Bakehouse — Restaurant in Bristol

Don't understand how this places gets such high reviews... Cakes & bakes - not visibly priced which causes problems when having to ask - although are very good. There's inside & outside seating with, lots of bike & carparking space. Customer service sadly is to often not upto scratch & why they lose 2 stars - e.g. Serving staff don't seem to like customers asking questions: which is problematic when nothing is visibly priced. Today asked if wholemeal sourdough is made as well as the white & seeded kinds they had on offer. My server replied they didn't know sourdough could be made wholemeal. (They seemed to be implying that the white they had was all that sourdough could be made as) & that they didn't know much about bread anyway. Shame as although I enjoy this bakers product. Rarely do I enjoy my interactions with the staff. In the past I've had a server get huffy with me for asking about gluten content of cakes etc, another time they were making up answers to my questions rather than dealing with facts or asking another more senior member of staff for the correct information. Thing is there's such a grand display on offer & so many people have food intolerances etc these days one needs a chance to decide what to buy... Among the staff generally there just seems to be an air of the customer is a bit of a hassle/inconvenience to deal with tbh. "Just get them served & out as fast as possible!" Seems to be the motto. Which obviously lets the place's overall feel good factor down. . Also they don't accept cash which is not OK. Not everybody wants to go cashless or has cards to pay cashlessly. Between this, not liking customer questions & not putting prices on things, the overall feeling at Bakehouse is one...

Wonderfully weird, bold and brilliant location in the factory park at the start of the Bristol-Bath cycle path, with fully bearded, bespectacled and bebraced baristas... enjoy that Berlin/Amsterdam hipster-hippie-industrial vibe before it all gets turned into over-priced flats for investors.

If you are on a long bike ride, definitely schedule a stop. Plenty of space for putting your bike, or just sit right next to it, with sun all day on South-East-West-facing yard (when it shines, of course).

Have tried the coffee, cake and cinnamon buns, and all are worthy of a visit. The photo doesn't really do it justice, but at least gives you an idea of the space, what to look for and what great sunshine it can get.

Friendly staff too, plus a stone's throw (if you have a decent pitching arm) from Left Handed Giant brewing, and only a couple minutes more to the other breweries in St Philips, the sensual and theatric delights of Old Market, plus of course the nearby Lawrence Hill Health Centre and municipal dump/recycling centre - both cultural icons in this neck of the woods (if someone on the council would just please let us in on foot or bike).

Newtown (yes, that is actually a place) finally...

BRING YOUR OWN CUPS AND PLATES!

Excellent coffee and possibly the best toastie I've ever eaten. One star review for Bakehouse because I was so disappointed that all food and drink here is served in disposable containers, even if you're eating in. I asked staff about this and was told that because it's a working bakery there is a safety risk if crockery or glass were to break in there. Surely they could use enamel, metal or plastic reusable cups/containers if this is the case?

Disposable coffee cups were labelled compostable, but these are not suitable for home composting, they cannot be recycled with paper or plastics, and there aren't adequate industrial composting facilities in the UK to deal with this type of waste. So although they look nice and eco friendly they almost always end up in landfill.

It was upsetting to see the huge overflowing bin on a busy Saturday morning. Hopefully Bakehouse will improve in future. In the meantime, I suggest they clearly advertise that everything is served in disposable containers and that anyone who cares about the environment needs to bring their own, even...