One House Bakery — Restaurant in Benicia

This bakery is a staple in our diets. Whether or not that is a good thing will depend on who you ask. Personally, I think it’s great. Here’s what to get:

COUNTRY BREAD The country bread is fantastic. I had been missing Tartine’s country loaves since moving from the city and so this discovery was a delight. The best part? You can order the bread sliced. This is critical as I’m ashamed to admit that I’m an adult that does not own a serrated knife. Nor do I know how to slice country bread evenly. But really, an loaf of country bread is like bringing home a Christmas tree. You love having it but you will find bits of it in nooks and crannies later.

If you ask me, buying a loaf of bread from One House is saving me money cause I now no longer need to buy a serrated knife.

SEEDED EPI This inconspicuous baguette is a treat! Occasionally sold out when I’m placing an order and anytime that happens, my heart sinks. First of all, it’s a baguette. A perfect base for all you cheese lovers out there. But this seed combo (sesame, poppy, sunflower and flax) is just enough to give it a little flavor and texture that you will be shocked how easy it is to consume it all in one sitting (unless of course, you hate seeds). A statement that may or may not be based from personal experience. As they say, a little mystery isn’t a bad thing.

GRILLED CHEESE & TOMATO SOUP Let me say, I love cheese. I have never met a cheese I did not like but I never was into grilled cheese. That is until I tried one at One House. The cheese is sharp but not overly powerful. It works well with the country bread. They offer it with other combos (like bacon). Normally I’m all for adding bacon but honestly, this one stands better alone.

If you find the tomato soup on the menu, grab it. It is a perfect combo. Yes, I’m aware it is a classic but do you know how hard it is to find a creamy but not too acidic but not too sweet tomato soup? I rest my case.

OATMEAL CINNAMON COOKIES Let me start by saying that if you are into cake like cookies, this will not be the cookie for you. When you catch them fresh they are so soft and crumble beautifully. These a thin cookies that are not overly sweet with just a slight hint of spice from the cinnamon. Pair it with a latte or warm beverage and your tummy will thank you later. You’re welcome.

PRO TIP: order...

Extremely unpleasant customer service experience last week ordering brunch for my family of four. They have a defective point of sale system that by their own admission they've had for three years and done nothing to fix. Regularly, a credit card charge is approved, but doesn't send an order ticket to the kitchen to process. They are then unable to process a second transaction for the same amount, because it registers as a duplicate. The owner's solution is to submit a second transaction for one penny more. 99 times out of 100, this will result in two charges on the customer's card. There solution foe the past three years has been to tell customers, oh don't worry, you won't be double charged, you just take the extra time to monitor your statement and then call us when the duplicate charge appears, and we'll resolve it at that point. I was shocked and flabbergasted, and there lame explanation and remedy only made me angrier. In my case, I live out of the country, so this isn't time I want to waste. More pathetic, after getting this infuriating explanation from the manager, after I made cleat I would be leaving a negative review, the owner came our and interrupted our brunch to rehash the situation. He did nothing to make the situation right, offered no sweetener to compensate me for the aggravation and inconvenience, just more lame excuses and an effort to further waste my valuable time. If I hadn't been with other people, I would have demanded a refund and went somewhere else. What about the poor college kid who wants to take family or a boyfriend to lunch, and instead of having a $100 charge on the card, now has to accept $200.01 in charges for 10 days until the transactions clear and are resolved. Not my situation, but some people are. For three years, they did nothing to fix, inconvenience numerous customers. I'll spend my...

I posted the following review on one house bakery’s Instagram, and they actually DELETED my comment! That’s how they treat long-time customers! Instead of addressing my concern, they choose to look the other way! Your money is your vote—so please vote for small businesses that are devoted to keeping customer service at the TOP of their priority list as they become more and more popular. Because in the end, it is their patrons that brought them that success in the first place. So disappointed in them!!

“@onehousebakery We ordered a thanksgiving dinner, planning to make a special 2-hour trip out to Benicia just so we could have Thanksgiving at One House. But we have a dietary restriction, and made a request to simply swap out one of the non-veg sides for a veg side. We were denied this request. In the past, you guys have honored these requests from us and others.

We are so disappointed. We admire Hannah Lee so much, we love One House and have been BIG supporters of you guys for a long time, frequently visiting all throughout the pandemic. We feel like the quality of service to your devoted customers is beginning to break down. I don’t know if we will be returning, which we NEVER thought we’d ever say, but this exchange has really upset us.

I know the rhetoric of “who cares if we lose just one or two customers” but I was hopeful this bakery was different and that you would continue your track record of phenomenal service to each and every one of your patrons, even in the face of the explosion of success you are now enjoying.

I hope you’ll...