AUSTIN (KXAN) — Sydney Stewart doesn’t want to take her boyfriend’s last name when they’re married, and Nic Montoya doesn’t want to take Sydney’s.
For now, they’re testing out their combined name, “Stoya,” in the form of a tiny bread shed off of at 619 W. 35th St. near Guadalupe Street.
Parked in a busy neighborhood, the University of Texas at Austin couple is purposeful with its handmade, simple ingredients. But what really sets them apart is their stop-and-go approach.
“There’s a lot of walking traffic here, so we like the idea of constantly different people getting to try our bread,” Stewart said. “We want it to be that you’re stopping by — there’s no line, no fuss, you don’t have to feel pressured to buy anything — you just get great bread.”
Stoya was born from late-night baking dates. Now, that same kitchen is occupied in the early mornings.
Every Friday, just after 2 a.m., Stewart is solo in finalizing the orders. The scent of their six sourdough options, including the fan-favorite chocolate chip cookies and jalapeno cheddar bagels, wafts through the kitchen.
“She lets me sleep an extra hour on Fridays,” Montoya said. “It’s the only way we can really make it happen.”
Between juggling classes, internships and jobs, the couple sacrifices their sleep to make it to the portable, insulated shed by 9:45 a.m. Within 20 minutes of opening on Friday, Stoya sold out, and only pre-orders remained.
They credit that speed to a viral video.
Since its opening in mid-April, the business’s biggest obstacle was “drowning in [extra] bread,” which they solved by passing it out to people experiencing homelessness and trying out new sandwiches. That was until the couple posted that “due to some sudden roommate shakeups,” the blue microbakery needed a new home.
The outpour of community came immediately, which in turn, skyrocketed Stoya’s pre-orders to their highest number yet.
“We’re going to have to find a new system,” Stewart said as she hung up a “sold out” sign on the shed that now sits across the street at their neighbor’s house. “We never imagined we would get so many preorders.”
After watching their inventory sell out so quickly, Stewart said there’s potential for the pre-order day to be moved, allowing additional time to bake more same-day pickups.
While most of Friday’s customers were local to the area, a couple from Ohio added Stoya to their weekend trip agenda.
“We saw them on TikTok and we were like ‘Oh my gosh, we’re gonna have to stop by,” said Anamarie Black, as her boyfriend, Sam Deroy, nodded next to her. “This is the first [microbakery] we’ve seen.”
Not everyone is as enthusiastic about their honor-system process. Stewart and Montoya said Reddit users have been the harshest critics on their business.
“A big reason why we do this, is we believe people are inherently good,” Stewart said in response to a comment that called the idea “too naive to ever work.”
The couple said they track inventory and sales “extensively” and that they have yet to see any theft or vandalism. While they acknowledge that there is a bigger chance for that now that their business has grown in popularity, they’re not too stressed.
“If someone were to come and steal all the bread, we’ll just bake more bread next week,” Stewart said.
For now, they’re focusing on their impact to the Austin community.
“We wanted a way to bring bread and joy to our community at the same time, and that’s what the shed lets us do.”
For updates and online ordering, follow Stoyabread.co.