Heidelberg Pastry Shoppe — Restaurant in Arlington

I called to place a catering order for pick up and the person on the phone was massively rude and offensive. She outright rudely told me she cannot understand me, so my wife talked to her. When she was done answering my wife's question, my wife told the person on the phone that she didn't have to be rude to me and that I just have an accent. The person on the phone replied rudely: "well, it's not my fault he has an accent. We have people from all over the world here who have accents and it's hard for me to understand them." Basically doubling down on what she said earlier. So my wife said "then I'm just giving you a note that what you said wasn't the most polite way to interact with someone with an an accent" And then the person on the phone hung up on us.

I am a speechless... We ordered our wedding cake from them and have stopped by countless other times. I am quite honestly surprised they have such a xenophobic person at the store front in such a diverse area such as northern Virginia. I can only imagine how many customers she has offended and turned away.

I reached out to the store to share my experience and the person who responded to me wrote some half baked excuse saying the offensive employee was not normally that rude... It does seem like this is their culture, they can't even provide a sincere apology for something this awful. Their desserts are amazing, but honestly I would rather buy bakery stuff from Safeway than be treated like trash because I have a little bit of an accent. Avoid at all cost!!

• RESPONSE TO THE STORE *** Responding to your comment here, because I cannot directly reply to your Google answer. Again, this was never about fulfilling my order, so please do not try to swipe the unacceptable behavior of your employee under the rug. You did give me an option to place the order, but I chose not to buy anything from you because of the unacceptable behavior of your employee.

Again a simple apology here would have sufficed. Perhaps next time try something like: "We apologize for the unacceptable behavior, we will make sure this never happens again!"

Best of luck to you and hopefully you treat people with respect...

Just an Update in response to Owner’s comments: Anyone who does an online search for pfeffernusse cookies will see that the traditional German recipe is made with the white icing covering the gingerbread cookie. I wish the lazy baker referred to by the owner in his response below could find it in his heart to make them right especially for the upcoming holiday season instead of using the excuse of “that’s how they made them in his home town” - that is only an excuse for skipping the work it takes to make the icing.

I was so excited to discover this bakery because it promised authentic German pastries and baked goods by its name alone. When I saw the pfeffernusse cookies, especially, I did not hesitate to get a bag. Very disappointing: they were just not the authentic German cookies, instead of the traditional icing cover they made them with just powdered sugar, they just did not taste good. I also got a banana bread loaf and a slice of German chocolate cake and a chocolate mousse cupcake. The banana loaf did not taste good either, I threw half of it out because I saw the owner’s own admission in here in response to a review that they DO use high fructose corn syrup instead of real sugar in many of their baked goods and that’s why the loaf tasted so bad. I can say that even the Starbucks brand banana bread tastes better than this. Bottom line is: this is not an authentic German /European bakery that they pretend to be because they do not use non-GMO German/European ingredients, by the owner’s admission in here, and his excuse is “covid” .. 4 entire years later. So why make the trip to them when you can get better at Whole Foods even ?!! Without the cacophony, without the long confused lines, and without the long faces behind the counters from the mostly male servers (why so many men in a bakery shop ?! Where are...

I’ve been on the hunt for an old-fashioned bakery—the kind that makes you feel like you’ve stumbled into pastry heaven—and by pure accident, I found it: Heidelberg Pastry Shoppe in Arlington.

Today was my very first visit, and let me just say… wow. The place is part bakery, part delicatessen, and 100% a dessert lover’s dream. The moment you walk in, you’re surrounded by a wonderland of freshly baked cookies, cakes, cupcakes, danishes, candies, donuts—you name it, they’ve got it. Honestly, I didn’t know where to look first.

Since it was my first time, I decided to “taste test” by grabbing a couple of donuts and a handful of cookies. That’s when the friendly young lady behind the counter let me know about their buy two, get two free donut special (yes, the pastry gods were smiling on me). Naturally, I walked out with four donuts for the price of two—no regrets.

When I got home and finally tasted everything… out of this world. The donuts were fresh, soft, and just the right amount of sweet, while the cookies were perfectly baked and packed with flavor. You can truly taste the quality in every bite.

It’s safe to say I am not a one-time customer—I’ll definitely be back. In fact, I noticed a steady stream of people coming in and out, so clearly I’ve just discovered the gem that locals already know and love. (Better late than never, right?)

If you’re looking for authentic, old-fashioned baked goods with a warm and welcoming vibe, Heidelberg is the place. I’m already planning my return trip—probably sooner...