Sunflour Baking Company: Dilworth Bakery — Restaurant in Charlotte

The Bad: We'll cut to the chase here. The East Blvd location is NOT practicing social distancing. I went yesterday (Sunday) morning as a treat for my boyfriend's birthday. It was around 9 AM. Objectively and most likely the busiest time for the bakery, I'll give them that, but when we drove into the parking lot we saw a line almost out of the door and people waiting around inside. I told my boyfriend we could order online instead and just go in briefly to pick up the order, to avoid as much contact as we could. We made the order at 9:28, and the online service said it would be ready at 9:48, so we sat in the car for a while. At 9:50, I headed inside by myself to pick everything up. First, the online order pickup table is to the right of the main counter, which is also the direction that the line snakes around, meaning I would have had to be within 6 feet of at least 5 people just to get my order. I asked the cashier if she could snag it for me, and she went over to grab it. (The front of house staff were great throughout this experience, and this review is not a reflection on them.) I had ordered two breakfast sandwiches, two iced drinks and a croissant. Everything was ready but the breakfast sandwiches; there seemed to be some confusion between two front of house staff members about where the sandwiches were. It took an extra 30 minutes for the sandwiches to be ready.

Look, I get it. It's a busy Sunday morning, and you're wide open. Normally I'm a patient person. But my whole point of ordering online was to avoid standing in your store, where there are no markings on the floor to keep people spaced or a capacity sign on the front door. The line looked like any normal slammed pre-COVID bakery on a Sunday morning. People were not spaced out. And there I was stuck waiting for 30 extra minutes in that environment, constantly trying to move position to have the most amount of people away from me and HIGHLY uncomfortable the whole time. By the time I got the sandwiches my iced drinks were watered down and I was ready to write this review, but I did want to hold off as I hadn't tried the food yet. We got home (5 minute drive) and realized the sandwiches themselves were lukewarm as well. This only further added to irritation-- if the sandwiches had been done for a while, why did I sit in there for 30 minutes? Between the in-the-car waiting period and in the bakery itself, it took almost an hour for my online order to be done. If it was going to take that long, I would have rather waited at home and quickly picked up instead of putting myself in a potentially dangerous exposure situation.

In short-- guys, this virus is scary. Regardless of your views, it is real and terrifying to some people. It was an abstract concept at the beginning and is becoming more real as people I know post about contracting the virus themselves, and as the Carolinas reach insane peaks. We try to be careful while still supporting local, because we know it's tough and we want you to make it through this, but at least hold up to the option of staying safe if you're going to provide online ordering. I won't be coming back until the worst of COVID-19 is over, and I'm really sad to say that.

The Good: That being said, the food was delicious. Again, I'm a big Amelie's fan, but Sunflour just does it....better. You won't find as many options as far as actual sweets go, because Sunflour is a bakery first and foremost, but they've got it figured out. The breakfast sandwiches were HUGE. I had a bacon, egg, and cheese on a croissant and my boyfriend had the mozz tomato and spinach on a cheese biscuit. I was so jealous of that cheese biscuit, but the croissant was crazy buttery and flakey. The drinks didn't necessarily thrill us, but I suspect it was because they were pretty watery by the time we got to enjoy them. I got a chocolate croissant to go for the next morning's breakfast, and I can't say enough good things about it as well.

I'm sorry, Sunflour. But do better, for the people who love to support you and for...

I was underwhelmed. My daughter and I stopped in yesterday for something sweet and a little decadent. I ordered the zucchini brownie and a sweet potato/peanut butter cookie that was not described well after asking twice what it was but I love sweet potato and peanut butter so figured it couldn't be bad. My daughter had the croissant and a hot chocolate. The brownie had potential but my scratch made flourless brownies taste better from home. The cookie had things in it that made me not finish (again it was not described well from the beginning), the taste was okay but I do not have to have either again. My daughter is a hot chocolate connoisseur and she disclosed it was not great. BUT the croissant was good...but you can get a good croissant most anywhere.

The service was even less thrilling than what we ordered. The two girls working weren't rude per se but sometimes great service makes you overlook the places where there is lack. The bites and the hot chocolate were better than the service. Maybe they were having a bad day but I did not feel any hospitality or level of friendliness that I expect from a neighborhood bakery...maybe it's because we don't live in that neighborhood ...I don't know but I don't have to ever return. Glad so many folks love it. I guess it's a matter of taste and "taste". I would like to give them a try for a sandwich and perhaps they can redeem themselves with the flavor part...I will order online to keep my interaction with staff to a minimum to avoid another underwhelming customer service experience.

I have traveled the world and love local spots with good food and good service. Didn't...

Overhyped and underwhelming. I wanted to like Sunflour Baking, I really did, but after numerous sub-sub-sub par experiences I’ve given them their last chance. Service at the Dilworth location is consistently slow and the young staff they have in the front of house give off an apathetic vibe. This has clearly been reflected in the quality and timeliness of every experience I’ve had there. On one a occasion, we placed a pickup order which took an additional 40 minutes to receive past the initial 25 minute wait time we were given on the website. Over an hour for 2 breakfast sandwiches?! Every time we’d go to the counter to check on the status of the order we were told just a couple more minutes - meanwhile our coffees were ready but NOT given to us, only to get cold while they sat on the counter for nearly an hour. Another time I came shortly after opening when there was no wait but it still took nearly 30 minutes for a single breakfast sandwich to come out correctly (an incorrect order was given to me after about 12-15 minutes) and when I got home with it the bread seemed stale and inedible. I don’t mind waiting for a quality, made-to-order product, but all of our orders here have left something to be desired and certainly have not been worth the painful wait times and...