Little BIGS

Hello, it's me. I was wondering after all these years you'd still taste the same.
It's been a long time Little Bigs. But, you're still the same. Tasty as ever. The hand pies has morphed into these giant and extremely filling beings that just makes me grin. The Cuban was bursting with filling and had a nice heft to it. The crust as flaky and flavorful as ever. Eat along with a small side salad and lunch is set. It is THAT much meat.
Maple crueler, you're so so so light, eggy and perfectly sweetened to perfection.
Beautiful almond croissant for an amazing price. Love the crispy bits and the flaky pastry.
Still have 2 other hand pies waiting to me to eat- the samosa and mushroom leek. I do not expect these to disappoint.
Come earlier for a bigger selection. Got in an hour or 2 before closing and selections were okay but missed out on some items I'm sure.

I frequently get asked "Holy Donuts or Little BIGS?" and honestly - you cannot compare the two. One is made with mashed potatoes which is the key ingredient for Holy Donuts. The mashed potato adds a different flavor while changing the texture and the weight.

What I LOVE about Little BIGS (and what is most dangerous about these little bundles of dough joy) is how light, flakey, and flavorful the donuts are. I'm not kidding - I can eat 3-4 easily....that's really unhealthy buuuuut it allows me to try multiple flavors and the donuts are never stale because they are gone in my belly! :)

If you're looking for the more "traditional" donut then I 110% recommend Little BIGS. The chefs really put their heart into their work and it shows visually. The presentation of the donuts are quite beautiful. The taste matches the artistic presentation. I'm smiling just thinking about these beautiful creations.

Get here early because by noon these precious babies are gone! I still haven't tried anything else besides their donuts because I'm so addicted to them.

8:30am on a rainy Sunday: no line!

Pros:
-Pastries are beautiful!
-Great service
-Offers sweet and savory options

Cons:
-Donut dough is very chewy
-Not really any seating (this place is tiny!)

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Boston Almond Cream with Chocolate Glaze ($2.15)
Glazed yeast donut filled with almond cream, topped with chocolate glaze and toasted almonds. The almond cream filling is the star--it's light and delicious. It kind of overpowers the chocolate (which on its own tastes rich and not overly sweet), but wasn't totally mad about it. Unfortunately, the donut dough is super chewy and I think a fluffier dough would complement the lightness of the cream better. Also, the donut is a bit sticky because it's strangely glazed underneath the chocolate.

This place is just lovely small, and minimalist. I love the idea of this open kitchen where you can see everything and how they prep your food, pastries, I first thought that I get in the back of store...LOL. The staff were very cute(oops), friendly, and willing to help.
We got a bunch of pastries and coffees.

Ice coffee - I like it so much very intense, bitter but not stay long to bother you. PEAK ! Is that the ice they used was frozen-coffee iced cubes. Very good idea and flavor to make coffee taste great even the iced melted.

The savory pastries were pretty good just a little bit too salty. Example they might have added salt in the pastries ingredients that is already salty like bacon, cheddar cheese, and ham. However, it's good with the smell of each ingredient really pop ups.

The sweet pastry is very good, and distinct from what I had before.

Recommend: Italian sausage roll, brownies, something with bacon on the top, and of course COFFEE !

Overall was very satisfying experience.

Definitely come back when visit maine again

Hands down, without a doubt, the absolute BEST donut in Portland, and that is no small achievement. Specifically, I am referencing the Maple Crueller (with or without the bacon topping). It is enormous, yet has this unbelievably light airy inside encased in a crispy, glazed exterior...it is truly donut perfection. I also love that it's an independent, family-run operation. They have lots of unique donut flavors (I've seen Reese's, for example) and tons of other savory baked goods (things like cheeseburger handpies, sausage wrapped in asiago phyllo dough, etc). I've occasionally tried some of these savory things and they are good as well, but the Maple Crueller is the very stuff of dreams.

Make sure you double check their hours: they are closed Monday - Wednesday and on the days they're open they are simply open til they run out (supposedly 1 or 2pm).

Little BIGS is one of those businesses that puts the thoughts of relocating in my mind. Which is the act of my subconscious loving a place. This bakery was one of the highlights of my weekend trip to Portland, ME.

They open at 7am, but we came around 10:30am on a Sunday morning. By the time we arrived, more than half of the goods were already gone. The Plunketts (owners/chef/baker) were busy making more while the super cheerful and friendly cashier attended us and apologized for the temporary lack of selection. Little BIGS is more of a get to go place, since are only a few seats inside and a table outside. While coffee is the only beverage they offer, it is good coffee.

We had the black forest ham & swiss pithivier and an apple turnover. They were truly delicious. Fresh, flakey and hearty but not heavy, these pastries were beautifully baked. They were perfect in the sense of sweetness and savoriness. Our original plan of trying the rest of their pastries went out the window when my hangry spouse heard the magic words of "crispy fried chicken sandwich" from the cashier. The sandwich was simple, it was great. From the tomatoes to the lettuce, every ingredient tasted fresh.

You can say that perhaps a lot of experiences and love of the craft is put into the goods at the Little BIG. I will say that I can't wait to come back to South Portland and try the rest of the pastries!!

For some strange reason all-the-stars-were-aligned, Little BIGS came up on one of my Yelp Searches and piqued my curiosity. A near to 5-star rating for a bakery 10min away from downtown Portland that I haven't heard of?!?!?!?!

A quick browse through the pictures and I KNEW we had to visit this mom and pop, hole-in-the-wall, hidden gem, fancy yet down-to-earth bakery the next morning.

We arrived at 11:30am on a Sunday morning (they close at 1pm) and there were still quite a few options left. If you are going for a SPECIFIC item though, I do not recommend going later than 11am!

I was SO excited to see the display. Not mass-produced, each labeled, each unique and standing its own ground. The chef/Baker Pamela herself was manning the booth with Mr. Chef James behind the counter, skillfully crafting more sausage rolls (the rack was empty of those...I noticed.)

Barbecue Chicken "pie" / pastry - At $5.99 (see website for menu and prices) this pocket full of flavor ain't cheap, but GOSH it was delicious. Coconut milk simmered chicken breast chunks and almonds packed into a flaky, buttery pastry. This is the ultimate, elite, unique version of the poor man's hot pocket. I would drive back all the way just to get this again.

Chocolate glazed donut - We opted for something more classic to honor the original donut. I can tell you that this is NOT the traditional "fall-apart" type donut you get from Holy Donut or Dunkin's. Little Bigs makes theirs with a more airy, chewy, gummy (in a nice way) texture. Terrible to eat with fork and knife (embarrassed to say we tried) so just use those chompers. The chocolate was decadent and sweet. A good donut, but not as good as the next donut.

Boston Almond Cream filled donut - $1.89. Worth EVERY calorie and penny. A vanilla donut (you can choose chocolate too!) piped with fresh almond cream and topped with a few flakes of almond. Not too sweet but SO filling. A standout donut!

When we ordered the chicken pie, the chef herself offered to toast it up in the shop. So grateful for that as we got to devour the pie on the drive home. :)

Love this little shop and want to come back for more!! Oh, and they have their own parking.

I've never actually been inside here but my wife stops in sometimes and will pick up stuff she thinks I'll like. And I always do. I guess they've got a sort of a random, rotating menu. Some of the things that I've really liked include a fried sausage and ricotta roll and several of their pot pies including the Cuban, Thai, curry, Ruben, and cheeseburger, and the breakfast muffins (egg, cheese, and herb quiche baked in muffin tins). To say nothing of all of this sweet goodies they've got, too, like the maple bacon crullers. Their hours are kind of weird though, so definitely look it up before you go. The very definition of delicious!

Try to stop at Becky's for a decent midday week breakfast? Almost pull your hair out because you can't park anywhere? Don't bother, keep driving and go straight to little bigs. I pulled in here needing something to fill me up and they did not dissapoint. "Do you have anything with eggs?" Sez I. "No I'm sorry we are all out" sez she. No matter, I spy with my little eye various and sundry little pies. "Chili and cheddar" grabs my attention. A bacon and maple cruller to go with that? Yes please! Sit outside in the shade and enjoy my pie? Absolutely!

So so so so so so good!!! The best donuts I've had in my life. I'm not even exaggerating. We got the raspberry ricotta filled Bismarck and the maple pepper crueller at a coffee shop in town when we were here a couple months ago and the pastries were astonishingly superb. I finally figured out where they come from so I'm psyched to buy from the source. I'm so excited to be able to try other varieties of their delicious treats.

If you want the best donuts ever, you need to stop by here. And their coffee is great too.