Café Review: Flat Rock Village Bakery and All Day Darling
Mallory Wallace-Usry | Nov. 25, 2025
Treats from Flat Rock Village Bakery in Flat Rock, N.C. (Mallory Wallace-Usry/Echo)
Thanksgiving break has arrived! In the spirit of the season, my mom came to visit, and we spent the weekend antiquing and buying lots of expensive coffee and pastries. For brevity’s sake, the more in-depth review in this column is of Flat Rock Village Bakery, but I’ve also included a bit about a second café, All Day Darling.
Saturday started early as I wanted to check out a small bakery in the heart of Flat Rock, just outside of Hendersonville. Aptly named, Flat Rock Village Bakery sits at the top of a residential street, minutes away from Connemara Farms, the preserved home of American poet Carl Sandburg. The bakery is 45 minutes from Warren Wilson College (WWC), but if you’re in the market for wood-fired breads, pizza and beautiful pastries, I think it’s worth the drive.
We arrived around 10:30 a.m., and the café wasn’t overly crowded despite the fact that it was Saturday morning. Still, I’d recommend going early if you can; a line did start to form soon after we ordered.
Upon entering, you’re greeted by the smell of spices and bread baking in the woodfire oven. A huge pastry case perpendicular to the front counter is home to cookies, cakes, and various baked goods, many of which are vegan or gluten-free! The interior design is rustic, and I don’t say that lightly. The café really does feel like you’re stepping inside a cottage kitchen, perhaps a Beatrix Potter illustration.
Though the café is small, the seating areas are quite large. Inside, there’s a row of booths with cafe tables in front of the main entrance, and outside is a wooden porch that’s about the same square footage as the café itself, with a closed-off heated area for colder weather opposite the café. Each customer is given a table number, and the baristas bring out food and drink as they’re ready.
First, the drinks. Per usual, I ordered an iced vanilla latte with oat milk, and my mom ordered a hot chai latte. My coffee was good, it’s hard to go wrong with a vanilla latte, but I have to say the chai was the real star of the show. Flat Rock Village Bakery makes their chai in-house and it’s brewed to order. It’s strong, fragrant and tastes like autumn - everything a chai should be. I also appreciate that the cafe sources many of their ingredients from local businesses. They serve Counter Culture Coffee and use Farm to Home Milk for their cow’s milk, along with plenty of other items from local producers.
Gluten intolerance is no fun, so you can imagine my excitement when I saw multiple kinds of baked goods that were gluten-free sitting in the display case. Unfortunately, none of the treats are individually wrapped, so they aren’t Celiac-safe, but if you’re just intolerant, as I am, you’ll have plenty of options.
For breakfast, my mom and I accidentally ordered the same thing, with and without gluten. By 10:30 a.m., the bakery had run out of butter croissants for sandwiches, so my mom ordered a bagel sandwich with egg, cheese and avocado. It was still very tasty, but if you want a full menu selection, I’d recommend visiting either on a weekday or earlier in the morning. Because of the wide range of gluten-free pastries, I assumed the bakery would have gluten-free bread, but as of right now, they only serve wraps. Each breakfast sandwich comes with two eggs and your choice of cheese, with additional items at an added cost. If I order again, I think I’ll be a little more adventurous with my sandwich ingredients, but overall it was a solid breakfast.
I don’t have a photo of the cookies we bought, but I can tell you they were delicious. I got a gluten-free almond cookie along with a gluten-free chocolate pecan cookie, and my mom got a snickerdoodle cookie, which she greatly enjoyed.
Texts with Wallace-Usry mother (Mallory Wallace-Usry/Echo).
I was very impressed with the gluten-free cookies; I doubt I’d be able to tell the difference if I didn’t know they were gluten-free to begin with.
Lastly, I want to mention The Wrinkled Egg Gift Shop, an eccentric little store directly connected to the bakery. Every wall is filled with shelves of household goods, trinkets, books and curated items, not to mention the scent of baking bread that wafts through the shop. There’s a small selection of women’s clothing and a larger section full of toys and children’s clothes at the far end of the store. Perhaps the most magical are the two Holland Lop bunnies that live in the store. They are so very soft.
Overall, I really enjoyed Flat Rock Village Bakery. I would drive the 45 minutes to visit again. There are so many menu items and baked goods to choose from, and the atmosphere is very cozy and inviting. I highly recommend checking it out if you find yourself with time to spare and money to spend.
The other cafe I visited was All Day Darling, a bright little place off Montford Avenue in Asheville. We stopped by for an early breakfast and once again got there just before the line formed. All Day Darling markets itself as kid-friendly, and they certainly are, but not in a way that feels overwhelming. Just outside the residential neighborhood of Montford, the cafe feels like a place you can take your family and friends. The indoor seating area is surrounded by windows, so the cafe is full of natural light, and the general vibe is very welcoming.
For breakfast, I ordered avocado toast on gluten-free bread, and of course, an iced vanilla latte, and my mom ordered The Standard breakfast sandwich. Both meals were yummy, but I can’t say either of them blew me away. I frequently order avocado toast, but it never lives up to the ones I make at home… Perhaps I should start my own cafe.
Regardless, the other menu options look lovely, and I’m looking forward to coming back to try their more specialized items.
What I can say about All Day Darling is, they know how to make a smoothie. Back home, I worked at a local cafe known for its smoothies and bowls, so I’m very particular about what makes a good smoothie. All Day Darling does not disappoint. Though I can only speak to the Flying Tiger smoothie, I was truly so happy that it wasn’t overly sweet and tasted like real fruit instead of the juice blends that some cafes use. If you visit, consider buying a smoothie; maybe you’ll have an experience as beautiful as I did.