Grand Central Bakery - Wallingford cafe

While in Seattle I took a stroll and found the best bakery. I got a sourdough loaf and it was $4.50. I did ask how long they ferment their sourdough and was told 48 hours. I cannot believe the price and the quality of the items here. This is a high-end specialty bakery, and they are so affordable. I also got an Americano, I’m going to be honest the coffee it’s not my favorite, but it was OK. I will definitely be back when I’m in the area.

Great bakery and cafe. This is a Seattle stable that truly has some of the freshest and best tasting breads. The restaurant has a ton of good food options and some seasonal rotations that I’ve enjoyed before. Coffee is Victrola which is one of my favorites so I highly recommend. The staff is pleasant and nice. Parking is fine on streets and neighborhoods behind the business. The cafe is a great working or meeting space and the music isn’t too loud or distracting. The other patrons are respectful and considerate. You can read a book, have a meeting or plug away on the laptop. Otherwise the food and coffee are always good. I’ll be back for more soon!

Fabulous! Everything is so fresh & delish & they always have fruit frangipan tarts in cute place w/ friendly service - highest recommendation ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Good spot for coffee and breakfast. A bit pricy but ok for the area. Spacious and lots of indoor seats. Outside patio is not heated in cold weather.

I generally don’t leave a review, but I LOVE this neighborhood gem which also won B-corp :) I’ve tried several baked goods from Como to cardamom coconut cookie and all are GREAT. I also come here for quick lunch and they serve hearty home-made soup which changes daily. What I’m having now is sausage and white beans and greens, a specialty for Thursday. The overall atmosphere feels cozy and lively, just as a center of small community at Wallingford. I can see the same kind faces at the counter whenever I visit, which feels comfortable and secured. Honestly, this is one of rare spots I tip every time even for buying a piece of cookies! Love here so much.

I love Grand Central Bakery, they have delicious pastries (cookies are my personal favorite) and the cafe is so warm and welcoming. Staff are very friendly. The bakery has become a common haunt for myself and my friends or myself and my laptop when I have work to do. Somehow a hot chocolate and a cookie makes me that much more productive. :) I love their selection of daily soups (which come with a roll and butter). I also highly recommend the pecan pull apart and Como loaf. This bakery has become one of my favorite places in Wallingford!

Had a pie mix up but they were super kind and helpful, made everything super easy for me. Appreciated their customer service! I love all their pastries and breads, and it’s a nice spot to work and study. Thanks GCB! 💙❄️

Their breakfast sandwiches are so amazing. Their eggs are extremely fresh and cooked to perfection. Staff is so kind, they have been short staffed but the staff wouldn’t make you think that. Will be going here regularly now.

Went here at like 8 in the morning on a thursday, it was decently busy with a few groups there. The vibe of the place is nice, it has a corner spot so lots of windows and open space for people to sit. We inquired if they would heat up our ham and cheese croissant but they said they don't hear anything up which is a minus for us. Overall for the food and everything tho I wouldn't come back, everything was just ok. Ham and cheese croissant - 6.5. Not warm, it was very hearty. Lots of ham. Liked the cheese on top of it. It might've had mustard seeds on it which I liked Cinnamon roll 5/10. It had raisins which was nice but it was just kinda mushy overall.

Went with some co workers to get lunch to go and ended up with a box of pastries in addition to lunch. Turkey and chutney sandwich was delicious. Light and flavorful yet filling. Bread was perfect. Oatmeal cookie was wonderfully soft and chewy. Staff was friendly, patient and accommodating.

Went there as my last meal in Seattle before heading up further south to Portland and it was a cute little bakery where I got me an Ham and Cheese croissandwich with and butter which was really good and flaky . Great services in General. Sadly enough tho the baguettes were sold out as I wanted one to bring for my Christmas dinner tomorrow and even if my croissandwich was good they toasted it and was a bit burnt . Non the less was still very good

This is my favorite GCB located in the Wallingford neighborhood. Their baked goods are solid. On this visit I got the Blue Ribbon sandwich with roast beef, pickled onions and blue cheese mayo, which was delicious! Honestly, anything sandwiched between fresh baked bread is gonna be awesome. I also got the marionberry coffeecake & a 12 oz drip coffee. They have unlimited refills on coffee, so ... I ran my errand nearby and came back for a refill! Staff are friendly and this location has a chill vibe.

My friend visiting from out of town LOVES this place and was insistent that we go. After two visits I found that everything was OK. My Mocha was hot and chocolatey but not quite on par with a handful of other coffee shops I favor. On my follow up visit my latte was very good. I've had a couple croissants from here and they are hot and flaky, definitely has to be some of their best offerings here. Sausage egg biscuit is pretty good too, the biscuits are big. The Bacon Egg and cheese croissant was pretty good, again hot and flaky but lacked a bit on the bacon. I tried some of my friend's almond croissant and while good, I found it to be a bit too sweet. Service is decent. They hand you a buzzer that goes off when your order is ready. Ambience good, spacious compared to most coffee shops around town. Biggest gripe, it's expensive here. The 2 croissants and mocha and I believe a matcha for my last visit was over $30. So, if you come, be prepared for Grand Central level prices otherwise, not bad. 3.5/5

Great place to stop when in the area for a quick pasty or loaf of bread! They have a large selection and everything I've tried has been pretty solid and a fair price.

Really good place for breakfast or a snack. Their Chai Latte is amazing! Just the right amount of sweetness . The coffee cake is really good. And their cheddar egg biscuit was FANTASTIC! The biscuit was cooked so well (great vegetarian option). I think the sausage egg biscuit would've been better, but they only have pork sausage (no beef or veggie sausage). Their bread is also really good. And they have a bunch of little desserts.

The food, particularly the turkey deluxe sandwich, is outstanding and consistently satisfying. Regrettably, the service fails to meet expectations. Although the cashiers are generally friendly during payment, my experiences at the pickup counter have been tarnished by recurring encounters with a specific employee. On two occasions, they displayed unwarranted rudeness, addressing both me and my mother condescendingly. This inconsistency in service has been disappointing, making me hesitant to return. Having worked in customer service for years, I understand that everyone has challenging days, but that shouldn't be an excuse to mistreat customers.

I've heard mixed reviews about some items, but I've been impressed with their almond croissants (4.5/5 stars) and sourdough bread (5/5 stars) every time that I have gone!

It's a great spot for sandwiches and a quick coffee. I like how they bake the breads here. Better to get the bigger breads instead of small pastries if that makes sense. I love love love their challah. It looks like their wheat bread loads are awesome too. I haven't got a chance to try their daily soups but will be back again soon. Coffee is alright, you are here for the big breads and sandwiches. Cute place, good service.

Fresh pastries with nice atmosphere. I love coming to Grand Central Bakery for fresh-out-the-oven pastries in the morning with a cup of coffee. Staff are friendly but it could take a while if you order a grilled sandwich.

The coffee was average and the iced chai was way too milky. Service was great but they didn't have a way to warm up the ham and Swiss croissant which kind of took away from the taste. The brioche cinnamon roll was amazing and super soft. I would recommend trying their pastries but not so much the sandwiches or drinks.

Blueberry muffins are so easy to bake, yet theirs tasted super bland. Actually no flavor in the muffin itself and rather than a streusel topping, it was a weird thick crust. Croissant sandwich looked like someone just stuffed a whole sausage in stale croissant and called it a day. ??? Biting into the sandwich would be just stale croissant and a big bite of sausage. Literally no effort to put this together. Update- added a star to the rating because of the professional and kind response below. Removed some of the meanness in my review.

Best bread around. Had rye and soda break for saint Patrick's day and it was wonderful

Came in on Saturday morning. The place made me happy. Great coffee and breads, and a lot of seats to chill.

Quick service right out of the case. My husband's Bolo breakfast sandwich that was made to order Took at least 10 minutes, so prepare yourself. It was amazing and worth the wait.

5 months ago I gave a 3 star for your Como bread. It's awesome, but it had holes in it. That's a big problem when making sandwiches and was the deduct in my rating. The owner responded to my review said he would fix it. Well, he fixed it. This bread is excellent again. The hole problem has been resolved. Good work. We're buying it again. Also EXCELLENT toasted. 5 star again.

Last four salads I ordered were wilted/coated in slime, inedible. The hot sandwiches not even warm. They yell at you if you come in three minutes early to pick up your order, but if you show on time they ignore you until almost twenty minutes after it's been ready. Third time in a row I've stood at pick up counter for staff to avoid interacting with me while serving multiple people who came in minutes after me. There were three customers in the entire space and no urgency from the cook leading me to think they were slammed at all, they stared at me while wrapping another sandwich with no other acknowledgment. I finally just got in the line not for pick up and asked if I'm supposed to come through here when the sign says pick up there, she said no and to go back to pick up counter, I then told her I'd obviously been waiting, waved, even had stare contests with every employee behind the counter and no one even said hi or anything. So where's my food? They finally gave me a bag silently and I went home to open a cold bfast sandwich and a slimy rotten chicken salad. Didn't even bother bringing it back for a refund to be ignored another 20 minutes. Never again. Too expensive for what it is even if there was good service.

Grand Central Bakery makes fantastic bread. I often buy it at the grocery store. Their baguettes and seeded multigrain are super delicious. But they also have a cafe that makes good sandwiches. Some of their offerings have been hit or miss (for example, I was not a fan of their recent muffaletta special), but their stand-bys are solid. My family's go-to is the French ham, a classic which is well-executed. They tend to be hit hard by the university crowd, so quite often their wait times around lunch are really long, longer than they even state. We have often had to wait 10+ mins more than the estimated time for pickup. I suspect that this is also the reason they do not contract out with delivery companies, or perhaps it is one of their ethical stands, some of which you can find scrawled on their blackboard when you walk in, explaining in relation to politics why one ingredient or another is not in stock. If you are looking for a delicious sandwich with high-quality ingredients and excellent bread, look no further!

The quiche, biscuit breakfast sandwhich, coffee, pastries were incredible. Great ambiance. Very good service.

I come to Grand Central every Sunday to have coffee, breakfast sandwich and get work done. Free coffee refills when you dine in, and friendly service with Wi-Fi. I love coming here. I don't give it 5 stars due to not loving their baked goods (minus the bread of course).

I love that they have a breakfast sandwich without meat! The cheddar egg biscuit sandwich is SO good. Their iced cinnamon roll is the best cinnamon roll I've ever had. The way the icing tastes reminds me of soft serve ice cream in the best way. Every employee I've come across has been super nice no matter how busy or the time of day. A great neighborhood spot to hang out.

Great pastries and super friendly service. A very nice place to sit with a cup of coffee and a chocolate chip cookie (based on personal experience)!

It's pear season and GRAND CENTRAL BAKERY makes a Pear Frangipane Tart that's my favorite here so far. I just love how the crust is delicately crispy on the outside and mildly fluffy and moist in the middle. It has the most perfect sweetness from the fruit and powdered sugar lightly sprinkled on top. This pastry reminds me of a cookie. You must go there and try it for yourself. Make sure to order a coffee or your favorite hot beverage to eat with it. Eating this pastry transports me to a fancy café in Europe and has helped to wake my senses up and get me going this morning. I love it so much!!! Grand Central has 5 stores in the Seattle area and some in Portland, Oregon. Check them out!

My friend had a cooking class in the area and we were about a half an hour early so we were searching for a place to grab a latte and a quick nibble. There are so many great bakeries. I go to the Grand Central in Pioneer Square often for work. We times it perfectly no line and parking tight in front. My friend had a. vanilla latte and at the suggestion of me the Twice-Baked Challah if you haven't had it, it consists of a thick slice of rich Challah bread drizzled with orange syrup and slathered with house-made almond cream, then topped with toasted almond baked and finished off with powdered sugar. I had an oat milk latte with the scallion and Beechers cheese croissant. Service was quick and friendly, couldn't believe how fast a line formed after us. Large space with loves of windows lots of room fo families. Look forward to returning.

Street parking out front! Time to check out and leisurely chill at the new Grand Central Wallingford location an hour before closing (6/8/19). Love the open air window counter seating facing N 45th...breezy and tranquil with ferns out front. Upon inquiry, I was told this location opened about three weeks ago. Terrific bright, spacious, and airy interior. Ample indoor and outdoor seating. Decent menu offerings (yes, Captain Obvious this is a well established baking business in WA and OR, started by Gwen Bassetti). Carbed out meandering earlier from a farmers market and another indie bake shop, so I'm enjoying a refreshing 16 oz iced mocha instead and taking in the atmosphere. Also, don't forget to start a bread and/or coffee card when you stop by. Now if I could locate my other ones! I've been to the Pioneer Square and Eastlake ones numerous times over the years. No, to the Wedgwood site though due to the parking and road construction challenges plus my allegiance to two other indies. Opportunity presented itself when my parking spot appeared at the welcoming Wallingford site. Will definitely have to return, have something off their menu, and stay awhile. What a great addition to this vibrant neighborhood that has several other bake shops and cafes within walking distance!

Beautiful space and the Chai is spicy! (yum) They have salads and soups and sandwiches but no combo option which was disappointing. Ordered the kale & white bean soup which was just not great. Tepid, bland broth, leaves too big to fit on a spoon and very few beans.

The cheese danish was hefty pastry and I wouldn't say it's the best but its worth the price. The ham and cheese croissant is quite good but I wouldn't say it's worth around $10, besides that the atmosphere was nice and the music playing in the background was a little loud but nothing to fuss over about. The workers did their job, basic customer service satisfied.

The food is good here- I like the grilled cheese, breakfast biscuit, and the cinnamon roll. However the service can be slow, and it is not just when they are busy. Ambiance is nice enough.

GCB already knows his to do good good and atmosphere, so I'm not rating them on that since their performance in that respect is already known. I'm rating them in their sustainability, since that should be part of their focus in this day and age. They need to ask the customer if they need a bag or napkins, like many other places do. To use a bag for a single, fully wrapped item is ridiculous. And same for giving 5 napkins. I try to remember to say I do not need these items, but they should be asking everyone just to assist in the process of using less stuff. It does not matter if their bags are paper, as the success of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle only works if it is done in that order. And if they want to be selfish about it, they will save money.

I was a big fan of Grand Central in the past. You guys do a great breakfast sandwich. Lately I've had a tough time convincing my partner to choose you rather than other nearby bakeries because of recent spotty customer service issues. After receiving an offer in the mail of a complimentary loaf of bread with a $5 purchase, she decided to give you a try again. After paying for her $7 latte she was told (without apology) she needed to produce the hard copy of the offer, which was not in the form of a coupon and did not say "must present in order to redeem," in order to qualify. Bottom line; for want of a loaf of bread you've lost 2 customers in the neighborhood. Not a major hit to your revenue, but I thought you should know you still have some work to do where customer service is concerned.

I really liked their muffin! Would love to try their croissant next time. I also tried their sandwiches last time but didn't quite liked them. They were dry & not too special. :( would not recommend it.

Good: Sweet cafe with a nice airy vibe, nothing on the menu is bad, and they have some fun take-home frozen pastry shells and such to help up your pie game. Bad: - The online ordering system is a bummer. It mentions a sack luck option but omits it from ordering options. They also don't even start making your food to close to 30 min out, so if you're just trying to spare yourself some time in line, be sure you're thinking ahead. - I used to travel across town for their egg salad sandwiches, which they've now taken off the menu. -Suggest: if you get the veggie grinder, unless your teeth are like razors, make sure you request different bread (can't do this online either).

This place has the best chai tea I've ever tasted. Spicy, spicy, spicy - the flavor danced on my tongue. Surprisingly the croissant was pretty good too ( not the best at 5:30 PM). It had potential!

I just tried a few of these and I have two words. ZUCCHINI QUICHE. Holy mother of pastry. I don't really care about their slightly burnt chocolate croissant because this quiche was fantastic. I almost didn't share it. I ate it too fast to take a picture. Guess I'll just have to go again!!

This place has excellent bread, great sandwiches and good coffee. Their online ordering is very easy as well. We are very fond of the multigrain bread, baguettes, and Veggie grinder sandwiches. We feel very fortunate to live close to this place. Additionally, I often order the all purpose flour and whole wheat flour (camas county and small's) that they sell and these are great flour for baking at home.

The breakfast sandwiches are great! Personal favorite is the biscuit. I haven't tried the bakery items or bread but they look delicious.

COVID has nothing to do with being unorganized, slow, and rather rude. The lack of *clear* line queuing is fine. The inability for someone to understand that they must speak loudly when calling out order names as they are near a busy road is not ok. I shouldn't be looked at like I'm stupid when checking what name was just called out because you were quiet. If you are having a hard time working retail or food-service either now due COVID or in general, figure your situation out; people do it all the time. If you are customer facing, leave you attitude at the door before you clock in.

I've only been once but will definitely be back! I stopped in on a sunny afternoon (love that they have some outdoor seating) and it was the perfect lunch. I had a killer grilled cheese and tomato soup; I'd had a craving for it for a week or so and I wasn't disappointed! One of those menu items that you go back and one to try something else but it pulls you in and you get it every time :) You order at the counter and they call your name when the food is ready. Food took longer than expected but it was a nice day and they were pretty busy around lunch time. Don't forget to buss your own table! The one thing I did not enjoy was the pickle on my plate. I hate pickles and wish I would have known that it could come with the dish so I had the chance to ask them not to include it.

Real underwhelming experience at this location. Their bread is amazing, so naturally I thought sandwiches would follow suit. Not only did my untoasted, cold Italian hoagie take 30 min to make, it just didn't taste good. The stale, soft bread really took it down a notch. I will still buy your como bread in the grocery store, but never grabbing a sandwich here again.

I work right around the corner, and it's becoming a problem for my bank account. Whenever I'm early for work I usually stop for one of their cheddar biscuit egg sandwiches. They're super good and they come out really quickly. Totally recommend if you're in a rush and looking to grab a bite to go!

I love walking to the bakery on 45th for pastries and a cup of coffee. The coffee cake is my favorite and my kids love the brioche cinnamon roll. Get there at about 10 min after opening to make sure you get the full selection of pastries right out of the oven. :) Their bread is delicious and I love taking their bake-at-home cookies and chicken pot pies. Lots of room to sit inside and a little balcony if you want some air. Best of all is the friendly staff who will help you pick things and offer up their favorites if you ask.

This place is absolutely rude, the cashier is very racist. She like to pick the people she wants to be nice and the people she wants to look down. The estimated 10 min for sandwich turned into 30 min waiting. When I asked if the cashier if the order was mine, she was very rude and had awful attitude. The beef sandwich was okay, but the chicken sandwich was not worth $10-$11 and it was small. I was late to work because of their awful service.

We ordered a pecan sticky bun (very good), an egg croissant sandwich (pretty tasty, with peppers), and a loaf of whole wheat bread (also good). We waited quite a while for our food; the bakery itself is a solid four stars.

Ya know, the service was good. The girl at the counter, charming. The bread delicious. But for a 14 dollar sandwich more than one piece of lettuce would be appreciated. The insides were weak, weak, weak.

I'm surprised with all the average reviews. I like this bakery a lot the bread is top notch. Here is the low-down -Bread A+ (my favorite is sesame and currant, wheat is okay it's a little on the dry side) -Coffee C+ (mediocre not enough coffee flavor) -Pastries A ( Pastries are sophisticated not to sweet and good ingredients) I tried the bread pudding & Latte dunkers I really like them. -Chai Latte A ( Oh my word, it's great best place to get chai latte strong bold flavors unlike starbucks or peets. They sell Chai mixture separately I might get a bottle. ) -Staff B- ( adequate, I've been here 3 times. Mostly happy staff with a few staff that look grumpy.)

Food: 4 out of 5 Customer service: 3 to 4 out of 5 (usually friendly and nice, but always slow and at times incompetent) Overall experience: 2 to 3 out of 5 I used to love the GCB I lived next door to on Eastlake. Then I moved to Wallingford, right around the time they opened this location. I was thrilled. I went many times in those early days, but I was shocked to find that every time was terrible. The new GM always seemed either annoyed, frustrated, and flustered, or unmotivated, bored, and rude. It seemed weirdly dysfunctional for just a cafe, not a massive restaurant, but they were figuring things out. So I decided to give them a few months to settle in. I've gone back probably 10 times since then. It's been years since they opened, and both pre-COVID and post-COVID, there has always been issues when I've gone. Not really with the food, which is consistently good, though not mind-blowing. One frequent issue is them asking a name for the order, then never calling it, and since the pick-up area is not visible from the dining/waiting area, at least 4 times I have stood there waiting for 15 min while my coffee sat and got cold (before I learned my lesson). Another constant issue is the generally slow pace. It only takes 3 customers inside this place for them to act like they are slammed. The Eastlake GCB deals with high-volume breakfast and lunch rushes, and admittedly during rush hours an order could take up to 20 minutes, but I didn't mind because that was usually for breakfast sandwiches where they were actually cooking eggs and bacon to order, and with 10 other people waiting. The quality made it worth the wait, and their incredible staff always looked like they were moving quickly, like a well-oiled machine. Wallingford GCB is like the opposite - slow for no apparent reason, and though the staff is nice (some more than others), they have more turn-over and no one ever seems confident about what they're doing for some reason. Post-COVID has only made it harder to want to go here. You can't order hot drinks for pick-up through the online ordering system (at a literal *cafe*), but then they take forever when you go order one in person. Online ordering closes a whole hour before they do. Customization options through the system are quite limited (should at least be able to sub a different type of bread, c'mon), while busy restaurants with big menus have accommodated the need for customization in this online-ordering era. And though the space is newer and kept clean, sanitation issues make me anxious -- for example, they don't lid your drink for you and you have to grab a lid from a communal stack, touched by many hands. It had been a few months, so I gave it a go again today. I've now been waiting 8 min for a black tea with steamed milk. It sounds like they missed the order, even though I ordered at the counter, there are only 3 other people in line or waiting, and they have 3 staff members working. The woman that got her drink before me had to ask the barista for the baguette she paid for, after picking up her drink and on her way out the door, since the cashier forgot to give it to her when she paid and was nowhere to be seen. It always feels like they figuring it out as they go, no matter how busy they are. It's like watching a really bad sports team where the players don't communicate and all individually kinda suck at sports. I don't know why this location struggles so bad. But I want the owner of GCB to know that while Eastlake GCB is (or at least, used to be) an absolute gem and clearly a labor of love, Wallingford GCB has always felt soulless, bizarrely chaotic, and sad, despite being in a far more residential community that should have given it more homey cafe vibes. Lesson here is don't open additional locations if you can't properly oversee the quality of the experience to ensure it matches your original vision; it erodes your brand, as nothing about Wallingford GCB feels the way Eastlake did and unlike Eastlake, I would never recommend this location to anyone, even if they were a block away. Also, whoever you hire to GM a new location has to be absolutely exceptional, a champion of the brand. I suspect a poor GM choice was the first major mistake here, or maybe a good GM that wasn't properly supported by the ownership during a big transition. [I will say that the barista that forgot to make my drink just now was very nice and friendly when she gave it to me -- possibly to make up for how long it took? I don't blame her, because though I can't pin down exactly what's made this place so crappy, from my experience working in restaurants, it's usually a lack of good management.]

Second time ordering from Grand Central bakery by my house. First can you adjust your banker hours lol 8 to 3 Monday through Friday is there a way that you guys can get working normal business hours?? Decided after my last bad experience (wrong order) snotty attitude. I arrive today to three snotty white privileged girls. One guy behind looking like he wanted to say something. I order 16ounces she immediately grabs wrongcup, I asked her to change my cup because she grabbed the wrong one and she grabbed it like she had an attitude and then proceeded go behind the counter and talk with her friends about me it's a very unprofessional environment this is the second time that they messed up my order wrong. There pastry's aren't cheap (they are more expensive) then Starbucks... when she proceeded to the counter with my wrong order she looked at me and still gave me Lip and said "oh the Splenda" is in there. These kind of kids ruin good business. I told the little girl don't get attitude with me. She laughed it off but, honestly. What happened to being kind and admittedly your mistake. Humble yourself (white kids) I should complain to local councilman. The city and all. I'm sick of places like this!!!! To the owner, be careful who you hire. The entire crew needs to be replaced!!!!!

Perfect little cafe and bakery to stop and get some work done or have a quick meeting. Quality food- I love the egg salad sandwich.