Magnol French Baking — Restaurant in Houston

Magnol is located in the middle of nowhere. Drive slow so that you won’t miss the turn (which I did miss a turn, and I had to make a big u-turn). There is plenty of parking. Many customers do grab-and-go, so finding a parking spot won’t be an issue.

I came on Friday morning (9am), and they had already sold out the almond croissants. But they still had plenty of pastries, bread, plain and chocolate croissants. There was a little of wait (15mins) but I was fine with it because good things come to people who wait. The lady who served me was very friendly and cheerful. I had one of each pastry displayed in the case. I also bought two chocolate croissants, two plain croissants, linzer cookie, chocolate chip cookie, canelé de Bordeaux, and a cup of chai latte (non-coffee).

The croissants were DELICIOUS! They had the 3Fs - flaky, fluffy, fragrant. Thank goodness they bake many of them! The linzer cookie was soft and crumbly. The jam in the middle wasn’t sweet. The chocolate chip cookie was soft and chewy, and wasn’t too sweet. The chocolate chips were miniature sized, and they were perfect in the mouth. The cannelé de Bordeaux was super soft in the middle, and crisp on the outside. Yummy! The pastries I got were Mille Feuille, green apple cake, chocolate eclair, lemon tart, lemon raspberry roll, opera cake, Paris-Brest, and religieuse. Puff pastry of the Mille Feuille was airy, light, flaky, and fragrant. The pastry cream in between had the right sweetness. The green apple cake was tart and had very strong green apple taste. Yum! The chocolate eclair shell was soft, and filled with vanilla bean cream. It was not overly sweet. The lemon tart had a delicious lemon curd inside which was sour, but balanced well with the sweet cream on top. The tart shell was perfectly baked. The lemon raspberry roll was good. It could have more sponge though. The opera cake was rich. The chocolate and coffee tastes were distinct in the layers. Delicious! The Paris-Brest was so good. The choux pastry was baked just right, and praline cream was smooth and had the right sweetness. Lastly, the choux buns of the religieuse were soft, and both were filled with chocolate cream. The chocolate cream was rich and tasted good.

I finished the chai latte at the outdoor seating area while enjoying the beautiful weather. The chai was prominent in the drink. I couldn’t stop at just one sip. There are about 5 tables outside the bakery, and 3 small tables inside the bakery. Thus plenty of seats for customers to enjoy their pastries/bread/coffee etc. I will definitely be...

This is my favorite baker that keep telling all my friends about. BUT, the service is just so slow! Today I went there, and there was just 3 people ahead of me, and it took 12 minutes to get my order! If you go on a weekend, there is always a line and it takes at least 30 minutes to get served (if you go around 8 am, you might even wait for 50 minutes or more). Before I explain the reasons, I want to write this message to the owner: For the love of GOD, can you make more almond croissants??? You always run out of them after an hour, why not just make more of those, instead of lets say plain ones??

And now let me explain the reasons why there is always a line: 1- They are highly disorganized: There is always few people who runs around and looks confused, and on top of that, there is not even enough workers to handle this many of customers.

2- The online order thing: They are getting online orders (not same day, for the next day(!)) and there are always 1-2 people who are preparing these online orders - which adds up to lack of personnel. Why don't these online orders are prepared in the back, instead of in the front, where actual people are waiting to place orders? Because this way, there can be more people in the front, without getting interrupted by the servers running around for online orders.

3- So here is the layout for you Magnol: 3 people getting orders in the front, 1 person is assisting them with the drink orders 2 people preparing online orders in the back

4- So, overall, they have a big management issue. Its like a good product without...

It’s time to edit my original review (July 2023). Magnol has grown since my initial feedback and they have improved their processes A LOT! Things run much smoother, orders aren’t forgotten anymore, and there is always a big line at the front on weekend, proof of their excellent pastries and bread!

Original review: Don’t get me wrong Magnol is an amazing bakery. By far The best in Houston in my opinion; however their internal logistics / communication need a lot of work. They do a good job with off the counter pastries/bread but you should not rely on them for custom orders; they will let you down. If you check other reviews, you will see that my bad experience isn’t unusual with pre-orders.

We discovered Magnol over 2 years ago when they were just starting and have been getting pastries from them several times a week ever since. The reason for the bad review has nothing to do with the food and everything to do with customer service. It’s the second time now that we order a birthday cake and our order gets lost in translation. The first time, the chef still honored our order; probably because it was already paid for, but the second time we were told 2 days before that the order would not be fulfilled and to walk away. This happened despite us confirming the order in person twice and placing it 3 weeks in advance because of our previous similar experience. Clearly they lack professionalism...