Bakery on the Common

Terrible! The owner is insanely rude with zero interest in customer service. Food is expensive with small portions. The food you do receive is put together with the delicasy of a one-​year-​old. Chopped too thick, drenched in dressing and I can’t remember a beef steak tomato being considered a ‘side’ not to mention, green in the middle. The Basil was old, wilted (what little I received) and shredded waaaay too thin. The owner was yelling at a customer complaining (patiently), that their order was wrong. Save yourself your hard-​earned dough and your sanity and go grab a sandwich at the Local market.

This is the worst bakery in Natick. It used to be great, but since changing hands, (the new owner is a rude person), it’s gone way, way downhill.
I had the veggie lazanga and it was served frozen with a big piece of eggplant with the skin, cold. I had to send it back and get my money.

Unfortunately the service is significantly lacking. They gave me the wrong order and the management gave me attitude for their mistake. After I again gave a friendly reminder that I was still waiting, my meal was forgotten again. 30 minutes later, still without food I asked for a refund and left. The younger staff was apologetic. I understand everyone makes mistakes but did not appreciate the attitude. Will most likely not return.

Decided to pass. I wanted a coffee and a snack, but there was a surcharge for card purchases under $ 10. Sorry, but it’s 2016 and you’re a COFFEE SHOP. Most of your transactions are small. I understand you get surcharged by the card companies, but the other local businesses seem to cope, presumably by pricing to cover their costs.

I have been going to Bakery on the Common since it opened in the late 1990“s. It has always been a good place for a cup of coffee and a pastry, a great sandwich or salad.
Today, my husband and I went in, we each ordered a half a sandwich and a cup of soup, plus a «to go» sandwich for my son. We waited a good half hour for our $ 40 meal. When it
did finally come up, my husbands was wrong. They took it back and he waited another 15 minutes for them to change from white bread to multigrain. The woman waiting on him was rude and dismissive. While waiting, we watched at least 5, probably more, customers
have their orders also come out wrong. The most disturbing part of the whole lunch was the
way we, and the others, were treated. The management was downright nasty. I had to ask them 5 times for my sons «to go» meatball sub”. It finally came out close to 45 minutes after we ordered. They used to have real silverware and the place was very clean and quaint with a good Natick vibe. Now, its plasticware, dirty tables, frustrated customers and a very mean
and unprofessional management. I guess from now its Dunkin or Station 5 for breakfast and hot dogs at Spallas for lunch.

A great place to catch up with friends, get some studying or reading done, and generally just enjoy a cup of coffee. In my experience the employees are very nice, contrary to what some other entitled Unilocal users are saying, and the atmosphere is refreshingly no-​nonsense. Food is simple and fairly priced, $ 6 for a grilled cheese sandwich. I always prefer coming here over Starbucks or Panera or Dunkin Donuts, for the atmosphere and for the homemade quality of all their products.

I’d never ordered a cake from Bakery on the Common before, but I could not have been more pleased with the incredible job that Susan (the cake decorator) had done for my post-​Marathon party. Not only was her work amazing, but the cake was SO moist and delicious! I very much appreciate the time and consideration that both she and Marina (the owner) put in to make this all come together.
All I did was provide them with three photos a few days in advance, of which I specified that I wanted my Boston Marathon medal completely replicated in icing on the cake — with a 5×7 photo sheet of my other two pics — one of each side of the medal. I told them I wanted blue/​yellow Boston Marathon colors, and that was pretty much it! What turned out in the end completely blew me away and I really didn’t want to cut into it – it was that AMAZING! I am attaching a pic so everyone can see.
If you want a cake that is both beautiful AND delicious, then Bakery on the Common is the place to go! It’s been a week now since my party and I am still getting feedback from attendees on how good that cake was ;)! Thank you so, so much Marina, Susan and everyone else on staff at Bakery on the Common for creating the highlight of my party!

I would say it’s all about convenience with this place. I would not say you go here to have an quality affordable meal. It’s really too bad because the place could be great. But there’s no pride in the food and it’s way over priced for what you get. Unfortunately I keep giving this place a shot because it’s on my way to wherever I’m going. Today I got a bagel Toasted with cream cheese and they never fail to give me a bagel not toasted– and it usually doesn’t taste very fresh. Buy of course I am in my car on my way before I take a bite. Coffee is average– just like most of the menu. I wish this place would get its act together and make their food worth the price they charge

Natick Center needs a café desperately, but his is not the place. The food and coffee are very mediocre and the people behind the counter are rude. So disappointing because it’s a nice space in a nice location.

Horrible. Food is nothing but average, if even that. The place is full of negative signage. «No computer use on weekends» ect. They even have a sign asking if you would please pay cash and help them reduce credit card processing fees. Really??? They want me to help support them as if they are a charity? How about toss it up to the cost of doing business (like every other business) as I pay for my $ 5 coffee. Oh and about the prices… I bought 6 bagels, one thing of cream cheese and a coffee for a total of…$ 17! Anyway, there are plenty of places around the area to skip this place. I’m not in the area much but when I am I wont be back here. They can keep their high prices, average food, and negative atmosphere.

This used to be a favorite and frequent lunch place, however I was absolutely appalled at how rudely I was treated by the owner this afternoon. I was there with my husband and two year old daughter, and we spent roughly 33 dollars on lunch — a little pricey for what we got (two sandwiches, a fruit cup, and drinks), but figured it would be worth it for the nice atmosphere and good food. They charged us an additional 70 cents for adding a slice of tomato to my child’s grilled cheese sandwich which I thought was a little extravagant considering I could purchase a whole tomato for less than that, but I let it go and sat down with my family to enjoy our lunch.
When our sandwiches were delivered, my daughter’s sandwich had no tomato in it. Normally I would just let it go since my daughter was hungry, however we had just paid 70 cents for that slice of non-​existent tomato. So I went up to the register to complain. The server agreed to make me another sandwich, and tossed out the old one in the garbage before I could ask to keep it in the meantime so that my daughter could begin eating with the rest of us. Ten minutes later my daughter’s new sandwich had yet to arrive and she was getting fussy, so I went to the register to inquire. They gave me the new grilled cheese sandwich with tomato, however this one was cold and the cheese wasn’t at all melted, as if it hadn’t even been cooked! So I asked for them to please cook the cheese sandwich.
Five minutes later, when my husband was practically done with his lunch and my two year old still hadn’t received her sandwich, I went up to complain. The young girl working at the counter said she felt awful and she personally would be happy to pay for a cookie for my daughter out of pocket. I told her that she shouldn’t have to pay, it was the restaurant’s fault not hers, and asked to speak to the manager /​owner. She gave me a look as if to say the owner wasn’t going to be so nice, and boy was she was right. I explained the situation to the owner who told me it was my fault for failing to bring snacks from home for my daughter to eat while she waited for her meal! I tried to stay calm as I explained that I wasn’t expecting my daughter’s simple grilled cheese sandwich order to be messed up three times. She then asked me if I was just looking for free stuff cause she was not going to give me anything free and I would get exactly what I ordered and paid for when it was ready. I began to get angry and she told me to leave her restaurant and threatened to call the police. At that time my daughter’s sandwich came out, so rather than fight with the crazy owner, I was just glad to have food for my two year old and sat down to allow her to eat. Several customers come over to our table and applauded me — told me that they were shocked by the owner’s behavior and that I was definitely in the right. Of course, this did not help the situation, but at least made me feel justified.
It’s too bad — this would be a great restaurant if not for the horrible customer service and rude owner!

I’ve visited Bakery on the Common frequently, and my last two visits, since new ownership took over, have been very disappointing.
The quality and selection of lunch entrees have declined, notably in flavor and taste; service is done with a shrug, is fair, at best.
Quality of baked goods are poor; Stop & Shop baked goods are better.
It’s a shame to see this place, with its great location and space, go downhill. Luckily Natick has a large number of choices, you don’t need to waste your money here.

I love this place! Friendly staff, great coffee, and wonderfully fresh and large breakfast menu selections. Everything is made with care and the vibe is casual and comfortable.

The Bakery on the Common used to be a wonderful friendly place to get good quality bistro-​style food and fresh baked pastries and breads. Then new owners came along. I’m sad to say it has gone downhill on all accounts. On a fairly recent visit I purchased a canoli. I was so disappointed. The shell was moist, not light and crispy, and the filing was drid out and stale.
Yesterday I took my son there for breakfast. We ordered a breakfast sandwhich, an order of banana pancakes, and a soda. It was $ 20! The pancakes (only 2!) came with nothing, no sides, no bacon. They tasted like a box mix pancake. My son’s sandwhich was good, but nothing that he couldn’t have purchased at Dunkin Donuts for half the cost. The frosting on the cake came when my son wanted a bottle of water. I went to purchase it with my debit card and was told they charge an extra .25 for purchases under $ 10. I pointed out I had just bought $ 20 worth of breakfast and perhaps they could waive the .25 — my son forgot to get the water when he ordered his breakfast. The cashier said no, she couldn’t do that; she had to charge the fee every time.
Quality of food: mediocre
Customer service: poor
Value for price paid: poor
Management need to seriously change what they are doing.

Went there today. Actually sitting in the establishment right now. A young girl in training came over and asked us if she could help us and some supervisor came over and dragged her away and said to her that she wasn’t supposed to be helping us at that time. Of course, the manager who violently pulled this girl away never spoke a word to us like ‘excuse me one moment” or anything that reflects good customer service.
Then someone else came over and proceeded to «help» us with our order. More like hurry us through the order. She was extremely rude and abrupt and I was quite surprised she was working in customer service. If you hate your job then leave and do something else. Don’t punish your customers because of it.
Very overpriced and extremely unfriendly. I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone else.
The four of us didn’t appreciate being treated like we were an annoyance.

I special ordered birthday cakes for my kids here and they were fabulous — delicious and beautiful. They were easy to work with — I sent them some pictures via Pinterest of cakes I liked and they were able to create them perfectly. The lead time was really short — one week. These cakes tasted great and were a little on the pricey side by worth it.

Cute mom/​pop bakery/​café. Nothing super interesting about it, but a nice place to chill in Natick town centre. Plenty of seating with a relaxing atmosphere.
Ordered a soup and a muffin, but wasn’t wowed. Maybe I’ve been too spoilt by city life to enjoy the simple small town businesses.

I’ve been in here several times, always for coffee and baked goods (muffins mostly). As for the food that I’ve had, it’s fine. Nothing fabulous but certainly decent. Coffee is fine. The reason for the low stars is the service. I’d give it a two-​star if it weren’t for the occasional nice encounter (with a younger blonde girl that works the counter sometimes-she’s very pleasant). The woman that I usually manage to catch is nothing short of crotchety.
For example, this week when I stopped in, 4 – 5 people walked in right behind me. The man in front of me made a comment about being busy and she growled (literally!) «this is always what happens. No one all day then this nonsense». Now, this IS a business and you would think they’d be happy for customers. Apparently not. And this was 6 people total, not 50 people. Anyway, after that, my turn is up and she growls «what do you need» at me. I order, ask how’s she’s doing (to be nice!) and she flat out ignored me. No response, no thank you or acknowledgement when I paid. I don’t need to be fawned over, but basic manners please! This has happened with her every.single.time I’ve been there with her at the counter.
Overall, I’ll continue to go because it’s close and easy enough, but I don’t know how long I’ll be able to bite my tongue around this woman.

I stopped by Bakery on the Common for a latte last week. First, I’ll say I found the atmosphere to be much nicer than what I’ve seen in nearby Natick coffee shops and cafes. They appeared to have put at least some thought into the store’s layout.
Unfortunately, having no cash on me at the time I saw the sign on their register that I’d be up-​charged another 0.25 for using a credit/​debit card to pay for items totaling less than $ 10. Not wanting to fork over a quarter to pay the additional surcharge, I ordered the ham & cheese croissant and a $ 1 2016 cookie, which I planned to share later with my partner (she loved the cookie btw).
While the latte and 2016 cookie were both good, in my opinion the croissant wasn’t much better than the ham & cheese Hot Pockets I used to have as a boy.
In summary, 2 stars because, as others have complained, I feel the prices were inflated.

We ate, we drank, we liked. We stopped by Bakery on the Common for a snack after walking the dog. We had a banana nut muffin and an Americano coffee. Both food and drink were good, and we really enjoyed being able to sit outside and eat while looking at the Natick Common.
I’ll have to come back on a week day. This seems like a nice place to work for a few hours while having a pot of tea and a scone.