Kunal N.
Yelp
My review today is THE REASON why Yelp has the "update review" feature as you will soon see. I am kicking myself in the foot for not reviewing this place when I first discovered it many years ago. It would have then made complete sense why I am giving this place four as opposed to five stars but I will try to explain as thoroughly as I can in the below review.
If I were writing this review before the pandemic... actually... even two years ago now that I think about it, it would be a glowing five star review. The pastries were phenomenal and it was totally self-explanatory how this place earned the reputation as one the best places to get a croissant in the Bay Area. I was actually probably one of their OG customers as I had first discovered their pastries when they were being sold out of a cafe I visited in Cupertino many years ago and then came here straight afterwards when I saw the location and barely anyone was visiting here at the time as they barely started selling to the public. Since that time, I was a loyal customer for many years getting pretty much everything under the sun.
However, I am sad to say that over the past year or two, I have noticed a considerable number of changes that have made me not come here as frequently. First of all, they no longer sell their focaccia, which was one of my favorite items here. They also no longer have their in-house barista that they added a few years back. From what I hears, it seemed like the county and/or city came all over them and they need to have a special permit to be able to have both features. I COMPLETELY understand that this regulation is not their fault and the motto of government is "no fun allowed" but considerable time has passed and they still don't sell their focaccia. I would think that they would have had the opportunity to obtain a permit by now.
That being said, it's not just the focaccia and coffee. During Thanksgiving, they would sell the most AMAZING pies. Quite frankly, it was my favorite pecan and pumpkin pies that I have ever had in my life. For the past couple of years, they have not been offering those. I have also noticed that they have considerable less variety in their pastries as they once did a couple years ago. They seem to offer the same things all the time and it gets boring after a bit.
I still think that this place is the best to get a croissant and a number of other items, which is why I will still give it a positive four star review but again, please keep in mind that this place would have had a five star review almost two years ago. I really hope that things may change so that I can come here as frequently as I did two years ago.