Purebread Gastown

Purebread is a bakery that started small. More than 15 years ago it began as a simple idea of sharing homemade bread with family and friends, then became a stall at the Whistler Farmers' Market. Its first shop opened in Function Junction, an area of Whistler, and the business has since grown to eight bakeries across Metro Vancouver and the Sea-to-Sky corridor. The Gastown branch on West Hastings Street is the most central for visitors.

The counter is the main event. Purebread bakes breads alongside a wide range of sweet and savoury pastries, cakes and pies, including a caramel apple pie, as well as cookies, brownies and meringues. Some items are flourless, but the bakery points out that they are not certified gluten-free, as everything is made in a shared kitchen where cross-contamination is possible.

The Gastown bakery opens daily from 8am to 4pm, which makes it best for breakfast, a late-morning coffee and pastry or an early afternoon treat. Like all Purebread locations it is open seven days a week, closing only on 25 and 26 December and 1 January. Gift cards are sold if you are looking for a present.

Purebread suits most visitors: families stocking up for a picnic, friends sharing a box of pastries and anyone heading out for a day of sightseeing who wants something to carry. If you are travelling on to Whistler or Squamish, there are branches in Whistler Village, Function Junction and Garibaldi Village in Squamish, and another at Vancouver International Airport, in the international departures area before security. In Vancouver itself there are also bakeries in Mount Pleasant, at 5 East 5th Avenue, which stays open until 6pm, and at 2887 West Broadway.

The Gastown shop is at 159 West Hastings Street, on the same street as the Vancouver Lookout at number 555 and Nemesis Coffee at number 302. A morning here combines well with a walk through Gastown's heritage district to the Steam Clock on Water Street. Bakery news travels: in October 2026 Daily Hive reported that Purebread planned to acquire a long-established Vancouver café, so watch for changes in the line-up of locations.