Ettore’s European Bakery & Restaurant

This is an updated review*
Every time I come here, I’ve received subpar customer service. The only thing that kept me a loyal customer was the incomparable food quality (dat fruit basket cake & veggie salad duh). Paying first at the front cash register always seemed like such an obstacle to get to the light at the end of the tunnel. That is, until today.
During my last visit, they forgot a small piece of chocolate I ordered for my to-​go order. Please believe I called them to inform them of my anguish of my $ 2 truffle.
Today, I returned for a promised gift certificate to compensate for my suffering that one lonely night.
Josh — the manager –was incredibly helpful during this visit, and definitely contributed to ettore’s resilient reputation in my eyes. He went above and beyond our expectations and did everything he could to win business back after my prior experiences. Someone give this guy a Medal of Honor.
At any rate — get the:
— Niman Ranch Burger
— Veggie salad
— fruit basket cake (duh)
— salted caramel tart

Of all the bakeries in town, I keep coming back to Ettores. Absolutely the best quality, consistently.

This place is great, I also come here with my mom & sisters for dinner. The environment is very nice and the service is great. We always enjoy having dinner here and their food is always fresh and good. You can’t go wrong with their dessert. Thank you!

I can’t believe I’ve been enjoying this place for a little over 20 years! They’re Celebrating 30 years of business right now.
Came here for breakfast with a Party of 9. It’s self seating. Walked up to the counter and placed our order, they’ll give you a number to take to your table. Outdoor seating available but it was packed. Found a couple tables next to each other by luck and timing. Ordered a carafe of their strawberry sunrise mimosa $ 23. Yummy!
Our food was brought out about 20 min later. Hot and fresh and delicious. Never disappointed for breakfast lunch or dinner!
Cinnamon Roll French Toast to die for! Pancakes are a must. Veggie quiche a given.
Finished our meal and made our way to the bakery. To Go: macaroons, chewy chocolate cookies, chocolate croissant, bear claw and a slice of the strawberry white chocolate mousse cake.

I have been to Ettore’s twice now and have enjoyed it everytime. It gets really busy for weekday lunches (and I’m sure weekends too) but we were always able to find a table for our party of two or three. The parking lot is a small crazy mess which causes all nearby parking lots to fill up as well.
When you walk in there is a line for the bakery side to buy all their delicious cakes, cookies, pastries and a ton of other specialty desserts that are hard to pass up. The other line is for their dining room so grab a menu, pick out what you want, order at the counter and pick a seat. They will bring your food out to you when it’s done and there are self serve water stations in the inside dining room and outside covered patio which is nice rain or shine. The food comes out quickly with little wait.
On my first visit I had their made in house Nutburger which comes with cheese on a delicious bun. The Nutburger is tasty as well, just not the best I have had. It comes with Pasta Salad but I recommend paying $ 2 to upgrade to their French Fries because they are absolutely some of the best I have ever had! So perfect.
On my second visit I had their Macaroni and Cheese which comes with a surprisingly tasty side salad with walnuts, strawberries and cheese. Yum! The Macaroni and Cheese also didn’t disappoint. It was great, very cheesy and there was enough sauce with great flavor. The portion size was perfect for lunch too.
I will definitely keep coming back to Ettore’s! Highly recommended.

When I heard about this place, I thought it would be one of those typical expensive French pastry places. I was wrong!
My friend and her family and I met here for brunch. As soon as we walked in, there was a line. At this place, you place your order at the cashier’s and then find your own seat. They have their daily specials and a variety of breakfast dishes. Their banana French toast special was calling my name! Especially when I read that it had caramel AND chocolate sauce!
We got our table, and water and coffee are self served. The wait for our food wasn’t long at all, considering the place was pretty packed. My dish was so beautifully presented. I didn’t realize my French toast was actually cinnamon rolls (which is one of their well known dishes) and it was sprinkled with bananas and walnuts, drizzled with caramel and chocolate sauce and topped with whipped cream and mint. It had the perfect sweetness — I didn’t even have to use syrup!
At the other side of this place is of course their bakery. They had tons of desserts from cakes to pastries to cookies and macarons. Everything smelled so fresh and they weren’t pricey at all! The people working there were fast, and knew exactly what was in their desserts. Definitely coming back!

Needed a cake for my wife’s birthday. Made the call to Ettore’s. Got the White Chocolate with Strawberries Cake. It’s my wife’s favorite. Ordered it on a Friday. Picked it up on a Saturday. And they even had candles to purchase. Delicious choice.

We truly enjoy most of their desserts! Whether we come here for that special occasion dessert pickup or sometimes we venture to their «drop off» locations inside the Nugget stores for a closer convenient location. We haven’t met a dessert that we didn’t like from here!
We have come here from time to time just for coffee and dessert and enjoyed our conversation with friends. This was the first time we’ve actually ordered breakfast!
My buddy doesn’t like eggs so she ordered from the side items! Bacon, fried potatoes, fruit, dessert, and coffee! Yummy! I had the croissant breakfast sandwich with bacon and eggs with a side of fruit. The croissant sandwich was good, but not great! It was more on the plain side for me. It needed a punch of flavor! My friend’s mom ordered the breakfast burrito with a side of fruit! She said the same thing. It was ok. Our breakfast treats, however, were AWSOME! We ordered just the plain coffee… nothing fancy. It was a very nice bold taste! Loved it. Oooooh! Their orange juice was very good, too! Very fresh!
The place itself is nice! People come and go quickly. They do a good job keep up with everything. The bathroom was also very well maintained. The people working were also very nice and helpful! I’ll be back soon!

Ettore’s has been around for a long time now and I have heard a lot of good things about their food and bakery. Finally, the day coincidentally arrived when Joe K. & I were shopping in the area and became hungry enough to start searching for a place to eat. When we passed by this place, our minds melded and knew that this is where we were going to have lunch!
As we entered, the place was quite busy at both the restaurant and bakery section. When you walk in, there is an ordering counter with wall menu above, or you can look at their regular printed menus. A salad bar is also to your right with their daily salad specials which can be ordered as a meal alone or as a side that is included with your sandwich selections. I wanted something light, so I chose the Veggie Wrap in a spinach tortilla with purple cabbage, carrots, Daikon radish, green onions, Asian Trinity (Basil, Cilantro, Mint) and a Soy Lime Dressing. I also got a small bowl of fruit to go with it. The wrap was very tasty (especially with that soy lime dressing), and I’m sure it was healthy to boot! Instead of my usual Diet Pepsi, I noticed that they offer a nice variety of Torani’s Italian sodas, so I got a peach flavored drink which was deliciously thirst quenching.
Joe K. ordered the Ettore’s Hamburger on a cheddar scallion bun. It apparently won the 2013 burger battle, so Joe had to try it out and include it on his Unilocal burger list! His delicious gourmet burger included an all natural Niman Ranch Hamburger, sauteed mushrooms, Swiss cheese, tomato, red leaf lettuce, and herb mayonnaise. His side was a penne pasta and spinach salad which he also enjoyed. Then he washed it all down with a Scrimshaw Pilsner beer.
We really loved our food. Joe chowed down and managed to finish his whole burger, but my «light» lunch was not light enough, so I ended up taking the other half of my wrap home to eat the next day. Which by the way, still maintained it’s state of goodness. I was hoping to take a dessert to-​go on our way out, but decided against it. There was just too many sweets to choose from and too many customers waiting. The stress was a little hard for me to handle, and I couldn’t bring myself to hold up the line! But next time, I will have everything planned out!

FOOD
— Vienna with Chocolate and Toasted Almond Croissant: flaky croissant with chocolate and almond filling, topped toasted almonds and powdered sugar. Yummy! ⁴⁄₅
SERVICE
Fast and friendly. ⁴⁄₅

Parking is rough. Lunch is a great time to come.
This isn’t your typical sit down restaurant. You stand in line at the counter, place your order then sit down. After sitting you can find silverware, napkins and condiments at the water station. It’s kind of a shock if you’ve never been here before. There are no directions or signs.
Ordering: Be prepared to know what you order before you get to the head of the line. It’s a fast pace place. Plan ahead when ordering. Will you want dessert? If you don’t want to stand in line again make sure you pre-​order. Being my first time it was tough. I didn’t understand the menu or what was on it. There wasn’t time to look in the case for salads, ect.
Now that I’m prepared I’d go back.

If you look carefully at my picture below you will see the happiest, most friendly burger on the planet. It is like it is smiling at me and saying; «please eat me.» I could almost imagine it giggling as I drew closer for my close up shot. What in the world is that smell? Could it possibly be hickory smoke? Naw, it can’t be!
I don’t know what all of that «stuff» on the top of his head, I mean the top of its bun is about? Kind of looks a little cheesy if you know what I mean.
Nothing but first class with the side dish as well. Forget the greasy fries. This burger isn’t about greasy kids stuff. I guess you can have the greasy kids stuff if you want but why, when you can have a spinach and penne pasta salad?
Sadly, the burger was not around to wave good bye, and say; «have a nice day».

This is my first time being in the restaurant/​bakery. There was plenty of parking and the restaurant part was busy. I had their cakes before at birthday celebrations. I was a little disappointed that they ran out of macaroons ! But they had plenty of cake by the slice selections.
The red velvet cake is super to die for. The sweetness and the moisture of the cake is perfect. It is not too sweet and freshly made. I also picked up a few of the chocolate lady bugs. Super good chocolate taste filled with different flavors. I also had a few of the small chocolate cup with expresso flavor. All was delicious.

Ettore’s is my go to bakery for special occasion cakes and pastries. I often will stop by at 6:30 am during the work week to pick up some of their amazing pastries to share with my office. The cheese danish are light, buttery, and divine. The big as your face cinnamon rolls will beg to be devoured with a wonderfully hot cup of coffee. So many wonderful pastries to choose from. If you’re daring, have a slice of the many wonderful cakes that will make you want to stop by daily for another one. The Princess torte is my all time favorite. The lightly flavored sponge cake is layered with raspberry and covered with almond marzipan. Seriously worth every calorie.
I had extra time to spare this morning, and decided to try breakfast there. Ive had lunch and dinner at Ettore’s, but today was a special treat. So many delightful and mouth watering options to choose from. The french toast with nutella and bananas looked sinfully delicious. I opted for the veggie quiche and hot chocolate.
If your tastebuds are looking for that aha moment, the veggie quiche will exceed that feeling. After paying at the counter and seating myself, the warm quiche and freshly cut fruit was brought to my table. The quiche was fluffy and flavorful. I wasn’t certain if the peas i found lightly added to the quiche would make my tastebuds want more, or reject them for being an odd ingredient. They worked! The sundries tomatoes added a scrumptious flavor to this wonderful egg creation. The crust, which i normally tend to not like, was YUMM!
The nice touch was when i was served my meal, my hot chocolate was brought in a to go cup. LOVE IT! what an awesome idea. If you need to top your coffee off before heading out, there are several large carafes that you can help yourself to.
The staff was friendly and warmly greeted everyone as they came in, and wished them a good day when they left. A true café experience.

One word: prodigious!
On 3÷5÷2016, I was heading to this remarkable place located at the Arden/​Arcade neighborhood for the past several decades. Ettore’s brings the customers to taste their delicious pastries and elegant entrees every 365 days. The atmosphere (both inside and out) is quite joyful and relaxing as I welcomed there. The concept is much like dining in a small, local French café with all the European furnitures, and finest interior decors.
The employees are doing a great job for making the customers like me an enjoyable service. No cons at all.
Now onto the food! Since I haven’t tried their lunch entrees, I decided to buy their macaroons (vanilla and raspberry.) As I ate it, their macaroons are fantastic! I can feel the soft, chewy and crispiness of the macaroon right into my mouth! The flavors are on point, and naturally made without placing unwanted flavors at all! Such a great dessert snack!
There’s plenty of parking spaces available, so you can park anywhere you want near or far. You can also ride a bike, walk, or use public transportation too.
In the end, Ettore’s European Bakery & Restaurant is the most tremendous place that I’ve ever visited in years. A well, worthy visit! My rating: 5 solid stars.

Pros: good food, fast service, good vegetarian options, complementary pastries for the table, very clean bathrooms
Cons: Bloody Mary was WAY too pickley, tasted like I was drinking pickle juice out of the jar. When I took it back and asked for it to be remade, it was left on the counter and forgotten about because the staff was too busy. Some of the silverware was dirty, and toast was cold and soggy.
Overall I will return based on the good quality of the coffee and food. Be sure to visit the bakery side.

A really great spot for lunch and/​or dessert! I personally think dessert is fitting after lunch at this spot.
Turkey and brie sandwich: I thought this was actually very tasty and satisfying. I loved the herb roll bread because it was soft but hearty and flavorful.
I also liked the thicker cuts of turkey because you could tell it was a higher quality. It was also the right amount and thickness for the sandwich.
I did taste Brie but it was milder than the other flavors. I wish the Brie was a little bit stronger so that it was the winning flavor in every bite. I still enjoyed the sandwich but was a little disappointed that the Brie was very mild.
Pasta salad: I have never had pasta salad with chickpeas. What a fabulous idea though! I actually could have had bowls of this pasta salad. I usually like fries with my sandwiches, but I didn’t even miss them with this pasta salad.
Dessert: my favorites were the fruit basket cake and the napolean. There were sweet pieces of strawberries in both cakes that won me over. It tasted crisper and healthier somehow! I didn’t feel like I needed milk to wash down the cakes!
The décor is so cute and there is ample seating in this restaurant. I can see this restaurant filling up quickly because it’s THAT good. Prices were a little bit higher than other places, but I actually think it’s reasonable for the quality.

Ettores is well know for their pretty cakes at weddings, and if you didn’t know they also serve food ! Brunch, lunch, dinner, desserts … They got you covered. I’ve been here for all of the above over the years. Menu is a bit limited when it comes to savory meals, but the food is consistent and tasty. I do feel that their prices are a bit on the higher side, but I guess you get what you pay for. Their cakes are famous for a good reason, they are not only delicious but also a work of art ! On my latest trip, it was 9 pm on a damp cold Friday night, we walked in and ordered a slice of lemon Chiffon and coffee. It was a moment of bliss ! Totally appreciate the late hours. There were lots of obviously neighborhood folks just chillin with their homies… and cake :)

The cake selection here is pretty phenomenal, but today I had the Niman Ranch burger… with a runny egg on top. Cooked to perfection, the sauteed mushrooms added to the flavor of the sandwich. Next to it, I chose pasta salad and it complimented nicely. In my opinion, the brioche bun was just fine. Yes, my hands got a little messy. No, I didn’t mind. If I’d wanted to keep my hands clean, I’d have been upset. I also would have ordered something else…
I dig the cakes for sure. Kahlua cake is rich, but awesome. Princess torte is apparently good for princess torte. It’s the colorful marizpan coated dome one. Also picked up a Napolean to go.
In the morning, the pastry case is irresistable. All of those goodies are too much to say no. Although they’d run out of cheese danishes by the afternoon…
Whenever I get married, I think I want a Kahlua cake as a groom’s cake!

H and I love coming here. I’m not so sure if it’s because of the food or simply because we just love coming here in sweats (our mandatory uniform), surrounded by elderly men and women, and talking/​laughing for hours about the most embarrassing, cringe-​worthy moments that just so happen to comprise a majority of the entirety of our lives (…oh GOD).
On our latest endeavor, I ordered the salmon scramble + fried potatoes + fruit + wheat toast with coffee (self serve near the opening of the restaurant) and H ordered the vegetarian scramble (with mushrooms and spinach instead of avocado and tomato) + double fruit + wheat toast.
The food, per usual, was delicious — the salmon was very generously distributed throughout the entire scramble, cheese was nicely melted, and garnished lightly with chives. The potatoes were very crispy (some pieces were quite a bit smaller than other pieces, however, leaving some pieces a little too crispy). Ettore’s fruit always impresses me because it is always, always, very, very fresh — particularly the STRAWBERRIES AND PINEAPPLES (yum). I don’t always like fruit salad because I feel like the fruit gets mushy/​watery from bumping into each other. NOT so at Ettores.
Lastly, per tradition, H and I ordered one slice of the Princess Torte to share. This cake is D E L I C I O U S every single time we order it (as are all the cakes we’ve ever ordered). At first glance, this cake appears to be very heavy and sweet (esp because of the very bright and colorful colors that surround this cake). The cake, however, is anything but, with very light, delicious, and moist layers of strawberries + whip cream + light vanilla cake. MMM we absolutely love ending our meal with a little slice of this deliciousness.
Overall, Ettore’s holds a very near and dear place in my heart. Come for the cakes — and PLEASE IGNORE the two strange, cackling girls in the corner, wearing bright/​outrageous looking sweats, choking/​snorting with laughter, pointing and waving their phones in the air. …Sometimes, delicious cake attracts the crazies.