Bread bakery and fresh goat milk in Houston (Pearland)

Regional Dining Discussions Texas, Southwest
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Coming to Houston this weekend. We need some staples for the little one. One is “real” bread. Crusty preferred. White, whole wheat, grains, sourdough, etc doesn’t matter. Although we wouldn’t turn down brioche or challah, of course. Bonus points if the bakery has sweet baked goods, too, like croissants or pies. The other is fresh goat milk, either raw or pasteurized is fine. But not the ultra-pasteurized stuff like Meyenberg brand.

We’ll be in the Pearland area, but I am willing to travel for the goat milk. Two years ago, in Dallas, we drove an hour each way to a farm for raw goat milk. (Actually watched them milk and bottle it!) Usually TSA will let us fly with goat milk, but a couple times they have not. Just want to prepared in case it happens again. Thanks for any leads!

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There is a HEB Plus in Pearland that has a bakery. They put out an astonishing array of breads and tortillas. If you are in Houston, stop by El Bolillo and prepare to be amazed.

I don’t drink goat milk, but Blue Heron Farm is popular for goat milk products. They are at various farmers markets on weekends.

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Here’s what came up when I googled for goat milk in Houston.

Most of these are no where near Pearland but if you open that first link you’ll find Proverbs Farm and Dairy in Alvin, just south of Pearland, and the Nassau Bay Farmers market, which will be southeast or east southeast of where you are.

I’ll let you look into those.

HEB carries the brand you mentioned that is not acceptable, which probably means that’s pretty common in mainstream supermarkets around here. I see goat milk in dairy cases all the time but I’ve never paid any attention to it. What does Whole Foods tend to carry? There’s bound to be a big Whole Foods if not in Pearland then in the Bay Area, which will be convenient.

I’ll have to think about your bakery options in that part of the area.

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Thanks for the replies. I did some basic searching before posting, but it was good to understand the lay of the land a bit. Blue Heron doesn’t sell milk and Proverbs has discontinued their milk sales. Whole Foods varies by store. They usually have the Meyenberg, but then every now and then they will carry a local brand. Ours stopped carrying the local brand a couple years ago even though they would sell out fast. Calling the store, getting through to the dairy department, and explaining Meyenberg vs local is never fun. I have quite a bit of experience with this, and information on the Internet is sometimes outdated. It’s a lot of work calling everywhere, so I thought I’d see if anyone knew for sure before continuing with my search.

I missed the Nassau Bay Farmers market. It’s a bit far from where we’ll be, but that market is actually at a store (Erma’s) that always carries local goat milk. It’s a good last resort.

Swede Farm’s website mentioned they sell at Urban Harvest Farmer’s Market, which also has two bread vendors. But I didn’t see Swede Farm on their list so I called them to find out they now sell at Memorial Villages Farmers Market, which also has a bread vendor. It’s a bit farther then Urban Harvest, but not too bad.

I’m curious about HEB Plus, because I haven’t had good “scratch” bread from a grocery store here in Baltimore (namely Wegman’s and Whole Foods.) It’s pretty close so I can easily stop by.

El Bolillo looks wonderful. We had a small modern Mexican bakery here in Baltimore, but it closed after a few months. I called it modern because they used butter instead of lard. I loved that place.

Thanks again for helping out. It made the task much easier for me.

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Apologies for the late update. Some random thoughts from our Houston trip.

We were disappointed in the regular bakeries we visited – namely El Bolillo, Three Brothers Bakery, and Olivia’s Donuts. Everything was very “same-ish”. We have a similar style of bakery here in Baltimore, too. I thought Angela’s Oven at the Memorial Villages Farmers Market was much better.

We also picked up goat milk from Swede Farm at the same market. It was the first time we tasted a goat milk blend (from different goat breeds). This made for a memorable chevre. Wish I could have some right now.

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I go to Three Brothers regularly (the original, on S. Braeswood on the SW side) and have been for years. It’s the best bakery in my part of town IMO, but, yes, there are others that are better. I usually get only the seeded rye or French, sliced to use as sandwich bread (oh, and a hamentash or two, sufganiyah, etc.).

If you went to the El Bolillo on the SE side, off I-45, I have to say I was disappointed in my only visit so far; nothing was fresh, as you can often find at the northside store. But I will give it more tries since it’s way closer to me.

Some other bakeries that get kudos:

Slow Dough - started at farmer’s markets, became famous for their pretzel buns, which they introduced here; said to supply many restaurants in Houston and Austin. Their breads have been available for some time at Whole Foods and last year they bought the local Whole Foods commercial bakery on the far SW side. Last time I was at WF saw Slow Dough branded loaves and loaves not branded as Slow Dough so I don’t know if they’re going to keep supplying two lines of breads or not.

Slow Dough breads have also been available at Revival Market on Heights and they have a bake shop at Weights + Measures in Midtown. I have made the special trip to buy their Salinger Rye and Pumpernickel breads, both of which I like. I thought their pastries that I have tried were over-priced and too heavy for my taste. I haven’t tried a croissant or baguette or any of their other breads.

Kraftsmen - around a little longer than Slow Dough, also said to supply many restaurants with special breads. I went to their original bakery/sandwich shop in Montrose close to a decade ago and didn’t get what all the buzz was about but that was only one visit. It’s been on my to-do list to make it up to the Heights location but it hasn’t happened yet.

I’ve heard a lot about Angela’s Oven but haven’t gotten up there yet either.

Common Bond - this one opened with a tremendous amount of hype a year or so ago and continues to get very good ratings on YELP (over a thousand reviews and almost 2 thousand pics). I haven’t been. Hate the parking and traffic in Montrose so I tend to put off checking out places there.

I’ll try to come up with a couple more that you might want to check out.

I appreciate your feedback. I’ve been meaning to get up to that farmer’s market.

ETA: Weights + Measures is where you’re going to find the freshest Slow Dough products, I think.

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There’s a new Farmer’s Market near me on the SW side, much closer to Pearland than Memorial Villages. Angela’s Oven and Swede Farm are both there. I haven’t checked it out yet but will soon.

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