Life Breads celebrates year of joy, tears, bakery goodies

When Meg Reed gets on the phone, she knows it might be an emotional conversation. “People call us up and thank us and they end up crying. …. There’s been more than once I’ve been crying on the phone with them,” said Ms. Reed, the general manager of the Life Breads Gluten-Free Bakery at 1509 […]

When Meg Reed gets on the phone, she knows it might be an emotional conversation. “People call us up and thank us and they end up crying. …. There’s been more than once I’ve been crying on the phone with them,” said Ms. Reed, the general manager of the Life Breads Gluten-Free Bakery at 1509 N. Harrison St., Davenport.

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Life Breads’ gluten-free bakery goodies have gained many fans in the region who need to stay away from gluten because of medical conditions, such as celiac disease. Many of those fans were at Life Breads on Monday afternoon, April 29, to help the business celebrate its first year in business. Festivities at the Harrison Street location included a cake, an inflatable photo booth, a workshop to make bakery goods and the introduction of new menu items.  Beginning in a few days, Life Breads will be offering a breakfast menu on Thursday, Friday and Saturday mornings. Some of the menu items will include: avocado toast, English muffins, bagels, omelets and frosted cinnamon rolls. But during the Monday celebration, the bakery stars of the show continue to be some of Life Breads’ traditional favorites – blueberry muffins, cookies, pound cakes and the very popular “Happy Accident” white bread. “We just love how welcoming the place is,” Rebekah Pace, 20, an area woman who has been a customer at Life Breads since it opened, said at the celebration. “The goods here aren’t so expensive. And that’s really the key.” Ms. Pace, who is a Scott Community College student, was diagnosed with celiac disease when she was about 11 years old. She added that she looks forward to the many bakery goodies at Life Breads. Some of the other guests attending the anniversary celebration were first-time customers, such as Wayne Wanek and his wife, Pam, of Andalusia, Illinois. Ms. Wanek, who was diagnosed with celiac disease, was trying out some of the cookies and muffins on the bakery menu. “We like it. This is really good,” she said. “There is a definite need for places like this in the Quad Cities. …. We used to go out to restaurants all the time. Now, we’re limited to about five places because of the menu,” Mr. Wanek added. Todd Herzog, Life Breads baker and owner, said the first year in business has been a great experience because they get to help people like the Waneks and Ms. Pace. He is looking forward to many more years in business and making a lot more bakery goodies. “We’ve had a lot of fun this first year. We’ve had so many people come up to us and say ‘Thank you,” he said. Life Breads is open on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; Wednesdays from 8:30 a.m. to noon; and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. It is closed on Sundays. The phone number is (563) 200-1838. Its website is qclifebreads.com.