La Boulange

So sorry to see this location of La Boulange go away! This was a small chain of bakery-​cafes that Starbucks bought 2 years ago. Having learned how to make the croissants, Starbucks no longer needs the croissant-​maker. Shame on you, Starbucks!
Why did you buy them to close them down!
All 23 lovely locations, as well as the two manufacturing facilities that serve the cafes — you should have left them alone.
This downtown PA place on University had the most beautiful circular shop with very nice outside seating area, where one could sip and munch while watching the crowd on a sunny afternoon.
In comparison to the Starbucks location here on University, it was so much nicer, more welcoming, just outright a better place to be. Sure they couldn’t match the business hours, but they had character, which Starbucks is obviously lucking.
Before Starbucks took over the chain it was such a welcoming place to go, the staff were kind and very down to earth and always knew customers by name, they would go out of their way to be helpful to customers, the design was very home like and cozy.

Y’all were the best! Sorry we’re losing you in our downtown! Much love and wish everyone the best in life! Gonna miss Ronnnie, Sara, Amy, and all the hard workin staff!
Too bad that corporate places like Starbucks buys people out and then closes them down. This is why I wish more towns would stop catering to them! Small Mom & Pop places which often times offer better food and services go under cuz of these money mongering assholes. The argument can be made that they create a job market, but they pay pennies on the dollar and also put families outta business.
Anyhow, it is what it is. The staff was always so friendly and kind. My Son loves their macaroons and we both enjoyed the complimentary Nutella! Where am I pozedta go now for that?! No one else that I know of offers free Nutella!
No more free live music for their patio out door seating on Sunday. Again, no one else in downtown offers free music whilst you sip your coffee and calmly absorb life on a beautiful sunny morning.
Thank you Starbucks!

If you’re looking for that same bland Charbucks taste and want it from a fancy cup, La Boulange is your place. If you want good espresso, there are better places. I know Starbucks owns La Boulange, but I was really expecting more being an actual La Boulange. The cappuccino falls flat and tastes scorched — almost exactly like Charbucks (go figure?).
The location is prime though for hanging out with friends, coworkers, or even getting some work done. They have a huge outdoor seating area which is a plus on those nice Palo Alto days.

I ordered the caprese on a baguette instead of the normal roll… it was delicious… however it took forever for the «custom sandwich». The ice tea was yummy too and I am a tea-​aholic. Not only that when I went in for a water refill in my tea cup the guy asked if o wanted a tea refill… no charge I ask? Nope! Sold! Double points for that!!! Lol def will be coming back!

I’m so disappointed that Starbucks is closing this place. It’s true that the La Boulange pastries sold in Starbucks stores are very mediocre, but the La Boulange restaurants themselves have excellent pastries (especially the very unique chocolate hazelnut croissant) and hot food and coffee that is far superior to Starbucks (and comes with organic milk!!) This is one of my favorite breakfast places in PA and we’ve been regulars, especially since getting our pup, because they have a huge dog-​friendly patio. I’m not especially anti-​chain in general but it’s always sad to see a wonderful local restaurant sold off to a chain that kills it. Go now before they close in September!

La Boulange is such a familiar sight now thanks to those little wrappers of Starbucks pastries, so it’s fun to eat at the actual place and see the complete menu selection.
Been here a few times for breakfast and always get one of the omelettes with a side of toast and potatoes or fruit. There’s a self serve station with jams, peanut butter and — wait for it — Nutella! +1 for stocking Nutella.
I love the cute gazebo and outdoor seating. The food is good, but it won’t blow you away. Come here for a simple brunch /​lunch /​coffee and a relaxing break.

Tucked in between some buildings in downtown alto lies la Boulanger. Prime location and simple food. Perfect for a little brunch or while your taking a stroll in the morning.
French onion soup is light and earthy. I wish it had more cheese. When I think of French onion soup I think of endless amounts of cheese spilling over the top.
The grilled cheese on walnut bread with Brie and Gruyère was amazing. With a nice fig jam giving it that perfect amount of savory and sweet combinations.
I wish I could say they had amazing service but I got 14macaroons and wanted it split into two seven containers because I was giving it as a gift and the lady straight up told me no because it would be more money. I kindly said I would pay but she ignored me. I finally took it upon myself to talk to the manager who kindly said no problem and gave me two boxes. Horrible customer service. Except from the awesome manager at least I think she was a manager… She was so great and is a model of how customers should be treated.

Good food. Good pastry. They have a small kitchen to make all that food. I don’t smell too much dough in the mornings here or smell fresh ground coffee. But a locals spot. A popular locals spot. Good pastry, made there or brought in. The quiche is delicious. Service. Well the manager yelled at me when I asked what sandwiches were on a table. Kind of rude or 4 stars.

Today I got the bread pudding. I was very satisfied with it! The crust and top were amazingly crunchy. The filling was a bit overwhelming because there was so much that I didn’t finish. Other times that I’ve gone here I’ve been pretty happy with my orders. The pound cake is so rich and buttery, and I remember the chai latte being delightfully yummy!

Nice environment, ok food, and terrible management. We waited 30 minutes for two sandwiches. The people in front of us in the order line had already eaten and gone. So I asked the bus boy if he could check on it, and he told me no worries it should be right up. Another 5 minutes and still no food. I asked to speak to the manager and the man at the register came over and spoke with me. After looking into our orders he let me know they had just started making our food. Great!
So then after standing and waiting at the counter to make sure they actually made our food we finally received our order. At this point I was just pretty pissed in general so we asked to speak to the manager again. Asking for some sort of compensation for this horrible service. He said he could refund my girlfriends order since she had a receipt. For mine, I had no receipt, he told me he could give me something for free next we were there. What does that even mean? No idea. He said he couldn’t do a gift card either. I’m supposed to come back to this place and tell the next person at the register this story and that my order is supposed to be free this time around?
Management clearly has no idea what he was doing and has zero customer service experience. He also said our order was due to the typical wait time. Even though the people that showed up 20 minutes after our order, had already eaten and left. Such a joke!
After eating we had to go make sure he gave us our refund since we didn’t trust his word at this point. Felt like we had to babysit them. Oh well, won’t be back to this place.

They have a dog friendly patio outside with plenty of seating, and the people in my party seemed to like their dishes. We had a croissant, which was crispy, but a little too oily, and a quinoa salad with a grilled toast.
I wasn’t feeling like breakfast that day, so I ended up just getting an iced tea, which was surprisingly good.
What I do like, is a big jar of nutella and jam that they have inside.
However the last time I came in, I wasn’t impressed with their pastries and deemed them to be not worth the calories.
A special shout out goes to their lattes — biggest. mugs. I’ve. ever. seen. Pretty cool

This place is good for what you need, its not a fancy french place although some dishes do lean that way. the one thing i come here for and i will come back every time is their open faced sandwiches esp. the creamy mushroom one. love it. I have also seen a bunch of people have the coffee in a BOWL. pretty awesome experience although their coffee is nothing special.
The seating arrangements are a little crammy and it does feel cold on cold days, but its also a pretty nice locale to sit outside and just watch nice cars go by or just chill out there. great to hang out with friends.

Love the atmosphere, the food could have been better, and it’s a bit pricey. That’s my review in a few short words. Now for a bit more lengthy review:
I came here with a friend to try it out. He ordered the fantastic french toast and a latte and I ordered the egg and cheese sandwich with bacon. The food did not take long to come out but we thought the portion sizes were a little small for 20 dollars total. The latte came in what looked like a soup bowl (a rather big bowl looking mug but with no handle). It honestly looked like people were drinking soup rather than their coffee. The egg and cheese sandwich was okay. They added tomato in it which I didn’t expect in a breakfast sandwich. It was a bit greasy as well. Another odd thing was that the french toast was round. It’s like they cut off the corners of it or something. Anyways, this place wasn’t that great and there are plenty of better restaurants in Palo Alto Downtown so I probably won’t be coming back here again.

Not very impressed, although the same suggested French goodies galore. I only had cappuccino and the friend I was rencountering after 8 years not seen was getting an oatmeal (that was huge!). I did not like my cappuccino not being served in a proper coffee cup with plate, but in some sort of Chinese soup bowl. I was like: what the heck is this? The experience per se is sometimes more important that the liquid you are imbibing, so I did not enjoy that special mug, no. Service was blah and we switched tables because the first one was dirty.
I choose that place as gathering point as looked so nice several times I have passed by, so Frenchie, cute with the pale green and the covered terrace and folks looked like having conversations and creating a climate for romantic encounters more than to be glued to your screen and ‘tindering’ around. Once inside I didn’t feel that was the same place, but I will go back and try the pastries and other items in the menu and update my experience.

I’ve been having discussions with people trying to figure out whether this place deserves 3 or 4 stars! It’s really a 3.5. Given my review of it has been the subject of such debate and thought, I thought it was only fitting for my 100^th review.
Why it might be 4:
— Consistently some of the best food on University Ave. Great menu as well
— Nice ambience if you get the right table, especially on the right day
— Nice French menu; french always gets more stars :). I just love French food
— Typically amazingly nice servers
Why it might be 3:
— There are some crappy places to sit here, especially on a cold day. Since this place is always busy, that means sitting in them sometimes if you frequent a lot like us. They can be cold and with a loud, cold vent over you
— It can just be rough around the edges sometimes. Out of forks, or water; uneven service, etc
So take it as you may. For my money, some of the better cheap food in downtown Palo Alto. Come here a lot.

I see why Starbucks partnered with La Boulange. Quality pastries, good coffee, and good breakfast. Wish we had these in Atlanta. Haven’t read fellow Unilocaler reviews yet, but curious as to why this place rates lower than 4 stars. I can’t find anything particularly wrong other than price may be a bit high.

I like the bright and airy atmosphere here where you can chose to sit indoor surrounded by glass windows or out on the patio. They’ve got a good selection of patisserie, sandwiches, soups and salads. Cesar salad and Boulange Club sandwich w/​the potatoes or quinoa are my norm. Chai Latte is also pretty good. I have not ordered anything from here where I was disappointed (except maybe the size of Mac & Cheese w/​mushroom for $ 9.)
Their macarons are also good, but If you have time, walk a few blocks down the street to Chantal for better macarons.
Price is reasonable considering that it’s in the heart of Palo Alto. If you plan to be a regular here, get their stamp card for drinks.

I was looking for a packet of macaroons for my mom, (hint!) she loves macaroons! They come in packers of 7, 14, and 21. I got the 14. more than enough!
Nice presentation and actually, tasted fresh (score!)
Total: $ 20

Ok, I know I just updated my review yesterday, but I just returned from lunch and finally tried their Smoked Trout Salad. I believe it warrants La Boulange an upgrade from three stars, to four stars.
I was very pleased with my salad, both with the quantity of trout (a night and day difference from the amount of fish they offer on their smoked salmon sandwich) as with the quality. Along with the smoked trout, the salad includes avocado slices, potatoes, apples (I normally hate fruit in my salad, but they spiced the apple slices nicely), *properly* mixed greens, and walnut bread. At $ 10.50, I would say it was well worth it.
With the weather heating up, I really wish that they would bring out more umbrellas on their [beautiful] patio to utilize more seating. Too many patrons are cramming themselves in the shaded tables.
One of the female staff members is just so entertainingly charming. She will wander through the restaurant greeting and taking care of regulars (which I was able to tell had many), even though the place is mostly self-​service. There were two elderly ladies sitting at my table, and they were telling me how she would bring them out a complimentary dessert during each of their visits. It’s great to see employees really caring about their customers.

HUGE pastry/​coffee place close to the university
Even without counting the outdoor seats, the inside is so big it feels like a dining hall from Harry Potter. When I was leaving, they were in the process of closing down the store for a «event». Maybe it’s party central after hours?
Surprisingly there weren’t a lot of pastries, perhaps because it’s late in the day.
The waitstaff were really nice though.
And by nice, I mean cute :)

This La Boulange, like all others provides delicious food.
I came here last Sunday with my girlfriend while we were cutting through downtown Palo Alto. I’ve been to the La Boulange in Burlinggame and I must say the quality of food is consistent between the two. Granted we only stopped in for a quick bite, but it was delicious.
I ordered the chicken open faced sandwich with a side of greens and she ordered the creamy mushroom with a side of greens. Both sandwiches were delicious.
I like the atmosphere for this La Boulange. It has a different feel compared to the Burlingame. The combination of the indoor and outdoor seating, as well as the glassed room provide for a nice touch.
We also ordered a few macaroons, which were delicious as usual. Its funny how now that they are partnered with Starbucks most people think of them simply as a bakery and don’t realize that they also serve food.
If you’re looking for a place to grab brunch with friends, I suggest coming to La Boulange de Palo Alto!

Nettes Café am Ende der Hauptstraße. Daher haben wir auch dirfkt vor der Tür parken können.
Mal etwas anderes als schon wieder Starbucks. Der Kaffee war genauso gut.