L'Etoile Patisserie — Restaurant in Huntsville

Yall please don't come for me but...I'm not sure I get it?

This French pastry shop opened up a few years ago after the owner served goods for several years from his house. I've followed loosely since the early days and have always been impressed by the beauty and diversity of the products, and I am pleased that this business has found a permanent brick and mortar home. It's clear that it's very, very popular, as they still sell out of product many days of the week even several years in. This business is veteran-owned as well.

However, I've now tried this place 3 times and I just have not been a huge fan of the pastries themselves on any visit. I've held off on writing a review for years because I thought it was something wrong with me or I just got unlucky, but I suppose I have to face the music eventually, lol.

Pros: the inside is beautiful! There's not a ton of seating but it's neat as a pin and nicely designed. There's more seating on the patio.

Unlike some of the other less positive reviews, 2/3 visits I had lovely interactions with the employees! This most recent visit in particular, the young man working was very friendly and upbeat. My very first visit I remember the staff being a little standoffish, but that was way back when the business first opened and I'm sure opening jitters were still going on.

This time, I came with a friend from out of town to catch up before he needed to head back home. We arrived about 2 hours before closing; they were down to 2-3 items each for about 2-3 different types of pastry. My friend just got a coffee; I ordered an almond croissant to eat while we sat, and a chocolate torsades (chocolate puff pastry twist) for later. Of note, the coffee menu is very basic and purist here -- you won't be finding seasonal specials or syrups, just cappuccinos, espresso shots, etc. A little disappointing for me personally but nothing wrong with it inherently.

I've had their almond croissant before and didn't love it; I just ordered it again because it was available and generally a favorite of mine. They seem to make theirs by slicing a croissant open and then filling it with almond...something. It's very thin, almost like a glaze. I prefer my almond croissants to have the frangipane baked inside, and also for it to be thicker and more custardy. Idk which way is the "right" way, but this is just my preference. The flakiness factor was good, though parts of the pastry were a little dry.

The chocolate torsades I split with my husband for dessert later. It was also just okay. Lacking chocolate for my preference; also, a lot of the chocolate that it did have was still in the form of very tiny chocolate chips that hadn't melted into the pastry and created a sort of hard/almost pebble-y texture when bitten into. Again, I may be speaking in ignorance as perhaps this is how it is supposed to be served; however, this was my genuine feeling about it.

All the pastries I've had have been executed adequately, but I just haven't been quite as wowed as many others. This could certainly just be a tastes/preferences thing and I definitely encourage you to give this business a try and form your own opinions about it...

Well, I have been to this Patisserie four times in the past. Obviously, I enjoyed it because I kept returning. But it has been just over a year since my last visit. Boy, what a disappointing change over a year. It was clean and warm and welcoming upon entering. Which awards it a five star for atmosphere. We walked to the pastry case and were shocked to see how small the pastries have shrunk!! Like, what happened? Did someone eat the other half? However, the prices were still the same, my goodness. I ordered a small cappuccino along with an almond croissant pastry. Geez, last time my almond pastry FILLED the plate, end to end. But now sadly, it barely filled half the plate. Second order was a large latte and what I would now call a mini lemon pound cake. And I do mean mini. Two bites is all it takes. My cappuccino did not even fill up to the halfway mark of my cup. Last year, my cappuccino filled my cup. Same with the latte. This was a very disappointing and costly mini treat. I will not be returning. I can pay the same price and get a bigger bang for my bucks with another good coffee shop down the street in either direction. Nothing tasted bad. It is just that there was not much to taste at all. I can no longer highly recommend this place without a word of warning. You will pay a high price for very little enjoyment. Hence, I only give it three stars for...

So this was our fourth try at L'Etoile. We live here and really want to love it, so we keep trying. We won't be back, unless we order one or two specific items ahead of time, for pick up. The good: The chocolate croissants were great, and the Kouign-Amann was genuinely delicious. They are good enough that we would definitely order hem to take home in the future! The bad: The customer service. Every time we have come to L'Etoile, we have had lousy customer service from the person manning the register. I mean, just a complete lack of common courtesy. The coffee. I get it, this is not a coffee place, but the coffee is uniquely bad. Every baked good that is NOT a pastry dough based item - I think we have tried a wide variety, and each time the only things we do not have to throw away are the pastry dough based goods. The atmosphere - it LOOKS so cute, but if you are trying to have a conversation with someone inside the shop, give it up, because it isn't going to happen. The outside tables probably lend themselves better for chatting with someone, but there are not many of these. It is so unfortunate that the customer service is not good, because even with the middling baked goods, we would still bring out of town guests there, because there really isn't anyplace else in Huntsville to go for this...