Muffin Mania

STILL closed. So bummed. It’s been 7 months now…

This place is still closed, no updates in the window, well beyond 6 – 8 weeks. I really wanted a muffin! :(

Still closed =(… I want muffins… and coffee. Muffins and coffee, muffins and coffee =(…

Great muffins and coffee
Friendly atmosphere in a great old neighborhood

This place is closed due to new ownership
Love the place is peaceful and the owner was very nice and welcoming. Everything taste good and is hope nothing changes when the new owner reopen it.

Delicious!

Muffin Mania is the best place for muffins around.

We live right up the hill from this place and we really like it. The croissants are absolutely amazing and probably one of the best I have ever had. The other baked good are also excellent. Coffee is pretty tasty as well. For lunch we highly recommend the vegetarian sandwich. Its excellent!

Go sugar free or get loaded. Plenty of baked goods to choose from. The coiffed is quality and the employees are very personable. Make this place a destination stop if you’re traveling through town.

The baked goods are pretty good, but the coffee should be equally important and it is simply terrible. The beans are low quality and the staff does not know what they are doing. The milk is way over-​steamed, leaving the espresso drinks extremely bitter. They need to buy much better beans and send their staff to some training. Crappy coffee just doesn’t cut it anymore. I believe the high score of the restaurant is a remnant of the former owners.

First time I went here was probably 25 years ago when my mother worked there with Rocky and Ilana it has always had a special place in my heart, I actually remember having a loose tooth and it falling out in a blueberry muffin when I was about 10. Still today I will travel from Livermore all the way to San Rafael just for a raspberry muffin. Today I am 31 and I can honestly say I have never ever had a muffin that tasted as good as theirs. Hands down the best muffins in the freaking world!

Cosy environment, fresh food, GF muffins that have yummy texture and are not too sweet. GF food is not made in a separate, GF facility AND Ilona has trained her staff well so there’s no cross-​contamination issues. :) Feels like a home away from home! LOVE Ilona, and I’m sure Brett with continue the excellence when Muffin Mania becomes his baby next week (July 1, 2014). Kudos to Ilona and Dylan for their care for the café and all those a part of such loving and fresh «mania»! I think this place will become a studio and work-​space in the days forward!!!

I was there this morning. For years I’ve been trying to stop by and today I finally did it. I have to say that I loved the Danish cheese that I got. It was delicious .
I got my coffee and pastry to go, next time I’ll sit there and enjoy some more till I try them all.
My only suggestion will be for the costumer service. «You want that KARMA JAR full of tips then Smile and make costumers feel a little more welcome.

Love everything about this cozy bakery/​coffee café. So much so I’ve been known to drive from SF to get one of these bad boys and they’re always well worth the drive.
The fact that they are located in a residential neighborhood adds to the charm of this wonderful place.
This place is a win win win stop!

I went through a Unilocal desert at one point. Three months of being overworked, too busy, and not writing a single review. I’ve mostly caught up since then, but every now and again remember a place that has fallen through the cracks.
This is one such place. A little more than 6 months ago, we passed through San Rafael on our way to Dillon Beach. We stopped here for breakfast based on the reviews.
The muffins were amazing. Next time we want to try the croissant, which looked just as good.

Muffin Mania is a cute neighborhood business. It manages to be easily accessible and pleasantly hidden at the same time. There’s plenty of seating inside; it seems to be a regular hangout for several locals. But, man oh man, is it hot in there! I’d recommend getting your order to go and enjoying it across the street at Albert Park…
I fail to see where the «mania» in the name comes in. I was imagining muffins everywhere, but at 9am on a weekday, the cases were pretty picked over. We got two morning buns, a chocolate chip muffin, an almond croissant, and something called a squirrel (a pastry with raisins and walnuts). Each item is approximately $ 3, so I was expecting some magic to occur on my taste buds. The pastries were fine, but that muffin was a disappointment. For some reason, all the muffins are made with a cornmeal batter and the flavor variations come from adding different ingredients to it– in this case, a handful of chocolate chips tossed on the top of the muffin. That is not a muffin; that’s cornbread with chocolate chips, and who wants to eat that?
The service was very friendly so I’d recommend this place for everything but the muffins for which it’s named.

1989: A father walks a few blocks from his house to Muffin Mania with his 2 year old daughter on his shoulders to get his usual cup of coffee and 2 muffins, always almond cherry – one for him, and one for his daughter. He gets an extra day-​old muffin so that he and his daughter can walk over to the canal across the street and feed the ducks.
2000: The once 2 year old daughter is now in middle school, Davidson Middle School, and walks to campus every morning, passing Muffin Mania along the way. Even though she’s already eaten breakfast, she’s looking forward to getting a Rocky Roll after school with some friends on her walk home. Those Rocky Rolls are so tasty and make for a perfect afternoon snack.
2013: Today, the once middle school girl is now a woman, working in San Rafael, and needs her own morning cup o’ joe and almond cherry muffin, just like her father used to get. In fact, she is often served by the same woman (Ilona) who served the girl and her father 25 years ago.
Muffin Mania holds a special place in my heart and has been a family tradition of mine practically my whole life. Not only are the muffins and other menu items DELICIOUS, the owners are so friendly and genuine. I love it that the muffins are corn based, so the flavor is very unique. Almond Cherry is definitely my go-​to, not only for nostalgic reasons, but it’s so simple and amazing. I also love any of the cream cheese/​fruit combinations as well.
This is a hidden San Rafael gem that you must check out.

A hidden jem in the neighborhood area of San Rafael. I love that it looks like a house, well it is a house. Just open the door and come in.
Every muffin i’ve tried was delicious. My favorite part about it is that they don’t display all the muffins so you can come in one day and the will verbally tell you what else they have. It is like an ever changing top secret menu that makes me want more.
And anything with fruits or berries is like half stuffed, hardcore with a ton of fruit.
My favorite would have to be the Ham and Cheese bun and then jalapeño cheese muffin.

A trip to Muffin Mania to pick up muffins for everyone and returning home is a trip worth making.
I make sure to get a variety of muffins, and a few extras.
Muffin Mania has been around for over 20 years and is a San Rafael institution.

«I’m a Muffin-maniac…so in desperation, I need to go to San Rafael and find Muffin Mania!»
But first, if you don’t know the city of San Rafael like I do, finding this cute cabin-​like bakery can be problematic. Even with my GPS navigation-​system also is no help at all.
The bakery is located in the quiet residential neighborhood just south of the busy 4^th Street strip.
Location:
I was there near closing and the pastry selection were really thin. So I bought the popular Berry Garcia Muffin. All muffins are $ 2.50 each and my muffin is classifed as a vegan muffin, which has the mixture of berries, nuts and vegan ingredients. I may not be a vegan-​expert, but the muffin was very moist and dense, despite coming here near closing time. I also had a small cup of coffee for $ 1.60.
My treat:
The surrounding and dining area is home-​like. There is also an outdoor patio near the kitchen. The wall has a picture album. And the wall has paintings of Jerry Garcia and Carlos Santana back in the days.
The staff and patrons were very friendly. Just that, I will return and try the sandwiches, salads and hopefully get to try more of the muffins and pastries.