Continental Bakery — Restaurant in Mountain Brook

I’ve been coming here for years. The best sourdough in the world! I spend a good deal of money here almost monthly.

The only reason it’s not 5 stars was from what happened today.

I ordered a loaf to pickup at pepper place, and was given the wrong item. No big deal, mistakes happen. However, I’m a good 40min commute from the bakery, so I had to drive all the way back there when I was very busy today to begin with. Over the phone I was offered a gift certificate for the trouble, which is a lovely offer and good customer service, I happily accepted this and felt good about knowing that my business and my time, was valued, since I had to drive out there again to make the exchange.

Well, when I get there the older woman working was incredibly rude and literally rolled her eyes at me as if the mixup was my fault. I brought back all the items that they gave me by mistake, unopened. She willingly took them back, and handed me the order I was supposed to have received this morning, and then waved me out of the bakery.

When I asked about the gift certificate she said she knew nothing about that so I had to talk to the girl I spoke to on the phone. She then tells me that the gift certificate no longer applied since I picked up my original order.

So, needless to say, I felt pretty stupid going all the way over there on my own time when I already went to the market earlier today, returned the items I was given by mistake (which were actually worth more than what I had ordered, now I feel like I should have just kept them), and walked out with just a “whoops, sorry, you can go now”.

This experience makes me pretty sad because I’ve loved this place, and I’ve been coming here regularly since I moved to AL 5 years ago, and I always bring my family when they come to visit. This place is very special to me, and it sucks feeling undervalued as a...

Since this is one of my favorite bakeries I feel some type of way making this post. I have to say first though, I have loved this bakery since the first day I tasted some of the delicious baked goods. The almond croissants and the French donuts are divine. I have taken several friends here, well the ones I know would appreciate the flavors that this bakery can produce. Well, I went this morning and this was the second time that I received a cinnamon roll that I believe should have been thrown out. I was more so disappointed because I brought a good friend with me this morning who had never been here or heard of the bakery. The last time I ended up throwing the cinnamon roll away and unfortunately, this time I had to as well. I do not want to take away from the wonderful experiences that I have had from Continental and I hope this is not becoming a consistent issue with the freshness. I remember going to get some shortbread cookies for a friend's birthday and I mentioned it to the young lady assisting me. I wondered why it was taking so long to get the cookies but she had taken the cookies and boxed them with beautiful ribbons and everything. That was priceless. And I appreciate that. I love supporting local. We try to do that with all of our purchases with local places. So again, I am not happy to say this but I am starting to become less and less encouraged to make a purchase. Also, the past two times the customer service has not been what I was used to. I know we are going through some terrible times right now and we can get tired. However, it's the customer service and delicious goods that kept me coming back. To slack on both leaves a less desire and probability of returning and even less of suggesting to friends.

Re: I would be more than happy to speak with you regarding the matter. And thank you for offering the...

What a complete waste of money. For me, it’s one thing for a bakery to not have items that are very tasty, but it’s a whole different ballpark when the people that work there lie to you and tell you that it’s homemade and you can tell it’s clearly not. Me and my partner purchased several items. Two shortbread cookies, one persimmon pastry, two macaroons, and a slice of pecan pie. Everything was so nasty. I threw it all away. I’m concerned that this place is selling old pastries and desserts because nothing tasted fresh. I consider myself a macaroon connoisseur and was excited to try these as they have a variety of flavors. The minute I took a bite into it I could tell that they were not made here. The filling was extremely hard and was not soft and fluffy like a macaroon is supposed to be but hard and chewy. Moving on the shortbread cookies tasted like flour and dough that’s it. They must be some type of diabetic cookies because they weren’t sweet at all. Next up the pecan pie was just absolutely dreadful. This is the season to be making fresh pies, such as pecan pie, and this wasn’t fresh at all. The fill didn’t hold at all. It was just a liquid gooey mess and taste like butterscotch. There’s so many places here in Birmingham with potential, but they don’t want to keep up with quality so I have a one and done policy with places like this. No need to post pictures other than the one below. Everything else is in the trash where it belongs. Save your money! These one star reviews do not lie, I’m not the only one that shared some of the same thoughts...