Estelle Bakery & Pâtisserie — Restaurant in Sacramento

The food is average to above average for the most part . Some of the staff members are courteous but curt , and seem overwhelmed by the general lack of proper staffing at the check out counter.

The reason for the poor (one star) rating is due to the repeated and consistently poor customer service / attitude every time I come to Estelle's when visiting my Sacramento - based family members.

Having lived in New York city for almost a decade , I've dined at a wide range of restaurants, from hole in the wall pizza places to Michelin star restaurants. However , I cannot recall a place where the customer service experience is consistently as bad as Estelle's .

We usually bring four very senior family members (all in their 80s, some with disabilities) to dine here for special family weekend occasions (birthdays and anniversaries etc.). On one occasion, the owner of Estelle's said our party of 8 cannot sit together . Later on, a friendlier staff member acquiesced ; given our situation of elderly customers who made such an effort to come out to dine , we would've expected a much more accommodating approach, especially from the owner herself .

However , the general manager (a middle age lady with short blond hair ? Sharon ) is perhaps most notable for her general poor customer service skills and hostile attitude . Examples include the tone of her voice when calling customers' names to pick up our food items (ie literally, yelling ); or refusing to provide a to-go cup of cream for an order of French toast (a nicer staff member did end up giving us the cup of cream 5 mins later ); arguing with customers in front of other customers ; literally throwing / shoving four to-go boxes onto the counter towards me after i had politely asked for boxes . And just an overall hostile / unfriendly approach to dealing with customers' requests and questions.

In conclusion, the food at Estelle's is a B. They are known for their macaroons, and their desserts are visually attractive . But even if the food was a 10 out of 10, it is never an excuse for a 1 out of 10 customer service experience. I've dined at plenty of establishments with better food and nicer ambiance all around the world ; rarely have I experienced such hostile and unwelcoming customer service .

As a physician, I deal with patients on a daily basis and I understand what it means to work in a service oriented establishment - prioritizing the needs of patients / customers . Judging by my family's and other reviewers' experiences , Estelle's (and in particular, the manager with short blond hair) clearly lacks understanding in this most important attribute of a service oriented establishment.

If you want a pleasant experience dining out, whether just for a cup of coffee , a causal lunch date or even for special occasions, Estelle's is definitely NOT the...

So, um I thought I'd show up to this spot to get some work done during the morning hours. When I ordered, I ordered a Vanilla Chai (Which I thought was tea that I ordered), but I ended up being handed a latte, which was no big deal to me, I drank it anyway. So, I ate my pastry and drank the coffee and worked the morning away. However, as I finished my pastry and coffee and was working, I noticed that my dishes never got picked up. Which is fine, I understand that this is not a restaurant and people can take their own dishes and put them in the busser container and/or garbage can - again, I don't have a problem with that. I even went as far to think, "Oh maybe no one can see me.", "There's a lot of people in here and I am at a small table." - Whatever. HOWEVER (again), I noticed that everyone else around me got their dishes picked up to create more room for them to sit and hang out at their tables. Even a couple at a table RIGHT NEXT TO ME got their dishes picked up. And here I am at this tiny table with my laptop trying to work and no one ever came by to say, "Hello, may I take this out of your way?" Bussers and workers walked right past my table a number of times and said/did nothing. It even came down to the point where I was the last person in the section and still...so many bussers and workers walked back and forth right past me and said nothing...with my dirty dishes still sitting at the tiny table where I am trying to work. Now, I am personally, not trying to throw the "race card" out there or make this a racial issue (which is the wail of outrage/complaint/accusation that often arises whenever race is brought up to therefore invalidate the one who is experiencing racism because it threatens the fallacy that we live in a raceless society. Anyway, I digress...), but everyone in the section that I was in, who got their dishes picked up, did not look like me. So, in short, I threw my garbage away and put my dishes in the busser bin where they were supposed to go. I was going to buy lunch there, but decided to go somewhere else to spend my money and...

Sunday, 6/22/2025 - ate at Estelle Bakery and Pastries located at 2530 Arden Wy, Sacramento, CA 95825. This is such a cute little restaurant. Upon arrival....

Pros

1. The outside of the restaurant looked clean and cute. If you're facing the front entrance door, to the left of that, there are tables outside you can eat at. All those tables looked clean. We were outside for a few minutes but decided to sit inside instead.
2. The inside looked clean. There was an area with water and cups. You can get your own water. Water tasted good.
3. Lots of goodies you can buy: macaroons, croissants, mini cakes, muffins, cookies, etc.
4. They have paper menus on the counter and large menus hanging. You cash by miss it.
5. All of our foods tasted great! No complaints. I got the smoked salmon on croissant and mushroom soup and it was pretty good. They charged extra for the croissant.
6. They didn't rush us out. We were able to catch up and talk.
7. I see staffs busy taking orders, helping patrons, and cleaning the restaurant.
8. your order comes out on the right side of where you order. They'll yell out your name. So make sure you are within ear shot.
9. service was great. I had no issue. The gut who helped me was patience, nice and smiling. I love happy and smiling people.

Cons

1. minimal parking. Not much parking. At least I didn't see any large parking lot. Only a few parking spots in front of the restaurant and a few on the side of the restaurant. If anyone knows of more parking, please share.

Conclusion I really like this restaurant. Staffs were nice and professional. Bakery items and foods were all good. Inside and outside restaurant was clean. I recommend this restaurant. I'd...