Townsend Park Bakery
Sausage pizza with organic sourdough crust in the bluestone oven at Townsend. Mmmmmm.
So, a lot of folks have been emailing us with questions about Townsend Bakery, the new wood fired pizza/artisan bakery shop on Washington Avenue across from Townsend Park.
Last night we finally had a chance to check it out.
Owner Mark Smith (the guy who started the Lark Street Wine Bar) has done a beautiful job restoring the place. And it's huge. Looks like there will be plenty of space to do music, hold meetings and other events, which is all part of the plan.
Crusty organic sourdough breads are baked in the morning. Pizzas are available after 5, once the adirondack bluestone oven has had a chance to heat up a bit. Once they're in the oven, they take less than 5 minutes to cook. We tried a sweet sausage pie last night... and lets just say we'll be trying more very soon. The organic sourdough crust in the brick oven is very nice, and the ingredients are all top quality.
They've had kind of a soft opening. They started with the breads and moved on to pizza. Now they're tweaking the sandwich bread, trying to get a tighter crumb. Then they'll start making panini.
We're looking forward to it.
Find It
Townsend Park Bakery
238 Washington Avenue
Albany , ny 12210
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Comments
I have had a number of their excellent breads now (have yet to try the pizza) and the olive flat bread is a stand-out--chewy and studded with tangy olives.
... said chrisck on Oct 8, 2008 at 5:24 PM | link
I have high hopes for Townsend. I've been a couple of times. Mark had some problems with his flour supplier in just the second week. As far as I know he's back on track. The best part of this place (well, 2nd best after the bread) is Mark. If the bread isn't perfect he'll tell you that right away. I can't wait to try to pizza!
... said beaverstreetjugband on Oct 8, 2008 at 5:31 PM | link
yum!
i hope this pizza gets included in the thing that i'm not supposed to talk about yet here.
... said renée on Oct 8, 2008 at 10:01 PM | link
Stopped in once at Larkfest and it was awesome! Great location, sparkling clean, and the women at the counter was soo nice! Can't wait to try all their new goodies!
... said kim on Oct 9, 2008 at 9:16 AM | link
Anyone know hours of operation and/or phone number? It looks great!
... said Margie on Oct 9, 2008 at 2:51 PM | link
@Margie... For now the hours are 11-7, but those will expand as the menu does. We'll get back to you on a phone number.
... said Mary on Oct 9, 2008 at 4:53 PM | link
I just ate here tonight……all I can say is that the pizza is FANTASTIC!!! This is what REAL brick over pizza is supposed to taste like. I am not sure if this is VPN certified….but it sure taste like it is and I have been to a couple of places which were certified…this stacks up to them hands down. (VPN is the Verace Pizza Napoletana Association which is a certification program based out of Italy). Congrats on making real authentic Neapolitan pizza.
... said Erik on Oct 10, 2008 at 6:49 PM | link
Pizza is the best I have had. Looking forward to additions to the menu
... said Christie on Oct 11, 2008 at 9:06 PM | link
I know this is an old story, but I wanted to tell my experience there. I went to get two pizza's at 545. A little before 6, a party of about 10 people or so started to arrive. My order of two pizza's was apparently put off behind their order of 5-7 pie's.
The waitress didn't let me know I would have to wait 45+ minutes for a pizza, and I ended up having to leave to catch a show. I don't have a good thing to say about this place; their interior is strange and their tables look like they belonged once to someone's patio.
Maybe their food is great, but the horrible service is completely not tolerated. I ended up calling sukhothai as I walked there, and when I arrived the food was already done even though the entire restaurant was full of people.
Good luck Townsend, maybe your food is great, but unfortunately I don't know and now I really don't want to.
... said brian on Dec 23, 2008 at 11:54 AM | link
I don't know how the place is still in business to be honest with the economy. Every time I walk home from work it's dead in there, and I do agree about the furniture.
... said doug on Feb 3, 2009 at 11:27 PM | link
I really want this place to succeed. I've given it numerous chances. I live around the corner and we need a bread bakery in the neighborhood. But everytime I go there's a problem: Long wait for pizzas promised at a certain time; NO bread (???); the bread they do have is burnt. Come on...get it right!
... said a local on Apr 15, 2009 at 1:03 PM | link
It looks like Townsend Park has closed a second time after re-opening just a few months ago. I've walked by several times this week...including this evening...and it's been dark. Their Facebook page seems to have vanished, too.
... said Paula on Nov 3, 2010 at 6:37 PM | link
@Paula: yup. This is aggravating. I feel for talented baker Tom, and all the people working there (Josh, Kim). And I also need to go to bread rehab.
... said -S on Nov 3, 2010 at 8:25 PM | link