Hilton Head Social Bakery — Restaurant in Hilton Head Island

We were so in Aw that we forgot to take photos! Ok let me begin with this…. It’s not a bakery you can drive up to and park, get out and go in to get your yummies. I read reviews about people being upset that it was hard to find. Once you know your way around it’s easy peezy. This wonderful little bakery is in the shelter cove marina shopping area. If you are not familiar with the area I will try to help you out. There is a nice sized parking lot just near the shelter cove marina shopping area. You park there. Not in parking meant for the condos. There are signs to not park there. I want to say you can park in the lot to the right when you turn off 278. Walk to the shops from the lot. Just have a blast looking around at the beauty. This bad boy is in the building closer to HH Disney’s little bridge/walkway. We walked right past it and didn’t realize it. So look for Scott’s Fish market restaurant and this place is right next door. It had a steady flow of customers the entire three hours we were walking around. We finally made our way in and the wait was about 5-10 minutes. We had no clue how long we were waiting because when we walked it I think we got sucked into a different world. My 14 year old son fell in love the moment he stepped foot inside. There is a magic here. Can’t explain it. Just walk in and enjoy it. My son said it was cozy. Coffee and food what more do you need? Poor husband stood in line while the son and I drooled over the pastries. The crew working were so cute. They looked so busy but they kept their positive happy attitude. Seriously these two were working it. One man was going in and out dropping orders off outside and whipping up those drinks. For two people they had their work cut out for them. This could easily be the job of four people. So have some grace when you stop in. They are working. If your order gets jacked up remember the grace because clearly it is by accident. Yes, whoever orders may have to pay attention for your order to be ready. They don’t collect names here. It’s not Starbucks. It may seem unorganized but it’s working for them. Just stay calm. Now to the pastries. They are not exactly what you expect but I say this in an interesting way. I don’t want to spoil it but you might have an idea of what your beautiful pastry is going to taste like and then the pastry tricks you. They are not your plan old regular pastry. They have magic. The coffee… it’s coffee. Similar to the Starbucks but better. After you get your chow walk around or sit outside their shop. We cannot wait to go back. We lived here almost ten years and 9 18 2023 was out...

We arrived at the bakery when it first opened and there was already a line. If this happens to you, don't panic! Take some time to enjoy the view of the marina and know that the treats you get will be worth the wait. We sampled a variety of treats from the Hilton Head Social Bakery and while they were all amazing I am going to focus the majority of this review on the Almond Croissant. The almond croissant was truly incredible and something I will dream about for months. The pastry was crispy and flaky and was elevated by the amazing almond filling. The almond filling was butter but still carried the almond flavor. I can only describe it as some of the best butter you have ever had enhanced with almond essence. (If they sold this filling in a jar I would buy it all up). The almonds on top of the croissant were nicely toasted and brought another layer of warmth and crunchy to the dish. All the croissants we tasted were amazingly crispy and light and the fillings were delicious. The chocolate pistachio croissant was full of filling and I loved the combination of sweet chocolate and salty pistachios. The pastry to filling ratio is the best I have ever experienced in a croissant. You won't have that moment where you bite into a croissant and have to check to make sure you didn't get a plain one. My recommendation is to get the almond croissant and another treat as well so you can appreciate the artistry and flavors that go into the Social...

Terrible disappointment! We were thrilled to find the bakery last week and felt terrible that they opened the week before the hurricane. We tried several case pastries which were fair so we had high hopes that Pierre and his team would turn out a good birthday cake. He assured my husband that he was friends with Francois Payard our favorite French pastry shop in Manhattan.

We were assured that they could make any cake but didn't get any direction toward their specialties. I had shared that a cassatta cake was my husbands favorite but didn't get a positive response so we ordered a standard 6" white cake with pastry cream and raspberries in a vanilla buttercream (surprisingly this was a $45 cake)

I picked up the cake ~2:45 on 12/27 my husbands birthday and noticed that the box felt damp but I dismissed it as moisture from the cooler. When I opened the cake to serve I noticed that it was indeed wet inside the box and when we cut the cake it also was wet. We tasted the cake which I still hoped would be salvageable but it was surprisingly tasteless and visibly wet - I could only presume that it had sat in a wet tray in the cooler or had been somehow frozen and reconstituted in a pathetic manner. I will try to upload photos

I brought the cake to Pierre the following day to alert him to the problem. He asserted that the sponge was intentionally soaked in syrup and was indeed as they intended to prepare the cake.

I...