GAIL's Bakery Herne Hill — Restaurant in London

Opened on first week of September 2023, so I guess Herne Hill joins . Sadly, just like other Gail's, there's a company-wide policy where dogs are not allowed to stay in, just to collect/take-away/outside. This store is no exception, despite being next to Brockwell Park, with hundreds of dog owners, hoping for a place to eat and stay 😢 Very disappointing, and for that they get 4 stars There's no government regulation mandating that hot food cannot be served with pets in a restaurant, as they told me in a different store. And if your dog misbehaves, then obviously you need to go. But not a blanket ban please. There's another reason that people give, which is the so-called 'dog allergy'. Dogs can on certain people cause allergy, but only if you touch them. Dogs don't cause allergy just by being in close proximity.

You may be outside with your dog, but in this store and many others, there are not many tables. What if it's cold? What if you don't want the sun to directly hit your face? Disappointing this policy is still active 😔

There are a lot of dog owners that are clients of Gail's and this policy is a bit of a shame that they still have it, specially next to Brockewell park and Herne Hill, there are like loads of dogs. The majority of clients, maybe like 90%? wouldn't have an issue with a dog inside if the dog is not disturbing anyone and just minding it's own business.

PLEASE CHANGE THE POLICY!

As for the food, and like other Gail's, they have a fabulous array of pastries and other snacks. All of them are high quality. Sourdough is also sliced for you, which helps.

Had baked eggs, perfectly cooked. Avocado toast with salsa verde nicely presented. You're also allow to customise the hot food, but they don't have poached eggs. Overall though, not bad at all, with efficient and helpful staff, we can certainly recommend it.

This place has a lot seating and it's spacious inside but I expect it will get very busy. The staff were very friendly, the place can be busy but the tables were kept clean considering the turnover.

Plug sockets are not through the store, but you can work on your laptop if it...

Gail’s product is great, but where oh where do you find some of your staff? It’s such a polarising experience going to a Gail’s bakery. Some of the staff are brilliant (Dulwich team is very good) and then some are truly ‘en masse’ woeful (Islington, Upper Street, take note; I thought not….. staring at your shoes again). Today’s irritation: 14:15hrs, Herne Hill branch. I buy a beetroot and lentil salad (always sublime) and a seeded sourdough. I ask that the sourdough be sliced, please. The team member looks at me, sighs, slices the loaf and ‘DUMPS’ in in a paper bag (losing the run of the loaf), scrunches up the top of the bag, and passes it to me whilst gazing elsewhere. Am I meant to be grateful for this? I had to unpack the loaf, rearrange it again, close the bag properly, and all the while the staff member was giggling with her colleague at my irritation. Sadly, this quality of customer service is rampant in Gail’s and I simply cannot understand why you’d let your brilliant product be so diminished by uncaring, unfriendly, third-rate staff (even wild animals would take offence at howthey might hurl scraps at them). Surely, you can do much better than this, Gail’s? It’s not just one or two rogue automatons; it’s an increasing battalion! And that really takes away from the lovely ones (E.g: Dulwich team - guy with the black curly hair at the bread point in particular). Surely it’s not too much to expect pleasant customer service? The Margot Robbie wannabe at Herne Hill was probably distracted by the Awards Ceremony going on in her head …. whilst tables needed clearing and customers needed to be treated as if they were welcome. Time for big change - the pandemic and excuse of the pandemic...

It is scary going there because of the dogs. There are too many people getting bitten by dogs and killed. I don't feel safe going there.I don't think small children should be walking amongst dogs. The dogs maybe on the lead but there are too many of them and very few are muzzled. I only went at the weekend for an urgent situation. Other than that it was ok. Please ban dogs from the cafe and only have assistance dogs that are trained. I don't want to be near aggressive or snappy dogs. some dogs are nervous in the cafe with so many people and people were even patting even though the dog was clearly stresse. I wonder if the cafe has insurance if someone gets killed or injured by dogs in the cafe. I won't go again unless for urgent reasons. I prefer to go to cafe that has no dogs unless assistance and there are other ones in Herne hill to go now. the cafe doesn't if anyone feels unsafe or gets attacked by a dog. I agree with the other reviewer that that there are too many dogs in the cafe, and they can be dirty. I think having so many dogs in a cafe is absolutely disgusting and dangerous. dogs should be outside not in a busy cafe where people could trip over them with hot drinks too. dogs make the...