Avenue Bakery — Restaurant in American Fork

I wish I could leave no stars!

My wife had been there before and tried some of their other pastries which were quite good. At the time we were looking for a bakery to make a cake for our anniversary party so we went back, talked to the shop owner and tasted several options for cake. We ultimately decided on carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. My wife provided numerous examples of the decorating and coloring she wanted for the cake and the baker agreed that it was all very doable. We also paid for delivery because we wanted to make sure that the cake arrived in good form for our party (this will be important later).

Fast forward several months and the day of our anniversary arrived. (This was a little over a month ago now). The baker showed up and dropped up the main cake, a gluten free cake, and some macarons and then took off just as quick as he could. Our event people (who were also helping with laying out the food/cake etc) gave it the once over and noticed a GIANT chunk taken out of the side of the cake. And rather than being silver, the cake was blue. Also, the decorating on the cake did not look anything like the examples my wife had labored to put together when we ordered the cake.

To top it all off, the cake tasted nothing like what we originally tasted, and they had slathered tons of icing on which my wife again specifically asked that they limit. AND the icing was not even betty crocker quality cream cheese frosting. It really tasted like a cheap buttercream. Oh - and the gluten free cake had no decorating on it at all.

When my wife went in afterward to talk to the owner about the condition of the cake when it arrived and the poor quality of the cake (both taste and decorating), his lame excuse was that the employee who did our cake was brand new! I wasn't dropping a fair amount of money so his new employee could learn while practicing on my cake! What did he offer as a refund for what was basically a complete screw-up? A refund for half of what we spent.

Fast forward another month, and my wife had to drive over today because they wouldn't answer the phone and ask for the FOURTH time to receive a refund. Today she finally got a receipt to prove that the refund has been applied. However, the proprietor decided to backtrack on the refund amount and was only going to refund less than a quarter of the total amount. Needless to say we are FAR from being made whole in this debacle. WE WILL NEVER USE THESE MUPPETS AGAIN!

I've attached the only photo we got of some of the poor decorating. Unfortunately we didn't think to take a picture of the really...

We stopped in because we had never been and wanted to try something new. No one else was in there so I asked the employee for popular items and when the listed items were "made to order" I asked about turnaround time as we didn't have a ton of time. I could tell the employee was annoyed by the question, they said something along the lines of "well you two are the only people here so you wouldn't have anyone else before you." A little condescending in tone and phrasing, however, I can understand how my question was precieved as an attempt to make them rush, it wasn't my intention but I get it.

I ended up with a strawberry sprinkle doughnut and a drip coffee and my husband decided he didn't want anything. Again, I get the frustration. Definitely got the vibe of even more annoyance from the employee, I was understanding and polite, I paid for my items and left.

Took a bite of the doughnut, first bite was good, as I kept going the air pocket between the outside layer and the bulk of the dough was really off putting, keep in mind that I ate this immediately in the car after leaving the bakery, by the time I was halfway through it the frosting was melting like it had been left out in the sun. I tried to force it down but it was no good. I went to wash it down with coffee but it was old and burnt, I couldn't even begin to force that down.

People have bad days and that's okay. However, between the mix of the bad coffee, weird doughnut, and the employees interaction with me, I won't waste my time or money again.

I'm sure there are good things going for this place, so I'm sharing my experience with the knowledge it may have been a...

I don't usually give into the temptation of donuts but Avenue Bakery has been calling my name for weeks now and I finally gave in. It appeared to be a popular spot, so I had high expectations going in and I was still impressed. I love that they even have a mural on their exterior from Sarah Meitler, a popular local muralist, which I think helps the building look more fresh and new.

They have much more seating than I guessed and while some of their seats look a little old, they are still plenty comfortable and match the aesthetic of a bakery/cafe. They have a great breakfast menu that ends at around 11:20 am and then it switches to a lunch/dinner menu.

I snagged a Breakfast Panini right before the menu switched, a white sprinkle donut (my personal favorite), and a cappuccino. I absolutely loved the chipotle aioli and it was large enough that I really didn't need the donut, especially since it was plated with a few orange slices which was the perfect amount of sweet after my savory panini.

The white sprinkle donut was the best donut I've had in Utah. I'm not a huge donut fanatic but I've tried my fair share and the dough at Avenue Bakery completely blew me away. I imagine all of their donuts are top notch and I can't wait to go back again. While the food was stellar, the cappuccino left me wanting, it was very hot and pretty regular. That being said, it wasn't below average and wasn't a deal breaker for me. I'm happy to give them a pass on average coffee since it's not their primary focus.

Absolutely pleased with my visit and I can't wait for my next excuse to reward myself...