Violette Gluten Free Bakery — Restaurant in Cambridge

My wife and I are quite perplexed by the high ratings this place has received. We had a pretty sub-par experience there a few weeks ago. From the staff to the execution, we left the place pretty annoyed and regretting our decision to set foot in this place to begin with.

We went there on a weekday, in the middle of the afternoon after finding street parking a block or two away and walked over. It took us a second to find the entrance, which happens to be below street level, under a yoga studio. We proceeded inside and found a fairly busy place. They were a few people scattered in front of the counter and a few other sitting at various tables by the window.

We proceeded to get into what seemed like a line but quickly realized that there isn't such a thing there. It's complete chaos, and there's a complete lack of organization from the staff. They were overwhelmed, slow and not all that friendly. There was only one woman behind the counter, and there were about 5-6 people in front of us. It took nearly 25 minutes for us to be able to finally get to select our treats.

Speaking of treats, their disorganized counter also has a self-serve portion where they'll have the patrons to stick their hands into the various glass cake domes to select our treats. Not very sanitary all things considered...

While we were waiting for our turn in the incredibly slow line, another staff member was pulling one of those wheeled carts and rammed it right into me. They came from behind me and pretty much never said 'excuse me' or anything else and just decided to sneak up and I'm guessing assumed I was going to move over even though I had no idea where they were going or that they were behind me. I almost fell over and heard no apology. This almost happened again a few minutes later, but they, this time around, muttered a 'coming through' sentence which was barely audible. I was baffled...

Eventually our turn came, and the very slow, nonchalant and unapologetic staff member took care of my wife's order. We asked for recommendations and when asked if they had anything that they were famous for or that would be a highlight the said that 'everything was good'. How helpful. We settled on getting 4-5 items including a congo bar, a couple of cupcakes and a few other things and paid.

The layout of the counter, which is awkwardly packed with items, makes it very hard to easily dodge people and pay, while trying not to knock over anything. We eventually managed and left. Upon getting to the car, we broke open our box and tried a couple of things and saved the rest for later. Everything we had was very forgettable and borderline dry. We were far from impressed and liked the items over at Glutenus Minimus in Belmont much better. We would be hard pressed to return here as the quality of the customer service and the baked good were both very underwhelming. Especially the former. A bad...

Mediocre customer service; person answering the phone needs a psychiatrist urgently.

Ordered a cake for a birthday celebration at work. Order was placed one week in advance with a request to decorate the cake with "Happy birthday, (person's name)!". Minutes after placing the order, I realized that someone else at work was celebrating their birthday in the same week, so I emailed the bakery requesting to amend the cake's decoration with the other person's name.

Six days went by and no reply to my email, not even an acknowledgement that it was received. No one contacted me to schedule a delivery time either. In the afternoon of the day before the delivery date, I called the bakery 5 times and no one picked up. I had given up. Then, a crazy woman calls me back saying that "people under 40 do not take phone calls" and that I should have sent a message to the bakery instead - to which I replied by saying that I emailed 6 days ago. Then, she said that she did not receive my email and started searching her inbox. After a few seconds, she found my email (surprise!) and said she did not reply because there was no question mark! Then, suddenly (possibly after realizing she was not behaving appropriately), she started to apologize and said "the order will be ready tomorrow".

The cake was scheduled to be delivered "before 1 pm" in the next day. Until 11:30 am no one had contacted me and I could not find a number to text in the bakery's website. I could not risk getting murdered over the phone by calling the bakery's phone number again. So I decided to go there and pick it up. I arrived at the bakery at 12 pm and the cake was not even boxed. The employee who talked to me was able to box the cake and I said it was okay to not reimburse me for the delivery charge - after all, it was me who decided to pick it up.

The cake's taste was below average - definitely not worth getting yelled over the phone by a rude and unprofessional person.

If, after reading this very long review, you are still unsure whether you should spend your time and money at this bakery, I would highly recommend that you check their replies to their other 1- and 2-star customer reviews on Google and Facebook - perhaps even their reply to this review. One of those customers getting treated poorly could be you. Stay away from this business and let it disappear...

A Disappointing Experience with an Unyielding Baker I’m sharing this review after attempting to provide constructive feedback privately to the baker, which they dismissed outright. Please read this before deciding to give them your business.

I ordered an eggless chocolate cake for my pre-K son, and here’s my experience:

Mismatched Cake Size: The website states their party cakes feed up to 35 people and costs $170. What I received was a cake that feeds 70 people—a major discrepancy. When I suggested updating the website with accurate information, they pushed back, refusing to acknowledge the issue. Ingredient Concerns: I recommended using aluminum-free baking powder since they claim to be mostly organic, gluten-free, and chemical-free. They dismissed this, saying they use commercial baking powder to keep costs down and then condescendingly “educated” me on commercial baking. They even told me I have no right to suggest how they run their business. Ignored Special Instructions: I requested light frosting in the special instructions because my son doesn’t like too much frosting. Despite this, the cake had about an inch total of frosting across its layers. When I pointed this out, they replied, “If you wanted a cake without frosting, you should’ve ordered a naked cake.” However, their menu offers specialty frosted cakes only, with the exception of specific seasonal naked cakes (e.g., Christmas and Elf cakes). If customization isn’t possible, why have a special instructions section? Pickup Hassle: Picking up the cake was time-consuming and chaotic due to the crowded bakery. The Bottom Line: While the cake tasted good and the quality was decent, the owner’s arrogance and unwillingness to accommodate customers’ needs overshadowed the experience. If you’re okay bending your wishes to fit their rigid approach, feel free to give them your business. But if you value responsiveness and customer care, I’d suggest...