Clear Flour Bread, the Brookline bakery that has drawn weekend lines down Lawton Street since 1982, was named the best bread bakery in Massachusetts in a national ranking published Monday, July 13.

The list, written by Grant Ozark for Fast Food Club, an online food publication, selected one bread bakery from each of the 50 states. Fast Food Club said it evaluated product quality, consistency, craftsmanship, customer reputation and each bakery's role in its local community.

The ranking singled out Clear Flour's pain de campagne and ciabatta, calling the shop at 178 Thorndike St. a destination for authentic European-style bread. The publication noted the bakery has built a loyal following that draws customers from across Greater Boston.

Christy Timon founded Clear Flour in 1982, leasing a storefront at the corner of Thorndike and Lawton streets when she was 29. The bakery's name comes from a milling term. In those early days, neighbors knew the place mostly as "Sorry, Sold Out," according to a 2017 Patch report, because Timon and her husband Abe Faber couldn't afford a sign.

Nicole Walsh and Jon Goodman purchased the bakery from Timon and Faber in late 2017. Goodman grew up in Brookline eating Clear Flour's bread. Walsh graduated from the Culinary Institute of America and spent a decade baking in San Francisco before returning to the area.

Under Walsh and Goodman, the operation has grown to more than 50 employees and added a coffee bar in 2022, plus a line of house-made ice creams and sorbets. During their first Thanksgiving at the helm in 2018, the pair turned out 1,000 pounds of baguette dough for wholesale alone, according to Eater Boston. The bakery's tiny lobby still fits only three parties at a time, and on weekends the queue regularly stretches a third of the way down Lawton Street, the Harvard Crimson reported in November 2025.

"We don't do any marketing — the word of mouth is the marketing," Walsh told the Crimson.

The national recognition adds to a long list of honors. Clear Flour has won Best of Boston 14 times, including Best Bread Bakery in 2016, 2012, 2011, 2009 and 2007, according to the bakery's website. It was a 2015 James Beard Award semifinalist.

The shop has also shaped the regional baking scene. Standard Baking Co. in Portland, Maine, was founded by Clear Flour alums Alison Pray and Matt James.

Clear Flour Bread is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday through Sunday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The coffee bar is open daily, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.