From pints of Thrifty ice cream to freshly baked apple pie, the newly revived Helms Bakery in Culver City has it all.
Since reopening last Friday, Sang Yoon’s softly opened daytime destination has drawn Angelenos from near and far eager to explore everything the long-awaited bakery, restaurant and specialty market has to offer. People love a reboot, and what's not to love about the reimagining of a bakery that closed over 50 years ago?
On the fourth day of service (which unfortunately happened to be the day after Election Day), I stopped in and tried over 24 different food and drink items with the help of Time Out videographer Danny Carranza. Not everything bowled me over, but a few culinary standouts are capable of competing with some of the city’s best bakeries and sandwich shops—and even those that didn’t still serve as compelling options for a breezy, casual Westside brunch.
As previously reported in Eater, the founding chef of Father’s Office and now-closed Lukshon confirmed to me in person that Helms Bakery intends to keep new items coming out of the kitchen throughout the day.
Key Takeaway #1: Once the initial hype dies down, you don’t necessarily need to get here early in the morning to get the good stuff. As someone who’s wasted hours of my life showing up early to wait in line for overhyped spots like Fondry, Modu Cafe and Harucake (yes I am throwing shade here), I consider that the downright greatest feature of the new Helms Bakery.
However, what’s available first thing in the morning may sell out well before noon, with slightly different items replacing them. The bulk of the bakery’s savory offerings, as of writing, are not available until 11am, when the hot-and-cold deli counter opens and the “Good to Go” fridge and “Hot & Fresh” shelves get stocked with additional sandwiches and kimbap (Korean-style dried seaweed rolls) at lunch. Before that, the same area offers breakfast burritos, ready-to-eat breakfast plates (scrambled eggs, biscuit, sausage and maple syrup), chia seed puddings and yogurt parfaits. The bakery section, however, was fully stocked with all manner of pie slices, cake slices, cookies and a handful of doughnuts.
While I’m usually not one to rush over within days of a new opening—the staff is usually still working out operational kinks, and I consider it a disservice to judge restaurants at that point—it’s clear that readers are jonesing for all things related to the new Helms Bakery. The brand first launched in 1931, a year before the then much-smaller city of Los Angeles hosted the Olympic Games. Ever since, the bakery’s iconic “Olympic Bread” logo has loomed large above its former headquarters, which now house several high-end furniture stores, the second locations of Father’s Office and Pasta Sisters, plus the relatively new modern Austrian eatery Lustig.
Most people (myself included) are too young to remember the waning days of the delivery-based Southern California bakery, which shut its doors in 1969, but I do fondly recall learning about the local history behind the Helms Bakery District while attending elementary school in Culver City. Yoon’s reimagining deviates from the original business model—Helms Bakery 2.0 isn’t about to deliver bread to your doorstep anytime soon—with a gourmet-yet-approachable array of bread and other baked goods, including doughnuts; a deli-style lunch menu; giftable home, grocery and pantry items; and a fully stocked coffee, tea and smoothie bar that uses house-roasted beans.
Key Takeaway #2: There are many different, equally interesting ways to experience the new Helms Bakery. It simply depends on what you’re in the mood for. Early next year, Yoon also plans to launch a sit-down restaurant next door named Dinette with a midcentury-inspired menu and a liquor license.
On my first visit around 9:30am, I picked up seven different baked items (ranging in price from $4 to $7.50)—most of them doughnuts, which I love on principle—and a cup of Manos de Mujer, the seasonal drip coffee ($4). Given the relatively early hour and post-election gloom, crowds were relatively light. The majority of the outdoor seating area, as of writing, sits in direct sunlight, and could honestly use a shade covering of some kind. Even in L.A.’s cooler fall weather, the heat will slowly bake you over the course of your meal.
What I didn’t discover until I made my way to the drink bar, however, was a minor observation you might miss if you’re visiting during a more hectic time period, particularly on weekends. Key Takeaway #3: Some of the doughnuts are offered at both bakery and drink stations, but the viennoiserie (laminated pastries like croissants and danishes) are only available at the coffee, tea and smoothie bar.
After taking 15 minutes to quickly sample the baked goods and drink some much-needed caffeine, I left the premises to run a nearby errand, returning to meet up with Danny around 10:30am. By then, even on a Wednesday, a short line had formed for the yet-to-open deli counter. The cold side of the counter offered a small selection of seasonal cold salads, similar to Erewhon and East Hollywood’s L.A. Grocery & Café, but what I was really excited for was the hot section, which includes salmon, meatloaf, fried chicken, saucy chicken wings, a rotating soup selection and made-to-order sandwiches including pastrami and tuna melts.
With Danny’s help, I was able to scope out the different packaged offerings without losing my place in the deli line. Key Takeaway #4: It will cut down on time if you can bring a friend if you’re trying to assemble a meal with drinks, baked items and hot food. The dizzying retail selection included over 100 different bottled and canned beverages, including fancy sparkling and still waters, lemonades, sodas, kombucha and imported Asian beverages from brands like UCC and Milkis.
Key Takeaway #5: Even if you’re not having a meal or picking up pastries, it’s worth visiting Helms Bakery for the specialty grocery, pantry and gift selection alone. At every cash register, you’ll encounter hard-to-find chip and candy items like mac-and-cheese–flavored popcorn and violet-flavored chewing gum. In the center, Helms Bakery also stocks an equally impressive selection of “shoppy shop” items, both edible and non-edible. When I visited, an entire table divided by “human babies” and “fur babies” included gourmet dog treats, knitted anthropomorphic vegetables and other adorable playthings.
Returning to where Danny was waiting, I placed our soup-to-nuts lunch order: two combo plates ($22 each), which come with two hot or cold sides and a main; two pieces of fried chicken ($8); a packaged Asian-style crustless egg salad sandwich ($12); a packaged shaved mortadella sandwich ($15); a made-to-order pastrami sandwich ($15); and a la carte portions of two more salads ($7 apiece) and macaroni and cheese ($6). For the two combo plates, I chose meatloaf and lasagna, the day’s special, as mains. After I paid, I ran outside in search of shaded seating—a hot commodity on the mostly sunny patio—while Danny went inside to order a few drinks: a mocha ($7), a black iced tea ($4) and an on-draft iced oolong ($7). Within 15 minutes, we had our entire selection of goodies to try.
All in all, every food and drink item we tried was delicious. If I had to rate them individually on Time Out’s 5-star scale, most items hovered around a 4, the lowest being closer to 3, factoring in both taste and value. Compared to other local upscale-leaning lunch options, I also found everything to be reasonably priced, relatively speaking. The five items that stood out the most to me were:
1. Pastrami sandwich ($15)
Made with pastrami sourced from RC Provisions (which also supplies Langer’s and most of the other top delis around town), this handheld goes head-to-head with some of the best sandwiches in town. The Russian dressing spiked with ssamjang offers a hint of spice, the beef is juicy and flavorful and the soft sandwich loaf is toasted just the right amount.
2. Apple pie ($7.50)
This deep-dish rendition is full of cinnamon, layers and everything else I love about apple pie. In my lifetime, I’ve tried slices of apple pie from almost everywhere in town, including the Apple Pan and Winston Pies, and the only version I like more than the one at Helms Bakery is the decadent caramel sauce-laden version offered at the Pie Room by Curtis Stone in Hollywood. As more of an everyday treat, the apple pie at Helms Bakery is much more my speed.
3. (Pictured second from left) Guava, white chocolate and cheese doughnut ($5)
Across the board, the seasonal doughnuts at Helms Bakery are just as delicious as the ones offered across town at Bub and Grandma’s. Both filled doughnuts on offer that day and the strawberry twist were great, but the “textbook-perfect” cruller, as Jenn Harris of the Los Angeles Times referred to it, comes with an overwhelming amount of coconut flakes that I found cloying and unbalanced. And I love coconut flakes! What I preferred, surprisingly enough, was the guava white chocolate twist, which comes topped with a sprinkling of Parmesan. The sweet-savory combination was an exercise in globally inspired culinary excellence.
4. Two pieces of fried chicken ($8)
The lightly breaded fried chicken skin at Helms Bakery can’t compete with, say, the craggy-crusted golden beauties at nearby Honey’s Kettle, but Danny and I couldn’t get enough of the juicy, well-marinated white meat. In the realm of deli-style fried chicken, however, it was the perfect centerpiece to a smattering of straightforward chilled salads and the lighter macaroni and cheese. The chicken here reminds me of a less salty, more upscale version of the kind sold at Ralph’s—and since the supermarket has clinched a spot on our guide to the city’s best fried chicken, you should consider that the highest compliment.
5. Egg salad sandwich ($12)
It’s no Konbi (RIP), but this tasty, simple gourmet egg salad sandwich hits the spot for a reasonable price. There's not much to delve into here, but I enjoyed this simple sando far more than some of the cold salads, which sounded more interested than they tasted.
There you have it, folks. While I’ll be waiting a couple of weeks before paying Helms Bakery another visit—upon which I'd bet that everything would be even better, both operationally and in terms of food quality—here are my top five favorite dishes and five key takeaways if you want to visit in the meantime. If you just scrolled to the bottom, (sigh) here you go.
Key Takeaway #1: Once the initial hype dies down, you don’t necessarily need to get to Helms Bakery early in the morning to get the good stuff.
Key Takeaway #2: There’s many different, equally interesting ways to experience the new Helms Bakery. It simply depends on what you’re in the mood for.
Key Takeaway #3: Some of the doughnuts are offered at both bakery and drink stations, but the viennoiserie (laminated pastries like croissants and danishes) are only available at the coffee, tea and smoothie bar.
Key Takeaway #4: It will cut down on time if you can bring a friend if you’re trying to assemble a meal with drinks, baked items and hot food.
Key Takeaway #5: Even if you’re not having a meal or picking up pastries, it’s worth visiting Helms Bakery for the specialty grocery, pantry and gift selection alone.
Helms Bakery is located at 3280 Helms Ave, Culver City, CA 90232. For free on-site parking, enter from Helms Avenue just off Venice Boulevard. Soft opening hours: Wed–Sun, 8am–3pm.