La Bonne Bouchée Patisserie & Cafe — Restaurant in Creve Coeur

I’m seriously frustrated with my experience at La Bonne Bouchée Patisserie & Cafe. My wife and I went in with high hopes, expecting a cozy spot to enjoy some coffee and pastries, but what we got instead was a total disaster.

We stood around for nearly 20 minutes just to place an order. TWENTY MINUTES. I get it, places can get busy, but this was ridiculous. The pastries in the display looked great, but looks were definitely deceiving.

When we got to the section for crepes and coffee, things went from bad to worse. The guy working there some dude with tattoos on his arm could not have looked more disinterested if he tried. His attitude was downright awful. No greeting, no effort, nothing. It felt like he was doing us a favor by even being there.

We ordered a London Fog, I know it’s not very common. But while we were giving him directions, we had to explain it to him four different times, it felt like as if the guy did NOT care at all. He wasn’t acting like he couldn’t care less. No smile, no acknowledgment, just pure indifference.

And then there was the situation at the pastry counter. I was waiting patiently in line when a lady cut right in front of me. Instead of the worker pointing out that I was next, they went ahead and served her. Not the end of the world, sure, but it definitely felt off. The whole interaction left a bad taste in my mouth.

Speaking of bad taste, let’s talk about the actual pastries. I ordered a Sacher Torte, expecting a rich, flavorful cake. What I got instead was a dry, stale piece of cake that tasted like it had been sitting out for days. It was genuinely disappointing.

All in all, this place was a letdown from start to finish. Poor service, lackluster pastries, and a vibe that made us feel unwelcome. I wouldn’t recommend wasting your time or money here. Honestly, this place gives French pastries a bad name. Lord forgive, but if a real French pastry chef flew in from France and saw this, they’d probably have a heart attack on the spot!

Rating: 1/5 — Just...

I would do La Bonne Bouchee again and again for our wedding. For years my dad has raved about their cake, and my dad walks out of his favorite movie saying "Yeah that was ok". For him to rave about anything, I had to try their cake. That said, I will continue using them through the years, they were amazing. The cake was perfect, it tasted amazing and was beautiful! Huge compliments on that. My favorite part is they don't charge extra because it's a "wedding" cake. It's the same price as any other cake you'd order for 150 people to them! It was outstanding!

They baked our wedding cake on Mother's Day weekend, which is of course a challenge, but it didn't come with too many problems. I can say, if you're going to use them, make sure to call ahead and schedule an appointment with the pastry chef. This place is, apparently, very well known for how good their cake/pastries are. They're -always- busy, we stopped in at like 2:30PM on a Thursday and it was so packed we had to come back another time. That does make them slightly less flexible and slightly harder to get a hold of, but when I called to schedule an appointment everything went much more smoothly.

At our appointment the pastry chef did a great job of explaining options and was all ears on what we wanted with our cake. We were in and out in probably 20 minutes with our cake on order and paid for. Our cake was beautiful, and best of all, it tasted -great-.

The only issue we ran into was on picking up the cake. At first they couldn't find it I guess? It was the day before Mother's Day, so some confusion is understandable, but it definitely gave us a scare. Luckily they finally located it and it got to the venue in plenty of time. They did have a delivery option, but with the venue being close we decided we would just pick it up.

It was perfect all around. I would...

It's time for counter service (for food, not bakery), guys... you cannot handle table service with the staff you have! We waited at the "Please wait to be seated" sign for at least 10-15 minutes. After about five my husband asked a passing waitress (very courteously might I add), who we should talk to about being seated (note: we were the first party of two waiting, another was behind us and an additional party of five was behind them... all crammed into the cramped waiting area). A very rude and less than courteous waitress (who thank God did not serve us), snipped back at him "we're doing the best we can, we don't have a hostess or bussers, so all of this is up to us." I think all-in all we waited for at least 20 minutes standing in the "foyer" as we waited to be seated outside. We had plenty to look at... all of the empty tables had mounds of dirty dishes waiting for someone to deal with them. The establishment has a lovely patio with plenty of shady options, and we were seated with a great view of the musicians who were excellent. I'm giving the establishment a "2" because the waitress we received was wonderful... kind, communicative and knowledgeable. Our very small iced tea glasses never went empty, which is a gauge we use to rate our server. The food was fine... nothing to go back for, but served old-school style. Maybe they'd be able to keep up if they didn't use quite so many "formal" dishes for very informal meals. Anyway, I feel for the staff as much like everywhere else, they do not have the personnel on site that they need to keep the place running well. However, don't take it out on the customer. We will not be back anytime soon, which is unfortunate because that patio is...