Svitoch

I absolutely love this place. I have never been to a Russian bakery before and after stopping by this place, i am hooked. Their pastries are of the hinges mane. I mean they are of very good quality, multi layered, multi textured. Their Paroshki’s are good and the cheese pastry is a must. They sell so many different chocolates and candies from Russia, all of which I have never had in my life before. These people can make good wafer brule. I wish I had something like this near my home. Candies and chocolates as well as hot foods sold by the pound. Ie., premium «ferrer» type of chocolates are 5.99/lb, standard jolly rancher type of candies are 1.99/lb. They have a wide selection of Russian soft drinks and teas, and they have a small area to enjoy your goodies. A solid 5 star performer

What an excellent little place! Svitoch has an excellent selection of European groceries and a lovely bakery and deli! This is our new favorite place to shop!

If I could I would give 0 stars. I used to come here all the time. The workers on the sausage side need a class or two on customer service! They are so rude and disrespectful. You come in and end up waiting to even be acknowledged. Then when you tell them what you want and ask them politely to slice it they give you major attitude and roll their eyes.
My personal experience last week. I walked in and stood in front of the cheese section waiting because the worker was busy slicing. I just waiting, felt no need to disrupt her. She finally turned around and asked what I wanted after about 4 – 5 minutes. (No customers were around me that she was helping) I told her what I wanted and asked her to slice if possible. After she slices the cheese I asked her to slice some sausage as well. I didn’t want to be to be rude and walk away so I waited until she was done so I could grab my stuff and pay. She brings it straight to the register and starts trying to ring me up. I politely asked her if I could just hold on to it because I wanted to go to the sweets side. She then said «how much time have you already had to look at everything here?» I was shocked. Didn’t say anything and just walked to the other side! I was so close to just leaving all my stuff and walking out but I had already spent a total of 20 minutes in the store. This is not my first horrible experiences, just one of the most recent.
Not everyone is rude, the older lady with grey hair is super sweet but everyone else not so much. The girls on the sweets side are very nice and helpful as well.
We went in today again, when my friend asked them to slice the sausage the lady said they don’t slice anymore. My friend then declined it (they have been living at the hospital the last month because a family member is terminally ill and on his last days, cutting sausage and cheese is almost impossible in a hospital room and so inconvenient) I politely asked the worker who declined to cut it if this is just for tonight because the machine is broken or a new rule. She completely ignored us! I am so done with this store. I would rather go to one down the road that’s a little more expensive but at least they are not as rude. At least they wernt today when we went. Keep up your «great customer service» and you will be out of business very soon. I hear complaints about this store ALL THE TIME!

It’s my new happy place, great European bread, farmer cheese at reasonable prices and great pastries. Love this store

This is the best Russian food store I have ever been to! This means a lot coming from me, as I have been to many Russian stores across the US. They have a very big bakery section AND meat and cheese section. There is also a butt-​load of different candies! (Get the bird’s milk candy.)

They have so many amazing looking treats, wide variety of breads food and candies. We love to stop and pick up a treat whenever we are in the area.

We came on Valentine’s Day. Great selection available. We got a lovely looking five layer chocolate cream cake. It was a feast for the eyes, but left the mouth asking me what I just ate. Not much flavor. Going to go back and try the baklava. Will give it a second chance.

This place has a lot of lovely looking desserts and pastries. There is a lack of signage, so if you’re not familiar with Eastern European desserts, you will be left wondering about the contents of most of them. Also, their macaroons have a flat texture and lack flavor.
My experience wasn’t stellar. I bought some cake by the pound. I was going to buy some chocolate cake for my better half and then also some apricot Napoleon for me.
She asked me how much I wanted of the chocolate cake. I showed her. She cut off about 40% more than what I wanted, and when she asked if that was okay, I said, «Actually, no, I’d like less. Can I get less than that?» She said, «No.»

It was awkward.
This happened after she greeted and waited on a lady that came in long after me, but spoke Russian and who, after she was rung up, continuously interrupted and distracted the lady behind the counter. They both ignored me standing there for a few minutes. I get it. I’m not Russian. Maybe they’re friends.
So, because of the distraction, (or perhaps because she wanted me to buy more, I don’t know) and because I didn’t argue, I got twice as much chocolate cake by the pound than I wanted.
So, I ended up not getting the Napoleon, which was a bummer.
The cake was good. It had an unidentifiable red gelatinous layer to it and some cherries (??). But most of it was made up of layers of chocolate mousse and crispy cookie. I enjoyed it. My better half did too.
I don’t mind terribly that I was waited upon out of order, and that I wasn’t greeted.
It’s not too much to ask, though, to get exactly what I want to buy, instead of having to settle for twice of half of what I want.

OMG best desserts!!! They were all soooooo yummy very rich but worth it. Priced right. But beware their card readers cannot run your payment If you have the new «chip» none of my cards worked and I had to go get cash! But I will be back!!! Their deli looks really yummy too! The smell in there OMG just so delicious.

I took my grandmother here when she came to visit. She was very skeptical at first, being from the east coast where their ethnic food is far superior. However it was a very delightful experience and I would recommend it to anyone.
Their verity is outstanding, their pastries are fresh and fairly priced for the amount of time and effort required to make them. Svitoch should be a destination for anyone to swing by if they are looking for great service and great products.

Old pastries, old cake. I spent $ 4 each, purchased 3 different types, got home and all tasted stale like they had been sitting there for weeks.

Wow! Svitoch is an absolutely awesome place! Be prepared to spend a lot of time and a lot of money there. Need candy? Come here. Need amazing smoked salmon? Come here. Need some lovely authentic pastries? Come here. Need some amazing sausages, cheeses, and other Russian meats? Come here.
Not only is the selection huge and the quality of the baked goods amazing, the people who run the shop are the most amazingly friendly and helpful people you could ever hope to encounter. I’ve been here twice, and each time we’ve picked a price point for their bulk candies (they range from $ 3.99 to $ 7.99 per pound), and purchased approximately five pounds (we still have several more price points to try). The variety is so large that this works out to about 4 pieces of each variety, and we still hadn’t picked many types by the time the very large bag was full. Be careful of allergies, though. Some contain nuts, and us not speaking or reading Russian, we cannot tell what the actual ingredients are.
On the last occasion, the incredibly nice employee (she was probably the owner) who was bagging up our groceries and pastries after she rang us up grabbed a loaf of fresh-​baked raisin bread from the rack behind the counter, put if in my bag, smiled, and said, «A gift». WOW! How incredibly nice and thoughtful! I mean seriously, when was the last time you ever heard of that kind of caring for one’s customers and kindness in this day and age? The bread was absolutely delicious, and didn’t last more than a few days before the kids had eaten all of it (it was a BIG loaf, too).
Svitoch has us as lifelong customers. The store itself is awesome, the quality of the goods they sell is outstanding, and above all, the kindness, generosity, and caring for their customers demonstrated by the owners and employees is unparalleled. Come here, you won’t be disappointed.

Enjoyed the pastries and nice to see all the regional groceries/​goodies. I’m no expert, but was exactly what i was hoping for.

The pastry side is beautiful, but they are not as tasty as they look. A huge selection of bakery items.
The deli side is good! The hot case has a cooked pork or chicken ring sausage that is very good. They also have an minced chicken meatloaf wrapped in a cheesy egg layer that is tasty (I wish I knew the proper names of these items). Their breads are good. They have a nice selection of deli meats… especially of the bologna/​sausage variety.
I always go back for the hot deli case and usually end up always getting the cooked sausage and chicken/​egg thingy to take home :)
There are European grocery items like really fine dried noodles and good pickles.
I haven’t tried the bulk candies as you come in the deli door.
I’ve not had problems with the service and they’ve even, at times, thrown in a loaf of free bread. I get how some people might see them to be cold, but I’ve also lived in Europe and understand the initial «stand-​offishness» that can come with some European personas. Just my take on it… I could be completely wrong!

I’ve tried a few of their pastries, some bread, and some meat from the deli counter. All of it has been pretty good, but those little pastries shaped like peaches are amazing. They are made of soft cookie, filled with two types of cream, one of which is dulce de leche flavored. Not at all peach flavored, but they look like peaches, so cute and fun to get as a dessert.
Never had a problem with customer service, but then again I’m not xenophobic, so I don’t really hold it against people when English isn’t their first language. I’m just grateful to live in a country where hard working immigrants are willing to come and share their culture. Especially if that culture includes yummy peach shaped pastry!

Visit if you like to experience Ukrainian communist style service and being ignored. Bought expired can food without realizing it. They did not wanted to take it back. Called health inspection and found out I wasn’t the first one.

From Russia with love … and sugar.
The Cold War ended decades ago, but the Yum War between your diet and tummy will hit Defcon 5 when you enter Svitoch European Bakery just across the street from the Vancouver Mall. It’s a true Russian bakery and deli filled with Pastries, Deli items, warm ready-​to-​eat Food, European Candies, and aisles full of more.
There’s lots to love at Svitoch in the pastry display case full of Russian beauties, cakes, macarons, and desserts. Fresh Bread is on the other side of the store and my advice is to go when the bread is fresh. Of course, get one slice of Chocolate Cake or Cranberry Meringue as a treat for yourself and a box of colorful Macarons to share with the one you love.
Speaking Russian appears to be the preference of the ladies behind the counter. They definitely seemed hesitant to speak, but eager to serve as I spied each dessert one by one. No worries though because Svitoch speaks the language of love … sweet sugary love … in the form of pastries, cookies, cakes, and other Russian beauties.

I love this place! Family is loving and hard working:) I’d say try there treats if you’re new. And stop by for coffee… Very very good coffee!
And for deli! Lots of delicious candy and meats

Delicious pastries and breads. Try the peach shaped cake, it has this creamy filling.
Lilly helped me, she was really nice! Worth a drive… they also have a nice wine store next door called «Total Wine».

They have nice Bakery, but grocery store has a lot of expired products. Purchased candy with WORMS yesterday.
Asked to talk to customer service but was only offered moneyback.
If you love european food just choose another store, this comment about grocery store, NOT BAKERY.