Yalaha Bakery — Restaurant in Florida

We have been loyal customers of Yalaha Bakery since we moved to The Villages approximately 7 years ago. We usually go there for bread and pastries, and every once in a while have lunch there. We have seen the quality and the value go down slightly over the last few years. We recently have had two back-to-back negative experiences with the bakery, and one very bad experience with the owner, Ann Marie. Several weeks ago, we pre-ordered and pre-paid for a bread order. We arrived at the bakery, where there was a long line of customers waiting and one employee working the counter. After a long while, a second employee finally showed up to help. When it was finally our turn, we asked for our order. At first, she could not find it, then finally did. The bread was not sliced (we had requested the loaves to be sliced). The young lady helping us out (we later found out from her co-worker that she was new) could not figure out how to slice the bread. Her co-worker finally assisted. When she brought it back, we realized only one of the three loaves were sliced. It took her approximately another five minutes to slice the other two loaves. The whole experience to pick up three orders of pre-paid breads took over 20 minutes. This week, we ordered and prepaid for three sourdough garlic breads. It took over eight minutes (I timed it from when I realized the order was taking a long time) to place the order. The young lady on the phone was having a very difficult time understanding my very simple order, and an equally difficult time writing down my credit card information. We went by the next day and picked up our order. I soon realized the bread we had received did not have the usual garlic flavor, but I figured it may just be my taste buds. My wife also noticed the same. I called my daughter, the recipient of one of the other loaves, and she too said hers did not have the usual garlic flavor. The third loaf went to a neighbor that had never experienced Yalaha, so they would not know the difference. What really makes this a horrible experience is how the owner, Ann Marie, handled this when I called to let them know of my experience. A lady answered the phone, I asked for Ann Marie (I was told earlier by another employee that she was the “manager” but was busy and that I had to call back). The lady who answered asked me what I wanted and I told her I would like to speak with Ann Marie. She again asked me what I wanted and why I was calling. I explained I was a customer and wanted to tell the manager about my two recent experiences. The lady on the phone finally told me she was Ann Marie, the owner. From the time she answered the phone, she was rude and seemed annoyed. Without getting into every detail of the conversation, she told me I should have known better because the regular sourdough is round, the garlic flavor is oval (I guess I was supposed to know that?). She also told me I only had four hours, per the receipt, to return the bread if I had a problem (I ordered and paid via phone, never received a receipt ). I have been on the receiving end of bad customer service, but never from the owner of an establishment. I did not call to ask for a refund or any type of compensation, I called to tell the manager/owner of an establishment I patronize that they may have a problem. I was planning on ordering from them again on Monday, and was just hoping that someone would tell their employees that they need to be a little more careful when filling orders. I have never dealt with someone as rude and unaccommodating as Ann Marie. After reading other reviews, I see I am far from the only customer that has experienced her rudeness and lack of customer service skills. Yalaha Bakery has lost another...

I've been here a couple of times with my wife, and she's brought home pastries and delicious treats on several occasions. Today we stopped to grab a few things to take home and there was a customer at the counter complaining about an order she'd received the day prior that was incorrect, and making quite a scene about it. Our server was taking our order and I asked which was better, the chocolate chip cookie or the oatmeal cookie, to which she replied chocolate chip and I said "give me one of each". She grabbed a chocolate chip but I didn't see her grab an oatmeal so I asked her if she put the oatmeal cookie in, to which she replied yes.

At checkout the other customer was still going off on the other employee behind the counter. The employee would not provide her own name nor the name of the owner, which I thought was ridiculous, but this customer was really persistent and loud. We checked out and my wife told the other customer that she was unnecessarily causing a scene and making the other customers uncomfortable, which caused her to leave as we were.

Imagine my chagrin when I got home and opened the box to find no oatmeal cookie! Given the loud customer was complaining about an order being incorrect, I surmised that attention to detail isn't a strong-point for management and wanted to call and inform them they owed me an oatmeal cookie.

I was speaking with one of the staff and related the interaction I'd had with the server that prepped our order and asked that they make a note so the next time I was in they could provide me my cookie. The employee on the phone stopped talking to me and began speaking with someone else, then asked for the last 4 digits of my credit card so they could pull up my order. I wasn't charged for the cookie, because the server didn't listen to my request nor my double-check with her about "one of each".

I asked to speak to the manager as I was making no progress with the lady on the phone and was handed over to a rude woman with a German accent, presumably the owner. She told me I had received what I paid for and that she would not give me an oatmeal cookie on my next visit. I started to speak and she proceeded to speak over me and was rude in her tone. I listened to her again and told her that she should ensure her staff pays better attention to customer orders...I mean the loud lady was complaining about the very same thing I was...and that arguing over an issue where a customer's experience was very obviously poor was probably not worth the 25 cents it cost her to make a cookie she sells for $3.

Great German bakery with a horrible owner and staff that can't properly handle customer interactions, and would rather hold onto a quarter...

Have you ever wondered what German pastry heaven would look like? Well, look no further, Yalaha Bakery is what you've been dreaming of!

My husband and I have been searching for a German bakery since we both have a sweet tooth for baked goodies. He's been telling me about how legendary German goulash tastes since before we got married (it's been a few years now 🤣) and the Yalaha Bakery menu mentioned seasonal soup including goulash so of course we had to stop here. We visited on a rainy Wednesday afternoon around 4:45 pm.

This place has modest architecture and a small parking lot, but don't let that fool you since as soon as you open the door, there are 4 glorious levels of tasty treats under a refrigerated glass display and fresh bread in shelves behind the counter. There were about 4 customers in the shop and a few others that came in while we were ordering. Everything looked so delectable, so it was hard to choose from the huge variety!

Our bakery order ended up being quite large, so I'm glad my husband brought the cooler with him. We got 1 rhubarb pie (for a gift), 1 rhubarb streusel (another gift), 1 apple streusel, 1 German apple pie, 1 tiramisu, 2 lavender shortbread cookies, 1 eclair, 1 cream horn, 1 Brazilian caramel bar, 4 pretzel rolls, and 4 large pretzels. There might be a few other things as well. The order was about $125 with tip. Excellent customer service by the counter girl, and she was very patient while we were deciding on things.

After we packed our pastries in the cooler, we went back to check out the deli section. They had a lot of German deli items to choose from, but what I was really interested in was the goulash.

The very kind counter lady (possibly the owner?) took my order, and I couldn't have asked for a heartier, soul-warming soup for about $6. The meat was cooked to soft perfection. The veggies (peppers, tomato, and potato if I recall correctly) melted away while you sipped the soup that tasted like it was made by your favorite extra-skilled German grandma. I was in stew heaven. Of course, I shared a few spoonfuls with my husband, and it was gone in a few minutes.

All in all, we discovered that Yalaha Bakery is a hidden gem 💎 in Yalaha, FL. If you love bakeries and handmade treats like we do, this is a great place to visit. Prepare your bank account to splurge on pastries, artisan German bread, and remember to stop by the deli! We'll be back again next time we're in the area on one of our road...