Leila Bakery & Cafe — Restaurant in Dallas

Drove here specifically for the strawberry rhubarb kouign amann. They are delicous. Not too sweet and very flavorful. The lamination for their croissant pastries is a little iffy, though. I say this after having had Village Baking Co's croissant pastries for the past 5 or so years as well as other bake shops.

Loved the peanut butter cookie. Those are hard to find and it wasn't super sweet, which I appreciated.

The cinnamon knots are also nice. I like that I can control the sweetness by choosing to eat some of the topping or not. The bread itself isn't very sweet, which I appreciate.

The turkey croissant was heated but it was too hard to chew through. It felt like chewing through thick paper. They refunded without any problems but they did look at me with bewilderment. They weren't friendly and it made me feel bad. I already felt bad having to return a pastry but being looked at like that just made me feel a bit worse. I'm glad they refunded easily, though. I was nervous about the whole situation.

The customer service overall wasn't very friendly and they engaged more with each other than they did with me. Took a moment for them to initially notice me as well. Once noticed, they serviced my order but didn't share any of the same enthusiasm I initially had prior to returning the croissant.

My visit two weeks ago had different staff that engaged better.

Will definitely be back for the cookie and seasonal kouign amann. I just hope they're a bit nicer the next time or it's the other staff.

Also recommend their black tea and espresso.

I don't know if the automatic tipping is true or not as I wasn't given a receipt or the...

Must share my experience. Ordered a pecan pie for Thanksgiving (wanted to avoid getting one from the grocery store, as those are not great). What caught my interest was the description that theirs wasn't too sweet. Was willing to pay extra for something homemade and special. It was the most expensive pecan pie I ever purchased - $50. I expected it to be worth the price... It most certainly wasn't. In fact, it was the worst I've tried. The crust was too thick, too dry, and there was too much crust and not enough filling. The pie was too sweet and not enough pecans in the filling. Absolutely nothing in that pie cost $50... But the worse yet was the service. The shop turned out to be quite racist. The fact that there was no diversity in the shop wasn't the issue for me. What was the issue is how diversity is treated when it comes to give them business. The shop is small. I was 3rd in line behind a white woman and a white man, waiting to pick up my order I placed over the phone. Cashier was fetching orders one by one. So, I, the foreign looking one, was waiting long enough to be noticed. While I waited, and as my turn was approaching, a white couple came in behind me. As my turn rolls around, the cashier (all store people are white) looks over my head, completely ignoring me, and asks the couple BEHIND me "Can I help you?" I had to wave my arms in the air loudly telling him that I am next. Terrible...

The staff are polite, and I've heard the quiche are good.

Long flowing scarves in food service aren't acceptable. Also, touching your hair repeatedly, and then touching dishes and beverages, isn't okay. I get the whole "laid back" vibe, but hygiene and efficient work are more important.

Pastry selection is overdone. The only unflavored classical pastry is a croissant. Everything else is nutella this, bacon that, lavender etc. Even the kouign aman, a pastry typically known for showcasing the quality of the butter and the skill of the baker, had a rum flavored frangipane in it. Which, rum in a breakfast pastry? Interesting choice.

Perhaps focusing on fundamentals and foundations is a good direction. The places that tend to thrive over long term do simple things really well.

The latte was watery and I wasn't compelled to have more than a sip.

The decor is confusing. There are four sales bays, but they seem to be filled with instagramable junk rather than anything actually for sale. There's also a rather large, almost dancefloor like, area in front of the pastry case, while the tables are squished close together towards the front.

The furniture is hard, flat, and uncomfortable.

This place wasn't terrible, but I would give it a pass when we have places like Boulangerie over on Greenville, staffed by foodservice professionals and bakers...