Essence Bakery Cafe

Love this place!
The pastries are divine and the people who work there are amazing and nice.
I am obsessed with the Gruyère Croissant. I swear I even dream about it.
A favorite place to stop by during the week!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

I’ve been coming to this bakery for years and I love the quality of the food. I’m a sucker for the vanilla bean twist. I love what they stand for as well.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 4

This is an authentic French pastry bakery. They also have a wonderful breakfast and lunch menus complete with daily specials. The owners make this place a home like feeling.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Fabulous, try everything!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

I’ve been coming to Essence for years, lovingly. Today I had a bad experience that I felt obligated to share and I am open to the side I might be incorrect. I am older though and come from a different world I guess. I ordered food with a coffee and when asked for milk I said yes do you have almond milk and was told yes. I then tipped and got my receipt and saw I was charged $1.20 for the almond milk. I went to the counter and politely said, if you charge an extra $1.20 for almond milk you should tell that to the customer. The employee looked at me like I was crazy and said that every place charges extra for almond milk. I asked for a manager and waited about ten minutes and nobody came. I had to get back in line and wait and ask for a manager and when the manager came out she mocked me as well stating that it’s on the menu. I asked her to show me where on the menu it says this and she looked and realized it was not up there. So she said I don’t make the prices I don’t know what you want me to do. So I said, you should put it on the menu or tell your employees to mention the extra fee. She chuckled at me and said everyone charges extra for specialty milk. I said, so you could charge me $30 extra for milk technically and there’s nothing I could do about it? She laughed and said yes exactly. I then asked for her name (Antonia) and said that she and her employee both should have simply offered an apology rather than to mock me and said I am sorry but I have to leave them a bad review. I said this was just terrible. I feel bad because up until today this was one of my favorite places to eat. I felt nickel and dimed. But maybe times have changed and I am Karen. I know it’s only 1.20. It’s the principal to me.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 1

The place is nice there's someone that works there in the morning that's not a morning person

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 1

The food is terrible, tastes like all microwave food. None of the fruit in the fruit bowl is seasonal. The croissants are subpar. Everything was very overpriced for its quality.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 1

Service: 1

Cute interior. Amazing and affordably priced pastries. Great service.
Highly recommend.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Love coming here, even though it’s far from where I live. They have the BEST French macarons in town and the most incredible Gruyère croissants. The macarons come in two sizes, and we always go for the big ones, every flavor is rich, decadent, and delicious in every bite. And the croissants truly make you feel like you’re in Paris.
Whenever our family wants to indulge, this is our first choice. The service has always been great.
My only complaint? They’re closed Monday through Wednesday (just kidding!).
See you soon! 😋

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Everything went well. The atmosphere is calm and welcoming.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Such an amazing place and they have the best pastries hands-down. The parking can be difficult as there aren't many spaces and it can get crowded here because it's so popular. But it's worth it if you go during mid morning or around noon.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

The 5 stars is based on their croissants. Which is unparalleled for miles. Perfect lamination. I don’t have to go all the way to Chaconne to get good pastry which is great. I had what I think it a key lime eclair? The choux was just okay, kind of limp and tented/collapsed when bit into. Maybe it wasn’t an eclair? Unsure. The cream was deliciously tart.

Iced Americano tasted strongly like plastic for some reason. Didn’t go past a few sips.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 5

Service: 4

Egg salad sandwich was so good!

The pastries were absolutely amazing and delicious!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 4

Short & Sweet: Exceptional food (breakfast & baked goods), quick and friendly service, on-point decor and comfortable dining.

Storytime: We're on vacation and found this place via Google with the thought of grabbing a quick coffee and something baked. Then saw the menu and switched to dining in. So glad we did. The food was perfect - and I don't use that word lightly - both the Big Breakfast & the Quiche. I am *not* a breakfast person and I want to come back just to have this again.

I also grabbed a sweet treats box (pre-boxed assortment of baked goods). Didn't indulge in that until later in the day... big mistake. I wanted to go back for more of the macarons, but it was 1:55 and they closed at 2 pm. I truly believe they're the best I've ever had. The rest of the cookies were very good, but those were top notch.

Location saved, just in case I'm ever in Phoenix again.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5