Au Levain Bakery & Cafe — Restaurant in Lake View Township

I think the cafe portion of the business is fine, but the bakery/online cake pre-order seems to have significant issues. I had read poor reviews about what sounds like a disastrous Mother’s Day experience for many who had pre-ordered cakes for that day, but I had chalked it up to simply being unprepared for the high volume of demand for that day. Surely a cake pre-ordered well in advance of a random Friday morning would be no problem, right? I got confirmation that my pre-ordered cake would be ready at 10am and received multiple reminders including 24 hours before. I parked right outside just after 10 and let the staff know I was there to pick up the cake. While I am standing there waiting I get a text saying “Hello this is au levain bakery, unfortunately your cake won’t be available today, apologies for the inconvenience. We could offer a full refund or have it ready for you tomorrow morning.” This cake was for a birthday this day! Just like the impacted Mother’s Day customers said in their reviews: That was it. No offer of an alternative. No effort to make it right. No consideration for the fact that this was not just any order, but part of a family celebration for a significant holiday. As a result, just hours before the planned birthday celebration I was left scrambling to find a replacement — a frustrating and entirely avoidable situation. The lack of communication, accountability, and care for customer experience was deeply disappointing. I expected better. I strongly recommend they drop the pre-order portion of their business as they are clearly...

This was my 1st visit, so I couldn't reasonably critique the environment. This space is clean & well laid out. The service was hardly welcoming or enthusiastic. I have to say the options were very limited in terms of quality. The cinnamon rolls were way overbaked with most of the icing flaked off & probably should not have been for sale @ $8. The 2 types of baguettes they were displaying were equally as disappointing as they were overvalued by their creator ($12) Underproofed with an ugly hardened matte crust & also not worthy of selling The best bakers and chefs dont put out product unless it truly meets a standard of excellence that represents both the heart of the artist and the mission of the business. The big surprise was the pastries wich were super flaky, buttery & delicious. Unfortunately, that's a very narrow window of success. This place really resonates as another niche storefront operation that truly understands they're catering to a higher income demographic & can charge accordingly if not exorbitantly to justify operating in an affluent zip code. Sometimes, you actually have to reach high-end artistry vs. looking like it. This place seems to be experimenting more than executing. There's plenty of great bakeries in this town that charge steeply for their artistry, this is not one...

We come here every other week, if not once a week and love it. Their breakfast sandwich and French toast are fantastic. The sandwich has caramelized onions on it that really brings the whole sandwich together. Their pastries are fantastic as well with the pistachio escargot being a household favorite. The only pastry I wouldn’t get again would be the cookie croissant, but only because it was too sweet for my personal taste. I recommend going on the earlier side because it’s a neighborhood favorite and they usually sell out of the really good pastries early. We haven’t gotten any of their lattes, but their specialty Au Levain Sparrow coffee has to be some of my favorite coffee in the city. And lastly, the staff is great. I’m not sure what time of day or how busy it has been when people have gone and haven’t found the staff to be kind or welcoming. Every time we have gone in we are usually greeted, they wait quietly as you look over the selection, but that’s how most bakeries are. The older gentleman usually plates the pastries and prepares the black coffees as the younger gentleman takes the order and checks customers out. The staff have also allowed me to take pictures inside their shop and will have polite conversation even. And upon leaving we have always heard them say thank...