Clayton's Bakery & Bistro — Restaurant in Coronado

My partner and I travel often, and one thing that makes us happy is to try as many local offerings by small businesses as possible. This both helps us to taste more of what each city or town has to offer, as well as helping support the local economy. That takes me to our awful experience at Clayton’s bakery…

We had just purchased some nitro cold brew coffee from a local place down the street (starts with a T - check my reviews) that we were enjoying very much. After that, we stood in line to order breakfast at Clayton’s. In the middle of our order, the woman behind the counter (short black hair, lots of makeup) asked us if it was to-go. I said we would prefer to sit outside (plenty of open seating available.) She then rudely informed us that we would have to get rid of our completely full cold brews because it was “from another place” and “we also sell coffee.” My partner then offered to ALSO buy their coffee. Another woman behind the counter agreed with her (a manager?) She snarled, “Uhh, you can do that, but you still can’t sit here because you still have THOSE.”

We were in shock and decided to leave, and supported a different bakery that was happy to serve us without that awful mindset. WHY, especially in these difficult times, would neighboring small businesses not want to support each other?? We live in Portland, where small businesses always do just that. Kindness is a virtue, both for individual humans AND for businesses. Not just kindness towards the patrons of your establishment (which should be a given,) but towards other small businesses.

I can’t for the life of me understand why we were snubbed and not allowed to eat at their establishment, even after offering to buy THEIR coffee along with our meals, simply because we also supported another local coffee shop. One that has a unique offering that Clayton’s does not (a selection of nitro cold brews on tap.) Not only is it a waste, but it is a direct insult to the other small business to ask their patrons to throw out product, one they have taken much effort to create. Clayton’s should be ashamed of themselves.

EDIT: Response to the owner’s response below.

That is an asinine response. It had ZERO to do with “safety”, as your barista was perfectly willing to fill a reusable cup with YOUR coffee. Also, their mask was under their nose! Thirdly, as I mentioned, we were hoping to eat outside. They were still willing to sell us food to-go, so what would be the difference if we were only standing there long enough to order either way? I should mention this incident happened late December, before your January closure.

This is not “social media”… it’s a REVIEW site, where people are supposed to relay their TRUE experiences. I relayed what happened, and my review stands. Again, where I live, in Portland, not only is it NOT frowned upon, it’s encouraged! In fact, there’s a pancake place I frequent that literally tells you to grab coffee across the street to support that business, while you wait. And yes, the pancake place also sells coffee. I have not encountered your mindset anywhere else, even in CA. It is NOT impolite. You are only reiterating my point by being defensive and gaslighting me. I’m glad your future patrons will see how you...

French onion soup with No Onion and unmelted cheese :(

I have been wanting to try this place for a while. It looks very cute and French onion soup is my favorite, so I was looking forward to it. We got there 15 minutes before closing and asked if they were OK to serve. They said not a problem, we looked around and there were plenty of people still inside the restaurant so we ordered the French onion soup and sandwiches along with some drinks. The food was OK. The coffee and tea were great.

Because the French onion soup didn’t come with bread (it only comes with thin croutons) I asked the server for a couple of pieces of bread. I saw him grab a whole baguette that was wrapped in plastic and take it to the back. He came back after a bit and said they were all out of bread. I pointed out that I saw him with a whole baguette, and he said “oh, uh well we don’t have a way to slice it our bread slicer is shut off so you can’t have any.”

Are you kidding me, this restaurant/bakery can’t find a knife to slice a piece of bread? Or keep it rustic and just tear a piece off? Lol.

Anyway paid $77 plus 20% tip (at the counter) for a couple of broths with some unmelted cheese and 2 poorly put together croissant sandwiches (delicious croissants by the way!).

2 stars for the croissants and the drinks.

REPLY TO ANDREW: I think you or your staff have me confused with another customer. We never received any bread/baguette at all, I don’t know what “toast points” are, I never asked for more cheese as we didn’t even talk to the chef at all.

I absolutely gave an...

Bakery- This place has the cutest Frenchy pastries! The store is the sister store with the Clayton’s Coffee Shop. The full name is Clayton’s bistro & bakery because they have a bistro restaurant next door. When I stepped into the bakery, I am totally obsessed with the cute decos and pretty pastries. Every single pastry looks like an artwork. Especially the giant macaroons, they are so pretty, I feel bad to bite to break it. Although they look beautiful, they taste awesome as well. The mini carrot cupcake probably one of the best carrot cakes I’ve ever had, the cake itself is so dense and full of ingredients and flavors. I also love the cream puff, the cream inside tastes the right sweetness and super creamy. I can’t wait to come back to try other things. The service is very nice and friendly. Bistro - One of the best breakfast & brunch places in Coronado! The restaurant itself is very pretty, you totally feel like you are not in US but somewhere in Europe when you are inside the bistro. The interior looks very cute and frenchy, feeling relaxed and artsy. The food here is delicious as well, we ordered the croissant sandwich and is absolutely so good, especially the croissant, so well baked! There also so much cheese and meat in it, very big quantity. The salad is very yummy as well. The service is nice too! Very...