TULSA, OK — There’s something special about a hometown bakery. This type of business remains true to its origins but also prepares for its continued longevity. For Tulsa, OK, that role has been held by Farrell Bread & Bakery, a staple that’s nourished the community through its artisan-style breads for decades.
Since its founding by Tom Farrell as a family-owned business, the bakery’s mission has been simple: Craft high-quality, artisan breads. Though Farrell Bread has passed through several hands in the years since, the standard for handcrafted baked goods — and the Farrell family’s original bread formulas — remains.
The business is bolstered by its wholesale operation, making up about 80% of its revenue. Beyond its storefront, Farrell Bread’s products can be found in local restaurants, farmers markets and grocers including Whole Foods Market stores in Oklahoma City; Wichita, KS; Dallas; and Fayetteville, AR.
In 2021, Tom sold the business to Justin Thompson, an award-winning chef and owner of Justin Thompson Restaurant (JTR) Group. Justin had been using the bakery’s products in his restaurants. As the owner, he revamped the retail section already in place when he moved the bakery to its current home on Yale Avenue, incorporating goods such as pesto and pimento cheese into the refrigerated section as well as an assortment of pastries to the front of house.
Justin also spurred the philanthropic arm of the business, donating products to youth sports leagues, homeless shelters and other organizations.
While these changes helped distinguish the bakery from others in the area, it still wasn’t meeting its potential for profitability. Enter Rick Burgo, CFO of JTR Group. With a background in commercial baking and finance, he saw an opportunity to help the bakery flourish.
Rick persuaded Justin to sell the bakery to him and the Mazzola family, and he added “owner of Farrell Bread” to his title in September 2024. He kept the new refrigerated retail items and charitable donations in place.
“In a bakery, you’re usually in a position where if you have extra product, you should do something good with it,” Rick said. “Any time you have a business and you’re providing something to the community and making money off of it, it’s always important to give back and donate wherever possible.”
Rick is also the champion behind the bakery’s hefty wholesale business, which has taken the operation to a whole new level.
“I’m constantly looking to expand on wholesale,” Rick said. “[Farrell Bread products] weren’t outside Oklahoma, and I made that happen. We’re going to expand on that and put the focus on wholesale.”
Farrell Bread may have experienced several leadership changes in the past couple of years, but three constants remain in the business: the caliber of its artisan bread offerings; its commitment to giving back; and the hands that mix, shape and bake the loaves.
To bake more than 20 varieties of artisan bread each weekday, Farrell Bread relies on about a dozen veteran bakers, headed by Jessica Landry, lead baker.
“We couldn’t do any of this without them,” Rick said. “It’s a small crew, and they’ve been here a long time.”
Described as a passionate group, the bakers take a lot of pride in the work that they do, which is essential with Farrell Bread’s output volume. The tight-knit team churns out an assortment of baked goods Monday through Friday, with deliveries lined up Monday through Saturday across the region. The Tulsa bakery produces about 1,000-1,200 loaves of bread each day, fluctuating slightly based on demand.
The bakers’ workday begins bright and early around 4 a.m. Jessica is usually the first baker in the building, and she checks off each item on the production sheet, which Rick outlines the night before. While production varies depending on the output volume on a given day, the bakers work on mixing the various doughs needed to be produced using Empire mixers for about three hours.
Farrell Bread’s signature offering is its hand-shaped loaves, formed by experienced bakery team members such as Nelly, Nora and Stephanie Montelongo. While Rick is happy to lend a hand with the mix or pull baked goods from the Empire deck oven — which fills most of the back-of-house space and can hold 288 full loaves — he learned quickly to let the pros handle the shaping to maintain quality and consistency.
“When I first came, the only thing I hadn’t done is shape,” he said. “That’s not my forte. They’re so good at it, and I just wouldn’t be that fast; I would just slow them down.”
There is a small proofing oven for Farrell’s assorted pastries, but Jessica found an efficient way to proof the various breads: lighting a chafing fuel can under a rolling bread rack and covering the rack with a plastic bag. She discovered it creates a controlled proofing environment and has made this part of the daily production cycle since.
This story has been adapted from the March | Q1 2025 Craft to Crumb mini-mag. Read the full story in the digital issue here.
