Bakers & Baristas — Restaurant in Artesia

Getting baked & buzzed at Bakers & Baristas

Like a San Francisco hipster café transplanted itself into the city of Artesia, Bakers & Baristas (not associated with Bakers & Baristas in DC) is helmed by Candle Light Bakery's Eric Quan. B&B serves coffee acquired from the roasters at San Francisco's Four Barrel & De la Paz. Besides espresso machines, coffee is also brewed via Kalita Wave pourovers & siphon brews.

Delicious looking baked goods served here include macarons, cookies, cream puffs & cakes of various sorts. Everything is made in-house. Favorites include strawberry shortcake & milk & cereal. Cakes slices are $8+, but are generously cut.

I came an hour early before lunch was being served, so I opted for a caffeinated beverage.

Nitro cold brew Stout coffee beer - that's what came to mind with my first swig of nitro brew. A full-bodied energy drink of the greatest kind, I asked for ice on the side. It's already cold (duh, nitro), and I get more cold brew w/o pesky ice getting in the way. Smooth drinking with a slight note of bitterness to remind you that you're drinking coffee, I'm still buzzing now a few hours after drinking it.

Dinner is available, with an interesting menu that consists of sandwiches, burgers & the like. Beer & wine are served, with $1 draft beer Happy Hour from 3pm - 6pm Mon - Fri

Brunch lovers are in for a treat. B&B has weekend brunch, which is popular with crowds from all over SoCal. Chicken & waffles, skirt steak tapsilog & eggs with arrabbiata are top picks.

Service was good. I was given a little tour of all the unique offerings at B&B, and I was witness to a coffee lesson, since I'm a layperson when it comes to all the intricacies of coffee brewing. Plenty of seating, both at the bar & from tables. Everything is wood, which may cause sore butts from prolonged seating. Cushions, anyone?

Unfortunately, the free photo booth has gone the way of the dodo bird. Warning-the music is on blast here.

Parking is in a busy private lot at the Artesia Towne Centre. Bakers & Baristas is located next to Sushi Samurai & Pho Jackie.

Hipsters, unite! Bakers & Baristas is a great new addition to the local community. Expertly prepared coffee, decadent pastries & gourmet savory dishes await all those that venture in. I can't wait to try an old fashioned coffee, to go along with their difficult to decide brunch menu.

Highly...

Had no idea that Bakers & Baristas was located in Artesia, but super glad that I stumbled across this dessert spot when I was dining at the restaurant next door. Of course I couldn't stop myself and had to take in the delicious assortment of goodies that they had on a Saturday evening. Not sure if they're still offering brunch, but they did have their selection of cakes, pastries, and coffee offering.

Browsed through Yelp to see which items were popular before settling on a slice of milk & cereal cake and a slice of the crunchy chocolate hazelnut. Cakes were immediately brought out from inside the kitchen (there was actually only one slice left of the milk & cereal, which made me want that flavor even more - but they actually had a lot more in the kitchen), packaged nicely for to-go.

So I shared a slice of the hazelnut cake ($8.50) with my friend, who really enjoyed the flavor of the cake. I'm not a big fan of intensely flavored chocolate cake, but I did appreciate the richness of flavor that every bite exuded. This came with a side of sauce that we drizzled over the cake - oh my goodness, you could taste the hazelnut flavor along with the chocolatey ooey gdeliciousness, and add in some crunchy feuilletine - each bite definitely was a party in my mouth. I could only take several bites before needing to stop, but my friend absolutely loved it. He said it wasn't over the top sweet and because there was a nice balance of sweetness and bitterness from the chocolate flavors, he didn't find it to be too cloyingly sweet.

Took home the milk & cereal ($8) to share with my family. This came with a side of watered down condensed milk syrup, which I thought tasted a little weird, but my dad really enjoyed. The cake slice was hefty, but I was surprised by the lightness of flavor. This cake was very reminiscent of a tres leches cake where the cake is more moist and milky. The sweetness of the fruity pebbles gave it a unique flavor while the cream was pretty light and sweet.

Honestly I thought the prices were a little on the higher end, but the quality and quantity of the slice made up for it. Everybody who tried the cakes have favorable impressions of Bakers & Baristas. Definitely want to return to try some of their pastries and...

Today I had the worst customer service from 3 different employees. The cashier was told specifically we would like to order a decaf iced tea for my pregnant wife. She offered an iced hibiscus option and then informed us that it was not available after we had already paid... ok no big deal. Also, when I added an egg to my sisig and was charged $4 I questioned why it was clearly marked as a $2 add-on on their menu. The cashier said it's because they add 2 eggs. Automatically doubling the menu price for an add on is shady but I still let it go and said nothing.

Then two different employees came out and harassed us during our meal. To be clear: my wife, father, daughter and I ordered over $80 of food from this establishment. My mother, sister, and her two VERY small children had food from elsewhere in addition to our sizable order of three entrees, pastries, and three beverages. Despite having plenty of seating for all other customers, two employees felt the need to repeatedly tell a group with two elderly seniors and three children under 3 that their $80 was not enough to use their outdoor tables.

To reiterate: we ordered lots of food and were eating at one table outside with tables still available for all their other patrons. And after coming out and telling us we were not allowed to eat there because 100% of our order was not purchased from them, the employees would restate it MULTIPLE times. They were trying to run us off in the middle of eating with mostly seniors and toddlers and an infant. This rude behavior from 3 employees is systemic of ownership's poor training and policies. I have never been so rudely treated by so many employees in one...