L’aroma Bakery & Deli

After being away for some time, I decided to come back here for lunch. I’m glad I did. The place was moderately crowded for a Sunday afternoon, but everything was more orderly since my last visit here. The employees were friendly and quick to approach me this time around and it was a pleasant surprise. This is the cool part about posting previous reviews on Unilocal only to give the business a second chance and turning out to be a better experience all around.
The roast beef with sourdough and a side of tomato bleu cheese soup was delicious on my previous visit. This time around, they had a new item posted on their menu which I was eager to try which was a Chile Green Pesto Panini with lemon pepper chicken, provolone cheese, lettuce, onions, and a chile green sauce on Focaccia bread with a side of multi-​colored tortilla chips. Absolutely delicious combination of ingredients for a sandwich I polished off in just a few minutes. They also have a good assortment of pastries and cookies worth sampling especially if it’s the L’aroma brand.
The place has free Wi-​Fi available, but the Kaladi’s side would be more ideal for studying or reading for a couple of hours. The downside is a lack of electrical outlets in the main seating area. It is spaciously laid out with a good number of tables and chairs, but there are only two outlets for your portable device in the entire room. The Kaladi’s side only has one by the fireplace and several by the counter area, but it would take a little bit of luck to snag those seats when it gets busy. Overall, when it is not crowded, this place can be very laid-​back and relaxing to spend the afternoons and the improved friendly attitude of the employees this time around makes me realize that giving second chances always feels good when the first visit was less than ideal.

Great food. Plenty of room to sit. Not all cramped like other places in the area. Very friendly staff

My wife and I eat lunch here at least once a week. The staff is super friendly and very accommodating. The food is AMAZING as it gets prepared hot and fresh. I cannot stress how good the soup is at this location –especially the chicken noodle soup – . The staff takes time to greet all of their customers regardless of how busy it can get. I have traveled around the world, ate at many different restaurants across the USA and I must say that this place ranks easily in the top 5. The only regret that I have about L’aroma is that I didn’t discover this awesome place sooner.

This place has been hit and miss for years. The cleanliness is so bad that if I do find myself having to grab something, it’s soup only. The two dark haired women who work at the deli are SO unprofessional, constantly ignoring customers to finish their conversations, and being rude to other coworkers. They are also seriously bad at keeping their workstation (sandwich making counter) clean. I’ve seen numerous times where they go from sandwich to sandwich, and never wipe off the counter or knives. It’s gross. I don’t want someone else’s tuna salad, or mayo on my sandwich because you don’t want to take the time to wipe your knife clean. There needs to be some serious management presence at this location.

Although L’Aroma has wonderful coffee and food, their staff’s lack of professionalism is appalling. I have yet to have an experience where the staff are polite and courteous. New customers are belittled for not understanding the ordering routines (which are odd), the dining area is consistently dirty, with sticky tables and unkept floors, and staff members are regularly seen chatting with one another instead of working. Although I enjoy the coffee and food it is not worth it to continually deal with poor customer service. I will not be returning again.

I noticed their «Sourdough» was the featured bread of the week so I purchased a loaf.
Whew — wish I hadn’t–
Doughy — heavy — and just a slight sour taste– not at all what you would expect.
Very disappointing.

I’ve been eating at this l’Aroma location for about two years now. I go there for lunch when I want to sit for a while and work because I like the open atmosphere, a nice change from my little kitchen. No matter how busy it is, I can usually find a spot to work, which is important to me. The chairs and booths are comfortable enough to sit in for a good while. I also like the free wi-​if, and have never had problems with it, even when streaming video.
I’m surprised at all of the negative reviews because I’ve never had a bad food experience here. My rating is based on its comparison to other sandwich shops. If it helps, I’ll tell you that I would probably rate a good Panera a 4 also. L’Aroma is a solid sandwich and coffee shop, and I like that there are plenty of options for sandwich, soup, and salad selection. They also have daily specials and breakfast, though I haven’t tried either. I also haven’t tried the pastries, so I couldn’t speak to freshness, but the sandwiches are always good. My favorites are the prosciutto, the caprese, the roast beef, and the French dip. They usually have four different soups, and I really like the potato soup (a rarity it seems, since I’ve only found it once) and their daily tomato. The fresh bread they use is usually more than enough to give me a carb fix. They don’t skimp on the meat. They have fairly good veggies, though they have an unfortunate habit of serving really shameful tomatoes. I’d rather have no tomato than a mediocre one; the ones I got today could barely be called tomatoes.
The portions are huge: I am usually sated with a half sandwich. I like their hot chocolate and tea selections (typical of any Kaladi brothers coffee joint), and they have a good selection of alternate beverages including juices, waters, and those tasty tart San Pellegrino Italian drinks. The staff is friendly and speedy, no matter what your order. And I always like local places that display local art with a regular rotation, which they do. So, all in all a good place where you can often find me huddled by the cozy fire (especially in the fall spring when they have a unfortunate habit of leaving the doors open on sunny days even if it’s in 50s). Bring a sweater and check it out!

Great place for a quick bite to eat during the week and relaxing atmosphere to lounge with a good cup-​o-​joe on the weekends. They have a regular sandwich/​panini/​wrap menu, but a changing selection of delicious soups — perfect for cold winter days, and rotating specials like chicken pot pie and beef stroganoff. The staff are friendly and outgoing

This is a place with strengths and weaknesses.
The strengths are they do a good and quick cuppa Kaladi’s.
Many of their hot meals and fresh sandwiches are attractive and edible.
They have Wi-​fi.
Lots of nice wooden tables and seats. It’s a venue where plenty of regular locals meet and it’s possible to strike up a conversation with fresh faces, or run into some known faces.
Nice sampling of local artists’ work on the walls, changed every month.
There is a selection of bakery items to the right of the corner front door when you go in, these items are usually more fresh. I like their macaroons.
They don’t have a problem with you getting yourself some fresh water to drink, unlike, say, Starbucks which will sell you a plastic bottle of water if you’re thirsty.
Weaknesses. The Wi-​fi is usually but not always working. It is moderate bandwidth. You can read the paper, but maybe not go to cyber war with your ten closest friends. There are limited wall receptacles in the main room where all the art is hanging.
The bakery items behind the counter window are not ‘fresh’ fresh. This has really put me off on occassion.
The staff is typically young, alert, helpful, cheerful. But it seems to have a high turnover.

This is usually a good place to stop in for coffee and maybe a danish. But two times lately I’ve been grossed out and had to leave.
Last week one of their female employees with dark hair and glasses stood outside the door and blew second hand smoke on customers as the arrived. And today I had chicken noodle soup only to find two pieces of black hair in my soup. I’m bummed and grossed out at the same and will probably avoid this place in the future.

Usually the breakfast burrito during the weekend brunch is great but this time it was half the size and missing ingredients listed on the menu. It was substandard. The staff seemed indifferent about my dissatisfaction or the poor quality. Not worth the money and I probably won’t return.

What sort of bakery leaves day-​old baked goods in their cases and sells them at full price? L’aroma! Stopped in today for a quick snack. All of the baked goods, from muffins to pastries to croissants were at least a day old, if not older. They tasted like they’d been in the case for at least a week. Had we not been in a time crunch, we would have gone elsewhere. The bagel slicer was dull and massacred the bagel. I’ve given this place several chances to impress me, and each time they’ve failed. Service is dismal every time, too. Today, it was the half-​baked guy at the counter who sold us a chocolate milk (which they were out of) and a bagel with cream cheese (which he, again, had to go look for). My chai tea tasted like spicy milk, blech. The place is always filthy. Again, why the citizens of Anchorage flock to these sorts of places is beyond me. Do yourself a favor and go elsewhere.

Not. one. thing. that I could eat. No soup, no sandwich, and I didn’t want salad on a cold day. After going through the menu with the girl there, we decided on a modified version of a sandwich, heated up. I took my seat, and was appalled by how filthy the dining area was – the old Denny’s on Dimond was cleaner! And that’s saying something. The simple sandwich took FOREVER, and once I got it, I was two bites into it before I realized that the girl had put butter on my bread. We had already talked for ten minutes about my dairy allergy trying to figure out what I could eat! I asked for a refund but she didn’t know how to process it and said she’d have the manager call me later. Manager never called, and I got to spend the rest of the day dealing with an allergic reaction. Never. Ever. Again.