Rustic Bakery

the food is great, no question. the service is abominable, as is often the case. the last time we went, the woman behind the counter treated us as though we were inconveniencing her. so much so, i am posting it on Unilocal.thank goodness the service at the novato store is more welcoming and helpful.

*** In Short ***
Average, run-​of-​the-​mill bakery with a decent selection of baked goods.
*** In Depth ***
Tried Rustic on one of my recent trips to Marin, and, given how uncommon it is for me to drive up this far, I picked up a:
* Kouign Amann — Not nearly as good as some others I’ve had (admittedly, all the way up in Seattle), but decent, and much, much better after being toasted in an oven.
* Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownie — A bit crisp, and obviously fairly rich, but, surprisingly, not early as sweet as I would have expected: and this is a good thing!
* Bear Claw — A very… okay, standard bear claw. Nothing unexpected either way.
* Carrot Cake — Probably the best thing I had here: moist and flavorful, but a bit too light on the carrot flavor.
* Blueberry Scone — I love scones, so, this was the most disappointing thing I picked up (albeit the most popular, since I got the last one). Dry, and very light on both the butter and blueberry flavors.
2.5 stars: if you live in the area, sure, drop by if you’re craving some pastries. But, if you’re not from around here, it’s definitely not worth going out of your way to visit.
***Accessibility Info***
Venue — There are a few handicap parking spaces in the dedicated lot, with plenty of accessible tables inside, and your standard height counter inside for ordering.
Bathroom — Large, dedicated/​private bathrooms, and perfectly accessible.

What happened to the coffee??? Terrible flavored water. I have been going here for years (since this location opened) and sorry to say it is going downhill… Poor lattes and $ 0.75 for a cup of hot water??? Really??? what happened to the local touch???

Love this place and it’s baked goods and lunch food. Everything looks so nice in the case and is also very delicious!
Only thing many in my group don’t like is the metal chairs which are cold and super uncomfortable. They are also too low around the big table.. Please consider some new, more comfy seating and we’ll give you a 5 star rating!

Rustic Bakery is simply the most delicious! I am hooked on the Asian Chicken Salad. Sometimes they have discreetly offered ‘yesterday’s bake’. The Chocolate Cake and the Olive Cake will make a dinner party desert easy and so yummy! I had their Shrimp Bisque for the holidays.
The most important though is that this establishment is clean… spotless, with a lovely restroom and plenty of seating.
But by far the very most impressive are the people who work here!!! I would give 10 stars if Unilocal let me!!!
Efficient and very friendly, they all welcome customers so warmly and with a smile, and their number system makes you feel special to have your things brought to the table. Their management obviously cares and has trained them perfectly!
Rustic, thank you for making my mornings so comfortable, and to be honest, it was the main reason I moved into my apartment down the street was because of the Bakery being so close to walk to! :):)

Can you say GREAT!
The soup and sandwich are both fresh and created with love. The place is busy, which is a direct reflection of the quality food and service.
If the weather is nice, sit outside and enjoy the patio/​courtyard area.
Even on Saturdays when the farmers market is in place or Sunday’s when the food trucks are in place, this is a great lunch option.
I highly recommend this location for lunch.

You can find Rustic Bakery’s packaged flatbread all over the Bay Area in specialty supermarkets.
It’s nice to note they had their start as a little bakery, and this is the original location. This is the best of their three bakery locations: cozy, friendly, and intimate. (The larger Larkspur Landing location feels a little impersonal compared to this delightful spot.)
Here you can order a slice of strata (warm, baked savory bread and egg custard). Theirs is very bread forward, light on the eggs, ham, gruyère cheese. A breakfast bowl of warm carb goodness. The Americano is a solid one. They had two warm cereals on the menu (including a warm cereal of the day.) Their classic oatmeal with cherry compote (yes, please!) is a simple but tasty order, or you can switch the preserves out for fresh berries, if not a cherry fan. In total, there about eight café style small breakfast dishes, and a entire wall of pastries for you to chose from for a morning meal, including a delicious heavily sugared but not frosted cinnamon roll.
The biggest surprise was a packaged Asian Chicken Salad I grabbed from the case on the way out. It was really an excellent salad. Very generous, exceedingly fresh and the dressing was remarkably good. Much better than any preprepared salad you’d find at a Whole Foods, by a long shot. I plan to try the other salads here to see if they are as good, but I would grab one if you are here, and take it home to see for yourself.
It’s holiday time, so I also grabbed a beautiful glazed Victorian looking gingerbread at the counter. While it was both pretty and tasty, at $ 6 was fairly expensive for a cookie. For a café, just terrific!

Local. Fresh. Delicious. The best Caesar salad I’ve ever had the pleasure of enjoying. They added homemade croutons, house made lemon-​anchovy dressing, and topped the romaine and kale blend with a generous portion of parm cheese. If I lived in CA, I’d be a regular.

Wowowow I really like this place. Extremely jealous of Larkspur for having this bakery! Please open one in the South Bay. :(
My boyfriend and I were visiting for the weekend, staying walking distance from the bakery. We needed a quick bite Sunday morning on our way to Mt. Tam and picked Rustic Bakery based off of convenience.
The storefront itself is really cute, plenty of windows to brighten the room. One of the first things you see are these mounds and mounds of baked goods.
I ordered a raspberry croissant but they mistakenly gave me a chocolate banana croissant, which was AMAZING. Oh man, best mistake ever. I drool a little every time I think about it. Anyway, I digress. My bf got an apple cinnamon croissant that he also really enjoyed. Our pastries were so good that we knew we had to come back the next day before heading home.
We dined in for our second trip in one weekend. We both ordered the BLAT which was delicious. The orange tomatoes were a nice touch. I normally hate tomatoes but these orange ones were actually, dare I say it, good. I accompanied my meal with a mocha, which wasn’t anything that blew my socks off.
Unfortunately we were a bit late to the game on visit #2, as most of the pastries were gone already. My boyfriend bought a few scones to take home and they were still good the next day.

Slightly pricey, but plentiful, high-​quality and luxurious food is where it’s at with Rustic Bakery, go grab a bite or some bread soon.
I came in on a nice spring day with my mom for a late lunch and it was kinda packed. We were able to grab a table after a brief wait to make our orders. The counter is small, well the entire place is tiny, so the line is kinda awkward. There is a display behind glass up front where you can see all the varied baked goods from breads to pastries. They write up the daily specials on a board and it had a bunch of enticing meals on tap. Service was friendly, if harried because of the crowds.
I had a sando with very crisp, toasted bread. It came with avocado, bacon (last of the bacon for the day) and frilly lettuces. If not for being overly toasted, it would probably have hit the spot a little better, but you can’t knock the flavor of their very fresh ingredients. My mom had a lovely salad, but I forget the details. She wasn’t too impressed with the southern-​Marin prices. I grabbed a peanut butter brownie that was so rich and delectable I could only eat two bites at a sitting.
Come by Rustic Bakery for a nice, fresh Marin lunch next time you get off the freeway into Larkspur.

Went to visit for the first time the other day. In my opinion by far the best of the rustic bakeries in Marin. Clean, friendly employees who seem to genuinely love interacting with customers. Service is on point. Food is healthy. Nestled in a semi secluded area compared to the others. Only problem here is finding parking. I wish this rustic bakery was in my town (Novato) I would go everyday!

Four stars for its small albeit balanced selections of coffee and tea, salads, soups and sandwiches. Great outdoor seating and good service, although sometimes a bit unprofessional. One star removed for the higher than peer prices. However, the quality speaks for itself. Two rather out-​of-​the-​way locations that I know of in Corte Madera and Novato. Good to see such class, though, away from the main districts of town.

Exceptional pastries made fresh every morning; from flaky croissants to flavorful never dry scones (I love them and I hate scones).
I’m a stickler for well made flavorful, never burnt or bitter coffee and this place hits a home run every time. Even the coffee tastes rustic (in a good way).
The service is always friendly and they get to know their regulars by name.
If in the area you should stop by, particularly in the morning.

Sitting in this off the beaten path location, the original Rustic Bakery, one would hardly ever know that it’s off the beaten path. Just look at that line, stretching to the door on a Sunday past 1 p.m. What do they think this is, Tartine?
Welcome to Marin’s version of San Francisco’s Tartine. No, they’re not related but they both produce such excellent baked goods that they might as well be. If all I cared about were baked goods I’d pit them toe to toe with Tartine then declare a tie. We all win. You truly could do no better than a croissant from Rustic Bakery. You could only wind up with a draw.
But then there’s the other part of the menu, the soups and salads and sandwiches (and breakfast fare). What comes to mind here are the words fresh and light. Like the way Chez Panisse fare was first described, each flavor here stands on its own. You can tell they’ve begun with the best ingredients, nothing is masked or covered up. It’s all just the best of what it is, lightly mixed with the best of something else, to produce flavors that Marin-​ites adore.
As I sat enjoying my Roasted Chicken Caesar Salad ($ 11.25) l admired the heavy, oversized ceramic bowl in which it was served. Lovely presentation. The salad though, seemed a bit one-​note and I was sorry to find none of the toasted pine nuts or capers of which the menu spoke. The lemon-​anchovy dressing also seemed to be missing the latter ingredient, which would have really benefited the salad as a whole. The flavors that were there — the grated parmesan, fresh croutons, roast chicken, romaine, and the lemony dressing — simply didn’t pack enough of a flavor punch on their own.
A Rustic Chop Salad ($ 11.50) ordered by my dining companion, had more to love with nothing missing: romaine, tomatoes, hard-​cooked eggs, bacon and scallions, champagne vinaigrette, Point Reyes blue cheese crumbles. As the parent in me would say, «he made all gone».
Salads are served with 3 each of the cracker-​bread for which Rustic Bakery is known. Hard and crunchy, they’re somewhat of an acquired taste but it’s fine: I’ve acquired it. Still though, neither of us felt totally sated by this light, fresh fare. A small bakery item was required and why not? We were probably saving room for that right from the start.
Rustic Bakery is a fabulous place for baked goods and a very good place for salads, sandwiches, and breakfast items. But be warned: most Marin residents have already figured that out for themselves.

Great pastries, great salads, good coffee.
This location feels cozier and friendlier than the one at Larkspur Landing. Lovely salads — especially the updated chicken Caesar — and the pastries are delicious, though they seem a little less fresh than the other locations. This may be because I tend to go here later in the day, though.
Stumptown coffee is great; I haven’t tried their espresso drinks because the plain coffee is so good.

I love coming here. It’s close to my home, everything is fresh. Lots to choose from. Good salads, sandwiches, coffee is smooth, pastries are delicious. It’s almost getting as busy as the lark landing location but at least here I don’t have to drive around in circles looking for parking.
I’m just excited that they didn’t sell out of pain au chocolat my favorite!

I stated in my first review that the pastries are as good as what you’ll find in Paris. Well we just returned from Paris, and I reiterate that assertion.
And it’s not only the croissants; we tried lots of different pastries from a handful of patisseries and bakeries and Paris, and a week after we got home we went to Rustic to compare. And what we had was just as good as what we had in Paris, including the place in the Latin Quarter we walked for 20 minutes to find because we heard they had the best croissants in Paris. Yes, Rustic is even better than that gem.
I feel fortunate to have Rustic so close to home, and after visiting Paris I will no longer be taking Rustic for granted!

Bread Buzz
Always worth the drive up here. A bit out of the way for those who hug the outlines of 101 but all good things to those who seek them out. The polenta bread is a delight as is their honey multigrain loaf. Chewy with a little bounce is the best way of describing the texture of the bread with a hint of sour dough (although I have no idea what the wizards in the back use). They also have coffee and a wonderful pastry selection in addition to salad and sandwiches. I always buy bread and high tail it to the car at which time I tear off a hunk of fresh baked bread and am quickly transported to gluten heaven. Each loaf is around five dollars. They will slice the bread for you if you ask. Get an espresso on your way out to add to the bread buzz. Ah, wheat and caffeine. What a delightful combination.

Rustic has all the ingredients of a friendly, neighborhood café. Bright, welcoming vibe, consistent service, and tasty food. The Saigon sandwich (a seasonal special) is to die for and the chicken salad platter is my go-​to salad. Organic chicken, apples, toasted almonds mixed with cherry tomatoes, avocado, lettuce, and their delicious dressing — it always hits the spot. Then there’s dessert. Every pastry I’ve tried is better than the last. There’s a wide selection from thin oatmeal raisin cookies to almond croissants. They also have some of the best gluten-​free, berry scones in the area.
The walls are decorated by the work of local artists, adding to the warm ambiance. Both breakfast and lunch are served and prices are fair.

I really like this location of Rustic Bakery. I’ve been going to Rustic Bakery lately to study and the Magnolia location is much more relaxed than the Marin Country Mart. The ambiance is very nice and they have delicious food.
It would be great if Rustic Bakery had more veggie options on the menu. I don’t eat dairy, and it seems like most items have dairy in them (soups, sandwiches, most salads). I would love Rustic Bakery even more if they added some dairy-​free items to the menu. I will give them props for having soy milk though.
Overall really nice café! Keep in mind that the parking is very limited.