Utopia Bakery Cafe

I was looking forward to trying their baked goods before leaving SLO, but was disappointed to find them closed for good due to the economy :(

I come here for one thing and one thing only. The Cinnamon Roll with Pecans and Raisins!
I wake up at 5:30am to get ready to be here when they open at 6am to get them when they are fresh out of the oven and are still hot. There are very few things I get up early for, but the Cinnamon Rolls with Pecans and Raisins are simply amazing and are definitely worth it. Hold on a sec (*closes eyes)…yeah, I just went there in my mind and had a hot fresh out of the oven Cinnamon Roll with Pecans and Raisins. Its pillowy soft, moist base topped with a sinfully sweet cinnamon butter icing with fragrant toasted pecans chunks and warm plump raisins has a wonderful mouth feel, with an amazing aromatic bouquet. Pair one (heck maybe two or half a dozen) with a hot cup of coffee or tea and that is and excellent way to start a morning.
I have been known on occasion to bring a couple dozen of these goodies into work for my colleagues and they disappear in a matter of moments. I don’t even have to tell anyone I brought them in. The aroma alone is enough to turn colleagues all over the building into bloodhounds that track down the location of the decadent morning pastry resting on my desk.
If you want something good for breakfast, stop by Utopia Bakery early in the morning for a couple of Cinnamon Rolls with Pecans and Raisins. Enjoy!

What is goin on with Utopia Bakery lately? Apparently they’ve changed ownership multiple times lately, resulting in the fact that they no longer carry some of my favorite things: the spicy (not syrupy sweet) chai latte, the lemon tart that was actually tart instead of all sugar, and their brautwurst sandwich. The people that work there aren’t even familiar with what their menu says they offer, and it doesn’t seem like much of a priority for them to change it. Losing patience with this place…

**edited June 22, check out the bottom.
You can tell a lot about a bakery by their peanut butter cookies. Having previously been disappointed by the baked goods at Utopia (lackluster scones, dry coffee cake) I stopped in for a quick sweet and settled on a peanut butter cookie. An overpriced peanut butter cookie. A stale and far too hard, overpriced peanut butter cookie. Sad.
While Utopia generally smells pretty good when you visit (this last visit, it smelled heavenly), I haven’t tried anything that sticks in my head or causes cravings. The sandwich prices are fair but I couldn’t tell you what I had as I cannot remember. I do remember an unfortunate iced coffee that I brought back due to its sour flavor but other than that I do believe I’ve had better.
I’ve also had worse but for my money, I think I will stick to other places or hold out until I am home and able to whip up my own lunch. Darn but if I don’t want a peanut butter cookie right now.
**added (june 22)
Well slap me silly and color me awkward. I received a most sincere and lovely message this morning from the owner of Utopia offering me some fresh peanut butter cookies. While I want to stand by my «I’ve had better and I’ve had worse» neutral-​like review (save for the scathing peanut butter cookie incident) I’m adding a star here for Scott’s above and beyond measure of customer service. That said, I was remiss on failing to mention that the service I have had at Utopia has always been splendid. I apologize for that. Show’s how seriously I take my darn cookies.
P.S.
My sister-​in-​law thinks the bread here is awesome. And… it really does smell quite nice inside.

Bad staff, slow…
Bad bread, although 2 stars because they are head and sholders above House of Bread.
Hey, bakers… Rye Bread is not white bread with some rye added. Go to NY, go to Chicago, go somewhere with rye bread and eat that. It’s good, it really is. Add some caraway seed, add some taste, add some character…
Milk Bread… blah.
French Bread, had some crust.
Sour Dough… Not sour???
Any of their dinner/​sandwich rolls… so-​so.
Again, better than House of Bread by a long way, if your stuck in the Central Coast, or if your some kind of asshole who lives here/​loves here, then go for it, otherwise, wait until you get to LA or SF and get /​/​/​real/​/​/​food and breads.

To be honest I rarely go to a bakery as I prefer to do my own baking :)
I stopped in late one afternoon to try the soup as it was recommended to me, however they were out of it. After looking over my choices I decided to grab a red velvet cupcake. It was your basic cupcake in my opinion, but I will say the staff was friendly.

This is no longer the Utopia Bakery of the past. You know, the one with the mouthwatering pastries and sandwiches, the friendly atmosphere, and the family type vibe with staff.
This is the 2011 version of Utopia. The new owners’ first priority was to fire the cook (who worked there 7 years) three days before his bonus was due right before Christmas.
This is the new Utopia where the new out of town owner sends emails threatening anyone who gives his bakery a negative review. (Don’t believe me… Give it a shot.)
This is the new Utopia where newly hired employees go online to trash the original owner… an owner who took care of his employees.
.and finally, this is the new Utopia where the proof is certainly in the pudding. The food has taken a noticeable downturn since the new owner tried to slash costs. The sandwich I got the other day was expensive and poor.
I miss the old Utopia already.
A true «riches to rags» story.

Came here on an interview and I was unimpressed. The only coffee they have is Peet’s House Blend and while they can do some specialty drinks it’s really not much of a café. The pastries are ok, but really with all the other alternatives in San Luis Obispo there’s just no reason to come here of all places. Also there’s just not much seating and what’s there is pretty uncomfortable. The service is very friendly and it definitely made the whole experience better. Overall, if it’s good service and good pastries you’re looking for there are plenty of better alternatives in SLO. I would highly recommend choosing another location such as The Nautical Bean.
Update: I was recently informed that Utopia actually has a wider range of coffee and pastries than I first believed. I will be returning to Utopia soon and updating this review.

I go here for the desserts!
I’ve gotten orders of cupcakes, birthday cakes, etc from here and they are always decent.
Their pastry selection is pretty good, too – fresh.
I like going here in the mornings for a coffee + pastry.
I havent really tried too much of the actual food… the stuff I have tried is pretty good. I esp. like the croissant sandwiches.
I think I like this place more for the sweet stuff though.
Oh and you get a discount on your bill if you pay cash.

I checked out the new Utopia location in Pismo Beach toward the end of the day last week but they still had plenty of tasty treats to chose from. The two staff members working the shop were very friendly and seemed to enjoy what they did. I picked up three different things to take home: a coconut danish and a few chocolate croissants. Everything was very fresh tasting and delicious. The chocolate filled croissants had a lot of quality chocolate inside and the pastry was nice a flaky but not too flaky. The coconut danish wasn’t as coconut-​y as I would have liked but it was a mild essence of coconut on a danish.
I noticed they also served coffee and had other beverages for sale but I did not purchase any.
I would go here again for any bakery goods. I felt the value was good for the quality and selection of pastries.

My friend told me about this bakery so he and I decided to come take a look at this bakery. It’s kind of out of the way of everything else. There’s not much around the place, which is also nice since it’s not extremely crowded.
The place definitely looks like a bakery. The have breads on the side and the pastries are behind glass windows.
The service is great. I was talking to the cashiers and they’re really friendly.
I got the fruit and custard danish and man, was it good! It reminded me of a Chinese egg custard tart. The outside of the danish was flaky and crispy, which I found enjoyable.
The chocolate bell is a must try though. The chocolaty outer shell, soft chocolate cake, and the cool whip cream was amazing.
I’d like to come back again and try some of their famous lemon ricotta pancakes.

The world needs to know about their incredibly delicious and spectacular weekend special: lemon ricotta pancakes! Words cannot capture how creamy and flavorful these pancakes were. The perfect texture, the right amount of butter and all natural maple syrup, and the sweet and tangy lemon curd made for an unbelievable hang over brunch.
My sister used to work here and she says the secret is in their lemon compound butter. All I know is that I need to master this recipe myself because I NEED these pancakes again before another visit to SLO. Everything we got was great here: the coffee. croissants, breakfast sandwich, and morning buns. We even got a birthday cake for a friend here and it was, of course, amazing. I wish this bakery was in the bay!

I have weird obsessions when I’m hungover. First, I need to have fountain soda. No, not canned. Not bottled. Soda from the FOUNTAIN. Second, I need greasy salty food. So when coming to Utopia the Lemon Ricotta Pancakes did not sound tooooo appetizing in such a hungover state. I was wrong.
Of course, I loved the ham, bacon and cheese croissant that I got… but I tried my friends pancakes, and oooooooooommmmmmgggggg, i’ve never tasted anything so delicious in all my life! This place makes me want to visit SLO all the time but sadly I was only there for the weekend and only got to experience these pancakes once :(

This place is amazing… especially their bagged breads, croissants, and pastries! Thank god this isn’t located in downtown or I’d be in trouble.
And what’s this… another reviewer mentions they use coffee ice cubes for iced coffee drinks? Sounds like they should trademark that. I’m getting my own ice cube trays ready now…
Downside– sort of «off the beaten path,» in the industrial area of SLO on the way over to the airport. Can’t say I get around there much.

Nothing like a melt in your mouth almond croissant with a steaming cup of black coffee to start your day!
Another must for when we’re in town

I’m fussy about breakfast scones. Most of the local ones available in coffee spots are too hard and most heavily coated in a sugar topping. This morning we turned around and decided to try what friends from Reno said was the best breakfast bakery in San Luis. The Utopia Bakery was chosen because my wife wanted a small cake for four and I knew the Madonna Inn’s didn’t bake small personal cakes.
Great decision! This was only my second visit in about three years. Utopia’s scones ($ 2.60) are the best on the central coast, although only one flavor was available without a sugar coating. They are also larger than found elsewhere. My wife found her small cake – a black forest Chocolate cake, and bought one of their authentic French croissants. We already had a coffee, so we took everything «to go». (under $ 20.) I’ll definitely go back.
We noticed the barely day-​old breads in a display by the door. They have tables inside. The outdoor tables were wet from the past three days of rain. A Staples office supply is just south, next door. There is plenty of free parking at their converted brickyard office building on south Broad Street on the way to the airport and Edna Valley.

My rating hasn’t changed, I just want to profess (again) how much I love Utopia.
Order the Bouncer — a breakfast sandwich with your-​type-​of-​eggs, ham, Dutch cheese, and a really fresh baguette. The perfect squishy on the inside, slightly touch but crispy outside baguette. I got full halfway through the sandwich today, yanked out the ingredients, and just nommed on the bread because I couldn’t let it go to waste.
Coffee is Peets, which is simply «Okay». However, their pastry selection is amazing — all sorts of delicacies with European names and the flakiest pastry crusts imaginable. They also sell some amazing looking loaves of bread.
Wireless is free, so bring your laptop and chill out with coffee and food for a few hours.

BEWARE!!! They served me a rotten cake. Absolutely awful. SPECIAL ordered the cake for my grandmonther’s birthday.
Price of the cake $ 40
Look on everyones face when we cut the cake and the inside was completely molded… PRICELESS!
I admit, if they had been accomodating I wouldn’t complain. I did receive 2 options. Either get your money back or get a cake. SORRY not good enough! This rotten birthday cake was a total inconvenience to my family and me. This business establishment should be ashamed of itself for not making sure I was completely satisfied with the customer service. DO NOT SPEND YOUR MONEY at Utopia!
They think because they have all the locals in there they don’t have to worry about providing good customer service. Wrong!
Also, hire employees that are happy about there jobs… not people that look like they just rolled out of bed.
To summarize… please spread the word:
Do not spend your money at Utopia!!!

Hold the phone. Iced coffee with coffee ice cubes?
Helloooooooooooo! Why doesn’t anyone else do this??? That cuppa Joe lasted a good bit of our drive up Hwy 1. We just couldn’t get over the genius of the ice cubes. And yes, the coffee itself was great.
The almond croissant was yummy. Not Tartine, but yummy.
They have a lot of desserts, some pastries and then a few basic sandwiches.

tasty tasty pastry. I haven’t had any cakes/​desserts, but they look amazing. $ 3 for a pastry, and the sandwiches are made to order.
with a little outdoor patio. right on broad on my way home from the gym, minus one star