Bayou Bakery, Coffee Bar & Eatery

Founded in 2010 by Louisiana native and James Beard Award finalist Chef David Guas, Bayou Bakery, Coffee Bar & Eatery is an eclectic, funky counter-service eatery in Courthouse of Arlington, Virginia, serving Southern comfort food with a New Orleans soul.

From the beginning, Bayou Bakery has been a neighborhood gathering spot built on scratch cooking - inspired by Guas’ heritage, Southern hospitality, and the rich food traditions of Louisiana. The menu takes a grass roots approach to the dishes of Guas’ upbringing in New Orleans and throughout the great southern state - featuring everyday favorites, including buttermilk biscuits, beignets, gumbo, po’boys, pimiento cheese, and a rotating selection of housemade pastries and baked goods.

Guests can stop in for breakfast, brunch, lunch, coffee, or cocktails 7 days a week - menu items that people have made a pilgrimage to experience for the past 16 years. The bakery case is filled daily with freshly baked scones, muffins, croissants, cornbread, and seasonal sweets, while grab-and-go provisions make it easy to take a taste of the South home. Plus, each Wednesday, Cuban Specials pop-up in the pastry case and the kitchen, honoring Guas’ paternal roots. 

Bayou Bakery is also known for its Frozen Daiquiris, Brunch Cocktails, Bayou Bloody Marys, and relaxed patio dining. Coffee has been brewed from Counter Culture Coffee’s organic beans since opening, alongside housemade lemonade and classic Southern iced teas.

Over the years, Bayou Bakery and Guas have earned local and national recognition, including being named a 2026 Arlington Chamber of Commerce Best Business Awards Finalist and have been featured in Food & Wine, Bon Appétit, Southern Living, The Washington Post, and The New York Times.

Today, Bayou Bakery continues to bring the spirit of New Orleans to Arlington—one biscuit, beignet, and cup of coffee at a time.

Southern Comfort Food, Fresh Pastries & New Orleans Favorites

Bayou Bakery’s menu blends traditional Southern recipes with Chef Guas’ signature style. Guest favorites include:

  • Buttermilk Biscuits

  • Beignets dusted in powdered sugar

  • Chicken & Smoked Sausage Gumbo

  • The Roast Beef “Arm Drip” Sandwich

  • Muff-a-Lotta Sandwiches

  • Pimiento Cheese & Ritz Crackers

  • Fresh-baked croissants, muffins, scones, and cornbread

The bakery case rotates daily with seasonal pastries, sweet treats, and savory baked goods made fresh in-house by Bayou’s talented krewe.

Guests can also grab prepared items to-go from the provisions case, including roasted chicken salad, pimiento cheese by the pint, pepper jelly, and blackened turkey meatballs.

About Chef Guas

Chef David Guas is an award-winning chef, cookbook author, and television personality known for celebrating Southern baking traditions and Louisiana cuisine.

His cookbook, DamGoodSweet, was a James Beard Award finalist and was named one of Food & Wine’s “Best New Dessert Cookbooks.” After Katrina, Guas’ mission was to preserve culturally important dessert recipes, including King Cake, layer cakes - like the Doberg, hand pies from his great Aunt Patty, pralines, and Guas’ famous “Porkorn” salted caramel popcorn with bacon.

You know Guas is true to his cooking as paper-mache art pieces of the Holy Trinity are afloat from the ceiling.

ABOUT DAVID GUAS