Bakery Lorraine Domain Northside — Restaurant in Austin

This is NOT the place to go if you’re looking for breakfast or planning to place a large order. While they appear to have a large staff, the system they use is clearly dysfunctional. Different employees bring items to your table one by one, which inevitably leads to mistakes—it’s as if the right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing. The bad experience started immediately. While placing my (very large) to-go order, one of the items was a rum cake. The receptionist assumed that because I’m visibly pregnant, the only person the rum cake could possibly be for was my toddler, who was with me. She then proceeded to tell me, “We’re not allowed to sell alcohol to minors.” I was stunned. She literally thought I planned to serve rum cake to my toddler. After a moment of confusion, I explained that the order was to-go and that the cake was for my husband. She became flustered, repeated the order back to me, and still managed to input it incorrectly into the computer. I received my order number and sat with my toddler as employees brought our items to the table—one by one—each time a different person, each time disorganized. As I sit with my vanilla latte which arrived with absolutely NO vanilla in it. I watched as customer after customer who arrived after us received their orders and left, all while we waited for one missing breakfast plate. After nearly 30 minutes of waiting, I went to the front desk to check on the missing plate, only to discover it had never been entered into the system. Why did we wait so long, you ask? Because nobody came to collect our order number or to indicate they were done bringing items out. No one asked us, “Are you still waiting on something?”—a courtesy I overheard them extend to other customers. The complete lack of oversight, supervision, or any sense of control made it clear that nobody knew what they were doing. All in all, this place is a disorganized mess. Do yourself a favor: GO...

Full disclosure, Bakery Lorraine is typically busy. We decided to go early in the morning in order beat the wait, but mostly because we had to walk our dog. When you arrive at Bakery Lorraine you are immediately greeted by ample seating and a relaxed but cozy atmosphere. Ordering was a breeze and the staff were friendly as well, offering a pup cup to our dog. They serve a variety of breakfast foods, pastries, coffee, and so on.

We decided to order a grilled cheese with roasted potatoes and a chai latte (they come in mugs if you dine in, if you care about that kind of stuff). They bring it out to you which is nice, especially when you fine outdoors. The chai latte came first and was phenomenal. We like whole milk for the thicker texture and that’s exactly what we got. The spice of the chai was perfect and with the cinnamon powder finish there’s not enough good we can say about it.

The grilled cheese was good, not great. It came on toasted sourdough bread which is the better bread choice, sorry to those who prefer white. It was made with white cheese that was tasty, just not the way we like it as we prefer yellow cheese. It is by no means a bad sandwich and this could very simply be chalked up to a difference in preferences. I would still recommend it as a sandwich and we look forward to trying the other ones that they have in the future. As for the roasted potatoes, we were not fans. The potatoes were very skin heavy giving it an almost filmy taste on some. The seasoning was good and they were cooked well, it’s just the texture that was a bit of a throw off.

Ultimately, Bakery Lorraine is a great cafe that fits well into the premium retail space the Domain offers. Busy or not we recommend it as a stop for their great drinks and strong...

My experience at this bakery was one of the worst I’ve had. It was my first time trying the "honey lemon cup," but when I took a bite, I couldn’t taste the honey or the lemon—it just felt bland and creamy. I politely mentioned this to a staff member who was clearing tables who intercepted me from going to the counter by the customer line. I was explaining that I hadn’t tasted those key flavors, and before I could finish, she cut me off, stating that they couldn’t change anything. When I asked if I could exchange it for a chocolate cake, she rudely refused in front of other customers and walked away without any courtesy.

I was shocked by her attitude but didn’t push further, instead giving the dessert to my partner for her opinion, as it didn’t resemble what was advertised. Ten minutes later, the same staff member came back with a chocolate cake and apologized. However, given the way she had treated me publicly, I refused the cake. It felt like my experience as a customer was worth less than the $7.95 dessert I paid for. The poor service left such a negative impression that I couldn’t accept her gesture.

To make matters worse, the bakery was run by unsupervised teenagers who seemed to lack any proper customer service training. Every table was dirty when I arrived, and I had to clean my own before sitting down. I would have overlooked the tasteless dessert if the service had been better—clean tables, polite conversation, or even just a respectful "no"...