Q Bakehouse & Market (Feb. 2024 Marketplace Changes) is temporarily operating on a pre-order and outdoor pickup basis while Rachel Liu Martindale pursues an occupancy certificate for in-store retailing.

Citing a misunderstanding about what their initial permit covered, she’s resubmitting plans to the city, and “my architect is pretty confident that we won’t have to do any major changes and still be completely up to building code.”

She says their first two months in business were “just absolutely crazy,” with the bakery typically sold out by noon daily. The current restrictions have cut volume by about 25 percent, Liu Martindale reports, but the online and curbside system allows them to continue serving her Asian American pastries, lunch specials, Strider Coffee Stop drinks, and pantry items until customers can come back inside.

Another challenge, she says, has been a complaint from someone “not liking the savory smells from our kitchen.” That’s prompted the city to require another mechanical inspection of their downstairs oven “just to confirm that it doesn’t need ventilation,” she says, adding that she had to hire an attorney, who sent a cease-and-desist letter after “one of my staff members kind of got harassed as she was leaving one day from work.”

“It’s all a big hassle all around, but we’re pushing through,” she says. “People have really been fired up for us, which is really cool to see.”

Q Bakehouse & Market, 1608 Jackson Ave. Tues.–Sat. 7:30 a.m.–3 p.m. 

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