La Farine Bakery

I love this. Wandered in here b/​c accompanying a friend to nearby Kaiser. I have a nice seat with u-​bench along the front window facing the street, a sturdy table in front of me, pour-​over coffee plus a morning bun. High ceilings. Ambience is bright, warm w/​light wood, and conducive to thinking, writing, morning coffee. Keep it up. La Farine, as always, sports some of the best pastries in the East Bay.

I have been waiting for the opportunity to present itself so that I could happily wander into La Farine, and it finally happened last month! I got to try some of their pastries since I happened to be in the area with my friend! I bought an assortment of pastries to take home and my favorites were their Savory Morning Bun and regular Morning Bun! Service was excellent, can’t wait to come back!

The best morning bun I have had in a long time and I highly recommend that drop coffee to go along. Friendly and fast service, makes this place a great stop on the go or to sit and enjoy a quiet treat.

One of my favorite bakeries in the world. They helped us out so much back when we had our wedding. One of the things we miss most about Oakland. On our way through town We made it a point to stop by and get some coffee and treats. Great vibe. The nicest workers her. Love it. Oh and everything tastes amazing.

One of my favorite bakeries in Oakland! When I’m in the area, I’m always tempted to swing by.
We came here to grab some breakfast. We ordered the morning bun, chocolate croissant, and a loaf of walnut bread. Also grabbed a mini fruit tart for dessert.
The morning bun and chocolate croissant were not as fresh as it was dry and flaky so I wondered if they baked them here or if they baked at their other shops. So I have to give them 4 stars for that. As for the fruit tart, I love the cream custard and the tart shell. Best fruit tarts ever!

The Bûche de Noël (Yule log) our friends got at this bakery was awesome! Exactly the homy style of rolled sponge cake with chocolate you wish you had the time to make!

Poor quality, poor customer service.
I went to the Piedmont location for the first time and bought bread and assorted pastries for dinner guests. I was very disappointed and really embarrassed with the overall quality of the ‘chocolatines’; which is what they call their pain au chocolate. They were tough, and barely edible (I was hoping for something more Parisian). We even tried gentle toasting to improve the situation. I decided to call the bakery today and let them know the bake goods were probably not as they intended. The first person I spoke with was relatively polite, he couldn’t confirm they were baked in the same day I bought them, as many items are not baked daily. He did suggest a store credit, and passed me to someone else to leave my info. The 2^nd person basically grilled me on my storage method for the 3 hours before serving them, and then took my info for a store credit– we’re talking about a few $, which I was likely never to use. 5 min later he calls me back and says, after speaking with the owner, they would not offer any refund or credit unless I returned the partially eaten pastries, with receipt, for inspection. What? I’m shocked they wanted my compost bag– with the leftover pastries and assorted other unsavory/​raw chicken dinner refuse for inspection. I’m happy to comply, with receipt in hand, but please give my $ to someone in need. I will not support this business again. I will let my friends know to shop elsewhere.

Horrible. I am a cake decorater/​baker and its my birthday today so i thought i would give this place a try. Not very friendly customer service. They had a few cakes in the case and some slices. I asked for the princess tarte and the women told me that it had to be special ordered. OK fine. So i picked out some mini cupcakes and 2 slices of cake. I was excited for the moka cake but then dissapponted quickly. The cake was soo dry not a soft part was in there and when you have your items in a refrigerated case you should have wraps around them to keep them from drying out very disappointed with this bakery.

Don’t bother placing an order here unless you know the rules and correct lingo, they surely won’t help you. Furthermore, they will actually argue that you’re the one in the wrong. I asked for mini tarts and received tartlets for my client. When I called to inquire, first I was told that I asked for tartlets, which I did not. When I told Ms. Ebony that I in fact did not ask for tartlet, she then told me «Well we call those boats, you should’ve asked for that.» Huh? What? Why and how would I know to ask for boats when I am asking for a mini tart? I then said «You are giving me the product, so you need to make sure the client and you are on the same page.»
She cared not, and offered no apology or anything. I then called the College Ave. store, where I was told that I was wrong again and I should’ve known that La Farine calls them boats basically. Again, no apology, but I was told that the woman would hang up on for down talking her if I didn’t stop and there was nothing she could do! You’re right there is nothing you can do since I have my event in 1 hour, so you actually did finally get something right!
Down talk her? What? I told her the very same thing I told the other woman, «If you are providing a service or PRODUCT, YOU need to make sure you and the client are on the same page!» No call from the owner, as I know they have discussed it in both stores which is amazing. So thank you for ripping my client off with $ 172 bucks of a dessert she didn’t ask for. Not only will I NEVER use you business again for my client’s, I will further make sure EVERYONE in Oakland knows how you treat customers.
Maybe you all should put a La Farine dictionary on your site, or email it to a potential client before they order so they know what words and rules to follow.
I am a firm believer that it’s only expensive if you have a bad time!
In this case this was VERY expensive for me and my client. #doublewhammy
Thanks for nothing,
signed a very disappointed customer

Tried it out today for the first time. They had a good range of baked goods. I tried an almond croissant and an oatmeal cookie with apricot in it. Both were good. The almond croissant was chewy with enough almond paste to get the flavor, but more almond paste could have pushed it up a notch. The cookie was alright.
Two complaints though — they only have drip coffee, no espresso or anything of the kind, which is definitely too bad.
Also, the service was iffy. There was only one employee out of the four I saw who seemed at all interested in his job. The main cashier was even checking her phone while people were deciding what they wanted.

Best granola in town! It doesn’t hurt that it’s the best deal, either – $ 5.50 for 12 ounces.
Every time I stop here I get the Frangipane, the Rustic baguette and multi-​grain baguette. Now I’m adding granola to the list! It just doesn’t get any better than that.
The employees are always super nice and helpful. It’s a great local experience all around. Thanks, La Farine!

I heard about La Farine about a year ago, when a co-​worker brought Morning Buns in to share with the team. From that moment, I just knew of La Farine as the «morning bun» bakery. Btw, those were delicious morning buns.
It took until yesterday before I finally passed by one of their locations, and since they were still open, I made it a point to walk in. It was late, close to closing so the variety of pastries available was limited, but that didn’t stop me from walking away with a bag full of goodies.
As delicious as that first Morning Bun was that I had, I didn’t actually grab any this time. But I would recommend them to anyone looking for something yummy. La Farine offers regular sized and mini buns, which are perfect for bringing to the office to share!
What I did grab was this assortment:
* Brioche
* Swiss Twinkie
* Almond Tea Cake
* Jezebel Cookie
They were all yummy, but I particularly loved the Almond Tea Cake.
Can’t wait to go back earlier in the day, to try more!

I usually try to stay away from bakeries to avoid the glutenous temptations. But if I ever need a cake for a special occasion, this is one of the best bakeries in the area. I love coming here for their fruit tarts. The presentation is beautiful, and they use the freshest fruits (not the unripe ones).
One thing I didn’t like, was how they did not have any birthday signs to stick into the cake. The girl offered to write the message on a piece of shortbread to put on top, but it just isn’t the same.

Amazing cakes, HORRIBLE service — the one employee she seems to be the manager is just SO RUDE; every time.!!
We’ve been coming there for 5 years, but just got so tired of it.

Solid lemon cheesecake slice. Too bad most of the tasty looking cakes weren’t available by the slice to try. Service was subpar with no greeting or even so much as a smile when I went up to order.
Hardly worth a return visit to try the other items.

FANTASTIC Desserts. We always go here for pastries and cakes for Birthdays, Family Gatherings, Anniversaries, etc.
Trust me you won’t be disappointed. The staff there is very accommodating and friendly. Our favorite is the fruit tart!

You know what’s better than finding the one place that serves your absolute FAVORITE version of ham & cheese pastries and buns in the entire Bay Area?
Finding out there are multiple branches to get your carb fix. WIN.
This one, however, is not quite as good as their College Ave location. While everything still tastes better than what the competition offers, the texture of the pastries sometimes makes it seem marginally less fresh.
My favorites:
PATE FEUILLETE WITH HAM AND CHEESE
It has a delicious light, flaky, and perfectly puffy exterior filled with ham and creamy bechamel. The version here wasn’t quite as good since the ham was dry.
SAVORY MORNING BUN
Like its popular sweet counterpart, but filled with ham, cheese, and onion.
MORNING BUN
Fluffy cinnamony goodness, second to Tartine, which IMO takes second place overall to La Farine.
CHOCOLATINE
Solid chocolate croissant with a slightly buttered and glossy exterior. Warm it up to melt the chocolate and have it be better distributed within the croissant.
FRUIT TART
It’s like eating a cookie with a cool mildly sweet creamy custard and fresh fruit on top. I’m not usually the type to go for fruity desserts but this one is so yummy and refreshing.
There’s more seating here than the other location I frequent.
Worth every calorie. ;-)

I like being here. It’s never super crowded like other cafes on Piedmont Ave. I enjoy sipping Jasmine Tea in the afternoon. I asked if they have any sweets that are non-​dairy (I didn’t think so, it’s a French bakery, but it doesn’t hurt to ask!) and they did have 2 non-​dairy items! The guy at the counter said he didn’t think so, but he asked the other lady and came back to me. I had a hazelnut biscotti and he treated me, how nice!

Best bakery in the East Bay right here. Everything is fresh and perfectly crafted, it’s buttery, flakey, sweet, tart — everything you are looking for in a morning pastry. They’ve got all the classics with some inventive options thrown in for fun. Great coffee too. My only complaint is the seating directly out side this place always seems occupied by people who went to Pete’s and not La Farine.
Haven’t tried their cakes but they look amazing. We plan to purchase for all upcoming celebrations.

The bakery items are okay, but for the price, I wish they wow’ed me more. The triple ginger cookie was alright, though my favorite ones are large and chewy, these are smaller and crunchy, and kind of lacks in the ginger flavor despite being «triple ginger.» The gruyère cheese bun wasn’t bad in terms of flavor, and though I could’ve waited until I got access to a toaster oven or even a microwave at home, I was too hungry and ate the cold cheese and onion bun. I ordered a birthday cake for my bf from here last year, and it was so overwhelmingly sweet. I figured it would be more on the sweet side (Le Sicilien), but not entirely one-​note sweet. And for the price, I thought it was going to be one delicious cake… it was only okay. Same goes for the cupcakes. Pretty standard sweet.
With all this said though, I’ll have to come back and try some of the other baked goods. The service has always been pretty friendly, especially when ordering a cake.

mon dieu! c’est magnifique.