly recommend the stop even for a cup for coffee.

The Works Cafe is the best! Their food is delicious and fairly priced. The employees are always kind and willing to help. I have to order sandwich baskets last minute frequently and they always step up. Thank you Works Cafe!

One of my favorite quick stop ears in Portsmouth. Very high quality ingredients and custom assembled everything. Exactly my definition of a good eat. Proof that food fast doesn't have to be fast food!

Amazing sandwiches. Fresh ingredients. Many choices of grub. I suggest you ask the person helping you to surprise you with their favorite! They never disappoint!