Ones Cafe & Bakery — Restaurant in Castro Valley

This is an amazing cafe/viennoiserie. It’s small and unassuming, in a non trendy location. If it was in SF, lines will be out the door. For me, it blew Tartine out of the water. Food reviews are subjective in its nature and although some might disagree with that, you will know immediately this place is serious about their craft.

Orange and vanilla lattes are amazing. Regular latte is also very rich and dense in the best way possible. Orange latte is out sometimes, but I highly recommend you come back and try it.

I tried several pastries here and all were buttery, flaky, luxurious goodness. Black sesame Onigiri and strawberry moon were excellent. I thought there weren’t a lot of chocolate in chocolate croissant but somehow it was right amount once I tasted it. It’s also relaxing to watch barista going through rituals of espresso making without rush you see in most coffee shops.

I’m kinda impressed about this place. I was excited to come and try and it exceeded my expectations. I come here...

Love this place. My favorite spot for coffee and pastries. I love their egg tart and black sesame latte, those are my favorites! Even at full sweetness level, the black sesame latte is not too sweet, remains well balanced does not distract from the yummy, nutty sesame flavor. All of their pastries are perfectly fluffy, not to oily or heavy and give a satisfying crunch.

They have sweet and savory pastry options. None of the pastries taste too sweet. It is really well balanced. There is something for everyone. Even the drink menu contains caffeine free options and tea, so there is a little something for everyone. My favorite spot in the bay.

There is a window bench where you can sit and wait on your order inside. Outside has more seating for those who want to...

Nice to find a place with quality savory pastries! Interesting options like the lemongrass croissant and pastrami stick.

Beware though if you opt to have a pastry warmed up: they will not set your paid order aside, they will sell it. Saw this happen in front of us, to us and to people behind us while waiting. Boyfriend ask what happened when he picked up our order & received a blank stare in response. He was so pissed he had one bite of the substitute pastry (which he did not order or want!) before he was done in irritation. Literally left a bad taste in his mouth. I was hungry so I ate mine, lol. They weren’t bad either!

A bit a bummer that we didn’t get what we paid for. Geez, the crowd here was downright suburban...