Zest Bakery

Hi, the cakes that they produce are great, no question. The reason for the one star is that ordering a cake is more complicated than a space shuttle launch. As a bay area resident with tons on my/​our plate, the process is just too painful. They have an order acceptance policy that makes us feel like we are applying to an ivy league school. My advice: you have a great product but you are not easy to do business with. This will lose you customers and open the door to competition.

LOVE ZEST!
Almond cake is to die for!!! I enjoy coming here if I’m ever in the area.
You can’t really go wrong with any of the pastries or the sandwiches.
It’s a must if you are gluten-​free!

This place is awesome. As someone who can’t eat gluten or dairy it’s hard to satisfy my sweet tooth. My boyfriend who has no food restrictions got the maple bacon bourbon muffin and I got the lemon poppyseed cake. Both were outstanding and even my boyfriend agreed he’d be back! It kind of pricey (two coffees and two pastries were $ 16) so we couldn’t make it a regular thing but I’m happy a place like this exists! It’s expected for quality food though. Some nicer décor inside would make this more café like to come hang out with friends. All in all it was super yummy

I don’t know how this place survives. Closed Mondays AND Tuesdays, making it not convenient for buying pastries for the office. I can understand being closed Sundays and Mondays, but they choose Monday and Tuesday instead? I’m guessing they survive because their prices are so high. I have given up going to Zest.

Love coming here! They have the best almond cakes and the sandwiches are good with lots of stuff packed into them. I’ve ordered cakes from here on two occasions and they were wonderful and moist.

Good stuff. The flour mix they use leave cakes moist, which is a bonus. Sometimes gluten free can be pretty dry and tasteless.
They make a yummy cheese cake.
And my children LOVED their chocolate chip cookies and their sandwich cookies.

Got the almond cake. Was good.

I got 3 items here since I am on a vegan/​gluten free elimination diet. The was items were good. I got the cupcake, oreo like whoopie pie, and a cornstarch hoagie.
Improvements that could be made are:
*use gloves or tongs/​tissue paper to grab the items. My cornstarch Hoagie was grabbed with a hand that was not washed.
* 3 items for $ 10 a little pricey
*spell out the ingredients on a placard when displaying the goods.
* I think they have limited hours for Tues/​Wed.

2.5 Stars. Was not impressed with the taste or texture. I have had better gluten free items from the grocery store. I am not gluten free, but pretty cool there is a whole bakery devoted to GF for those who are.

I went to Zest bakery after reading that they carry hemp milk. I have been searching for an establishment to get a hemp milk latte or cappuccino (so good!) The first off putting thing that occurred was when the asked «How are you?» The woman working replied «Ehhh, tired.» I realize that I got an answer to the question I asked, however it didnt exactly set the mood. Next, when I asked for a hemp milk latte, I was told this could not be done. She said they just bake with the hemp milk.
I ended up ordering an almond milk latte and a sandwich. Both were fine, but I don’t plan on returning to this establishment.

Every thing this bakery makes is absurdly DELICIOUS! The cinnamon rolls, the fresh Oreos, the maple donut… I could go on. I adore this bakery.
I have allergies to gluten, soy, and dairy, but I can eat almost every single thing at this bakery. It’s incredible. It’s real the only bakery I’ve seen in all my travels that is so accommodating of allergies.
The cinnamon roll, warmed up in a toaster oven at home is pure heaven.
I go out of my way to stop at this bakery. Can’t suggest it enough.

BEST GLUTEN FREE MULTIGRAIN BREAD anywhere! I’ve tried them all and their bread is seriously the best. You can see the crumb is perfect when you look at a slice. It’s the closest thing to whole wheat bread that I have so far tasted. Also outstanding are the almond cakes.
Their prices are very reasonable and lower than any other GF bakery I’ve ever visited. The only really weird thing is that they charge $ 1.50 if you want your bread slice. This should be free.
They have a couple tables inside. It’s well lit and pleasant. Service was fine although I’ve never tried to order a cake or anything like that.

Delicious gluten-​free food. Service very kind. Cute area with tables to eat. Food tastes fresh. We ordered the Triple Berry muffin, chocolate chip cookie, peach berry pie, and Apple pie. Very fresh, organic, gluten-​free food. Can be vegan, dairy-​free, along with all gluten-​free.

Found my favorite gluten free bakery in the Bay Area!!! I had a coconut pastry today that was divine!!! Then a sprinkle cookie that was delightful! And a almond pastry that was amazing… Must gym tomorrow! Hahahaha!!! Oh zest! Your pastries don’t taste gluten free at all. Why don’t my homemade gf pastries taste this good! Guess I will just have to eat more to learn all your secrets – cause you know, that’s how it works.

I’m done with Zest Bakery. While their baked goods are pretty good (but expensive!), their service and hours are not. You can’t get a hold of anyone there to save your life! I have been going there since they opened their doors. When the owner worked there often, I enjoyed it. I was willing to pay their prices because it was nice to have a GF bakery close to my house. But no longer. And, I can see from these reviews that I’m not the only one.
Last Saturday, I ordered a cake for a party coming up this Saturday. The woman said they would just have to get approval, but never said that if I didn’t pay, they wouldn’t hold the spot for me. I called to leave a message that I needed to make a change to my cake order yesterday afternoon because they are closed on Mondays and close at 4 pm during the week. Nope, couldn’t leave a message because they don’t check messages. I sent an email, but the auto response says they will respond in 3 – 5 days! Seriously!
I called three times this morning before someone finally picked up only to be told that my order had been cancelled because they couldn’t get a hold of me to pay. Said they tried to call me on Sunday and yesterday. I told her that I would have gladly paid when I ordered it, but that she said nothing about it to me. The number she gave me that she said she called from is only in my phone log from my calls TO them, not from missed calls FROM them. The woman I spoke to was the same one who took my order on Saturday. I believe the owner was standing there (as I heard a voice that sounded like his), so she lied and said that she definitely tried to call me yesterday. Nope, no calls from Zest.
More and more GF places are popping up around the Bay Area, so it’s not going to be difficult to find yummy baked goods without giving my business to a bakery that lies and doesn’t care about it’s customers.
When I was going to school in Berkeley, I used to go to Mariposa Bakery in Oakland all the time. The quality of their baked goods is far superior to Zest’s. They now have a bake shop in the Ferry Building in SF and you can find them at some farmers’ markets around the Bay Area. If you’re going to pay high prices for GF food, it may as well be better than pretty good. It should be great! If you’re coming from out of town anyway, make the trip to Oakland or SF because it’s worth it. don’t bother with Zest.

Great Gluten Free Shop in San Carlos!
Secret: They have donuts on Saturday Mornings but they usually sell out by 10/​11am so go early!
Yum!

I have been wanting to try a pure Gluten Free bakery for awhile now, many thanks to my Dear Unilocal Buddy Shal W. (
) for her awesome «Gluten Free» check-​ins and reviews. It made me think what I shoved down my tummy. Mind you, I come from Dunkin Donuts and Krispy Kreme DNA, so trying anything outside of this, I am literally going out on a limb! :p
So what exactly is Gluten Free? According to the US Food and Drug Administration, «gluten-​free» if the food does not contain any of the following:
–an ingredient that is any type of wheat, rye, barley, or crossbreeds of these grains
–an ingredient derived from these grains and that has not been processed to remove gluten
–an ingredient derived from these grains and that has been processed to remove gluten, if it results in the food containing 20 or more parts per million (ppm) gluten“
Woof, that sounded complicated right? Basically, my take on it is don’t eat anything with flour!!! Hahahaha…
One of the reason that I also paid a visit to Zest Bakery was some of my Peninsula Team noted a preference for GF pastries. So I ordered their banana muffin for myself first to try since it was also their special of the day. Surprisingly, it wasn’t bad. I wasn’t so sure at first because the texture, smell and taste was a bit off than what I’m used to, but overall, it was good, moist, and so I decided to order a box full of goodies including muffins and almond pastries for my team. When I went back to ask them how they liked it, they gave me a two thumbs up!
Just to let you know… Zest Bakery can be hard to find since it is located in the middle of Arroyo, off Laurel Street in San Carlos. There was also no sign on the awning (at least when I looked up maybe I need new glasses). Thankfully though, their really cool logo etch on their front store glass came in handy.
There are a few places to sit so you can sip your favorite beverage. The inside looks very homey, and service was fantastic, and they even made great recommendations especially for a newbie Gluten Free dude like me. I’d definitely come back again and will special order their cakes next time for my team in the area!
Until then, Cheers! ~ :p

I used to love this place, back when you saw the owner running the counter every day. I even stuck in there when they hired that really shitty guy who was rude to everyone. I’m over it now. The last three times I went there, they were out of the one thing I wanted, the Carmelita sandwich. One time, the guy told me they were out of the foccosia, lettuce and chicken. Really, what was left? And it was only 1:00. Riddle me this… how do you run out of things when you have a grocery store 100 feet away? I walked out without buying anything. This last time I thought, I’m gonna give it one more chance. My sandwich was stale.
I’m not one to bad mouth someone on social media, I even reached out via email about the really shitty rude guy they hired instead of coming here, but I just wanted to share my experience. I’ve been patronizing this establishment for far too long, and I’m always disappointed. The idea of this bakery is great, it just needs better execution.

So glad I found this little gem! Its a small tiny store hid on the side street of down town San Carlos. They offer everything Gluten free, dairy free pastry and deli. Every Saturday they will offer something special, like donuts that is gluten free. The price is not the cheapest but its fair for Gluten Free.
I had their mini cheesecake, YUM! This was with gluten free graham cracker crust. Almond cake, moist and delicious; chocolate bar — amazing.
I can’t wait to come back to try their GF foccacia bread and their GF butternut squash ravioli!
Thank you so much for being born!

I found out I am allergic to gluten a few months ago, so my friend recommended Zest Bakery, which is strictly gluten free and I’m so thankful to her. They have a terrific variety of baked good from cookies, to muffins and cupcakes, frozen pizza crust, ice cream sandwiches, sandwiches, quiches and raviolis. I’ve taken home their vegan hoagie and loaf bread to make sandwiches and other snacks at home and they’re so tasty and chewy. You can also order sliced pizza after 11:00 am. Score! They also have cold beverages, coffee and tea to order!
They have a lot of choices for m vegetarians (me) and meat eaters alike! It’s rare to find a delicious gluten free bakery that has egg and dairy free options as well! The staff is so friendly and knowledgeable, which makes your visit that much more enjoyable! There are tables and chairs to enjoy your delectable goodies at. I can’t wait to go back again!