Cal's Bakery & Cafe — Restaurant in Barrie

I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease in 2017 and a friend who works nearby recently told me about Cal's and gave me a couple of items of hers to sample. They were delicious! I live outside of Bolton (not at all close to Barrie) and made a special trip to Cal's yesterday. Although what I ordered was delicious, I was quite taken aback at the cold reception I received and the total lack of customer service....especially after having read some of the other reviews. I told the lady at the counter that I had never been there before and didn't live nearby and asked for information. I was the only customer at the time and she seemed very annoyed and just kind of waved her hand around the shop and didn't say much other than they are dedicated GF. Every question I asked was met with a kind of disdain and minimal answers. I gave up and just ordered a sandwich & picked up a loaf of bread. Someone else came in while I was waiting and she was not treated the same as I had been. The sandwich was delicious, but I don't know anything about the place or how to buy the fresh (not frozen) items. I was really interested in buying lots of products...now I'm not so sure. I would have given 5 stars after tasting the food and reading about the place, but left quite deflated yesterday.

My Response to Cal's response below:

I do have some questions that I'm sure you can help with, but first I need to address your response to my review. You said that you "try your best for everyone to have a pleasant experience; but that every once in a while you have "off" days". However, if you reread my review it very clearly states that I was treated differently than the customer that was served while I was waiting for my sandwich. In my opinion, the lady that was at the counter was clearly annoyed that she may have to explain things to a new customer, but was fine with assisting a customer that was already "in the know". Customer Service 101 should tell you that you need to speak with that employee and retrain them as to how they should handle a new customer - especially if you want to gain (and keep) new customers. My questions are:

1. I picked up a loaf of white bread:

How long should this bread be left out of the fridge/freezer? Should it then be placed in the fridge or in the freezer?

2. Do you have a menu or product list showing what is available?

3. How do I know which products are Gluten Free as well as Dairy Free?

4. My friend (who shops at your establishment frequently) told me there are lots of fresh (meaning not frozen) items available; I didn't see anything other than the bread and a few squares behind the display case when I was there. Is that the case or is everything frozen? What fresh items are available and when are they available? Your employee scoffed at that question and said to me "everything is fresh!" and gave NO Other information!

5. Any other information you can provide? Some of the reviews talked about how knowledgeable the staff were and how much information was provided to them. This was most definitely not the case for me...

Great gluten free baked goods, however after purchasing consistently for the last 6 months, I will not be back due to the owner’s unwelcoming attitude. He ought to stick to back of house if he wants to continue keeping customers. That or do some serious work on his rude and callous attitude.

In response: Yes I did accidentally walk into your unlocked open store 4 minutes before you were officially open. I would have been happy to have sat in my car for 4 minutes until you were officially open as like I said, I hadn’t realized the time. Before I could offer, you let me know you were not open with a ridiculous amount of annoyance and asked me if I was going to pick up something quick. I apologized and said yes, to which you responded with a go ahead type of gesture and walked away. So this is how you were rude, callous, and unwelcoming. The redirection of blame in your “apology” is another example of your callousness. Have...

This place is new to the neighbourhood and we were eager to give it a try. I have a son that has a severe peanut allergy so bakeries aren’t typically an option for us. The staff at Cal’s are so extremely friendly and knowledgeable about their products. We felt safe and secure ordering some treats for our son for the first time in a long time. The goodies we tried were a berry square, mint truffle, banana muffin and cookie square. Everything was exceptional. Very delicious flavours, moist and not chalky like some gf options. They have a variety of frozen foods to choose from as well that we will be testing with some of our relatives that have food allergies. Last but not least, they make a great cup of coffee which this area desperately needed! We are so happy with Cal’s and will definitely be...