Buvette du Marais — Restaurant in Larkspur

Not so much a review as a comment/note. I've visited their other location in Mill Valley and while the lines were long, the pastries were indeed, quite delicious! Tried giving this place a try over the weekend, but much to our dismay, they weren't even open at their stated time of 0800! The reason given was that the "pastries haven't arrived yet". Uh oh. So, they obviously don't bake them on-site, which may be fine and understandable with the equipment availability and set-up of their new location. However, I'm assuming they come from the Mill Valley location a mere 15 minutes down the road and it's not like 0800 is the crack of dawn. What happened to "baker's hours"? Needless to say, we wound up going to Rustic Bakery around the corner which was doing a pretty brisk trade. A walk past Buvette at 0840 also yielded no pastries in sight! We had to catch the 0900 ferry across the street at the terminal, so didn't have time to go to Buvette. I know the place recently opened, so hopefully they can get the kinks ironed out and open earlier, or at least "on time" - with the ferry right across the street and passengers looking for a nice breakfast, they're certainly missing a trick, at least on this particular day.

Update: Well, second attempt was not the charm, at this place, unfortunately, and after all the frustration, I'd say there won't be a third attempt on my part, either. This time, the pastries arrived before opening time, however, they did NOT open on time! Staff was not ready and still putting out signs and cleaning up baker's racks at 0820 after a line had been formed for over a half hour! Kids had to go to the restroom and families were scrambling around the shopping center trying to find a toilet... From the comments of the other patrons, this did NOT seem like an isolated incident. Someone else mentioned how the last time she was here they opened "late" as well. Several folks traveled from out of county and were business owners themselves and interested to check out this new spot and maybe get some inspiration for their new cafe venture - they definitely got some pointers alright - how NOT to run a business. By the time we got inside to say the service was slow is a huge understatement. Very inefficient ordering and serving system and we barely made the 0900 ferry, a short 5 minutes away and we had "to go" orders and opted out of coffees (which were just made on a push-button machine). Save yourself the fuss and go to Rustic or Loveski...

Where do I start 45 mins in and still no sight of food. 55 mins and still no food. We checked on the order and was totally ignored by the busk staff. Manager finally advised sorry but we seemed to have missed your order, and we have run out of veggie quiche. But we will find one ! Quiche finally arrived. (Minus 1/3 of it) Cold completely cold. Possibly straight out of where ever they found it. Maybe they ran down to rustic bakery. It was completely cold. I then went in and requested could they re heat it up. Only to see the chef take the quiche off the plate and and use a dirty dish cloth to wipe down my plate. Manager comes over I inform here Of the situation. I request a new plate with a hot quiche and salad. 1.20 mins in now to the order. Quiche arrives, same cold quiche now with burnt top, base crust is and interior quiche cold. Totally gave up and ate the Salad.

So disappointed by this place. The service the lack of hygiene in the food prep…. Perhaps a visit from health and food officer may be helpful!

A place that is so busy should have well trained staff to support it and if you cannot fulfill your orders you should not Be taking orders and expecting your clientele to wait min of 45 mins -1.20hr to eat.

They did try to appease by providing a bunch of pastries but that is not...

After several visits, I’ve decided that this establishment is not a place I will patronize again.

The service is consistently disappointing. On my first visit, I ordered a matcha latte and a crêpe. After waiting at the counter for about five minutes, I noticed my matcha latte had been prepared, but it sat unattended on the counter for an additional 10–15 minutes while the staff seemed disorganized and overwhelmed. By the time I received my drink, it was watered down and completely unappetizing.

During my second visit, the café was incredibly busy, with a line of about 15 people on a random weekday. The wait was long, and when I finally reached the register, the barista offered me a free pastry. I politely declined due to dietary restrictions, and her response was shockingly rude—she snatched the pastry back, scoffed, and then ignored me for several minutes before begrudgingly returning to take my order. This behavior was uncalled for and unprofessional.

Unfortunately, the food and drinks are just as disappointing as the service—underwhelming and poorly prepared. At this point, I see no reason to return. The lack of basic customer service and care is unacceptable, and I would not recommend this...