This shoebox of a bakery is extremely well located between Ostmann's Nursery and Lidl market, both…read morevery popular places. Behren-Meyer is a stand-alone business, completely surrounded by paved parking lot. It's set back about 20 meters from the very busy Westring Strasse. Upon entering, the display case dominates, running practically wall-to-wall. Not surprisingly, this little bakery sells all types of baked goods ranging from doughnuts to full loaves of bread and cakes. Naturally, it sells coffee too. But plan to take your coffee and pastry to go, because there is exactly one table inside, with bench seats, which will seat two comfortably, and four in a pinch, literally. Not only are the pastries good here, but there is always a variety of sandwiches from which to choose, such as meat, cheese, tuna, and others, oftentimes with a sliced hardboiled egg between the buns. This is not a place you want to miss while in the area, trust me.

The Jochen Meyer Backerei on Huntestrasse in downtown Wildeshausen is the prototypical, almost…read morefairy-book German bakery. Not only does it feature a stunning selection of baked goods early in the morning, but also very delicious and satisfying handmade sandwiches around lunchtime. The coffee is strong, and distinctly Germanic. My wife and I love visiting this gorgeous little shop whenever we can. Yesterday we enjoyed lunchtime sandwiches and coffees there, for around 11 Euros. My sandwich was layered sliced ham and white cheese, lettuce and a sliced hardboiled egg, all trapped by two astoundingly fresh slices of bread. I found it hard to control my eating to a civilized pace. Simply delicious. One minor note, certainly not a criticism of Meyer Backerei, diners do not get water in a glass. If you want water, you pay for water in a bottle, i.e. Perrier. Coffee is not refilled, it's one cup for the menu price. These are pretty much standard practices in Germany. We will be visiting Meyer again, soon. Like maybe tomorrow.

Backerei Schnittker is the largest bakery in downtown Wildeshausen. It can seat almost 50,…read morecompared to 20 or 25 in the other bakeries. It's also a cafe, and after the breakfast rush, does a pretty good lunch and afternoon business, mainly sandwiches of cold cuts. I can attest to that, since I had a great lunch there today. My choice was a sandwich that contained ham, cheese, sliced tomato and cucumber, all contained in a bun that was liberally coated with all sorts of thinly sliced seeds and nuts. That was different. Chewy, but that's not a complaint. The coffee was the typical German hearty, rich brew. One cup, no refills, although one cup of this great coffee seemed to be just right for me. (It was a large cup.) My wife was kidding with our server about needing a nice hot cup of Gluwein, a very tasty concoction of wine, rum, and some mysterious spices that appears every Christmas season. And by God, a cup of Gluwein was delivered to our table, along with our coffees and sandwiches. All this for an investment of 9 Euros. I noticed that the staff seemed to be happy with their jobs. Herr Schnittker also owns a grocery store about 30 meters down the street, interestingly. Spend some time here, and your afternoon will glow . . . Especially if you mention Gluwein.