Peninsula Pastries — Restaurant in Palm Springs

Sorry to say this was a very disappointing spot for pastries. I was visiting Palm Springs with some girlfriends and we decided to check this spot out. About an hour walk each way, we figured we'd "earn" all the croissants.

When we got to Peninsula Pastries, there was a fairly long line (due to Covid social distancing). That's the main reason for this review. We waited in line for close to 30 minutes before rushed in by the owner.

At first, we thought we found a truly authentic place, as the owner had a charming French accent and was clearly from France. I quickly noticed the parties were far larger than I imagined, which I remember made me pause. When checking out, the cashier made a mistake and instead of charging us $28.00, she charged us $0.28. The cashier went to tell the owner and was berated in return. We were all so uncomfortable as the owner completely admonished this middle-aged woman for making such a small mistake. I was in true disbelief at the unprofessionalism the owner displayed, in front of customers, no less, as if she was making an example out of her. I kept telling both of them it's completely fine you don't even have to void the transaction just move on but the owner kept going. At this point I wish we hadn't gotten any pastries.

We walked back and tried the pastries. What a disappointment. These tasted so bland and lacked any real flavor. The fragrant, flakey crunch we were yearning for - not there.

All in all, this was a very sad experience and I feel truly bad for the staff here. Plenty of other choices in downtown Palm Springs with...

Okay so listen. Huge pastry fan here. Willing to wait in line for a great croissant. Always rooting for a French bakery. Aaaand we were so disappointed.

We showed up about 9am and waited 30 mins. Ordered a croissant, pain au raisin, kouign amman and an épi baguette with butter. The owner was perfectly normal (though she was a bit snippy with a lady a few people ahead of us). We took the pastries to the park to enjoy and… we couldn’t eat more than a bite of each. It pains me to say: they were genuinely bad. The croissant was so dry as to be inedible - I think overbaked. The pain au raisin had zero flake, I think it was literally “bread with raisins” which tasted straight of a Sunmaid box. And the kouign amman was burnt sugar that we had to crunch through only to find equally burnt pastry underneath.

Two stars because the baguette was decent! Probably not something I’d pay $8 for again, because that’s a lot of money for a half baguette, but we ate most of it for breakfast (since we couldn’t get through anything else).

Lastly, the line. Like I said, aaalways happy to wait in a line for something truly yummy. This line is not because there are so many patrons; it’s because the owner is the only person working the front. A local kid helping to bag pastries would move this along so much faster. And we spent $45 for three pastries, a baguette, and a drip coffee so like… she can probably afford a $20/hour right-hand in the front to keep the line reasonable.

Anyway TLDR: maybe we caught the bakery on a bad day - but we wouldn’t go back to give it a...

I was a regular customer from when they first opened and the pastries were excellent but I could never get used to the rudeness of the owner. Loud, pushy, demanding and always made me feel ill at ease. The final straw was when I went in and ordered a baguette and croissant...my usual Saturday morning treat. On this day there was an elderly lady helping behind the counter. I told her what I wanted and then stepped back from the counter because I know how the owner demands that you don;'t get near her glass. When I saw my order was ready I approached the counter and gave my credit card to the owner as she was ringing it up. I noticed that my two bags didn't look like they had what I ordered in them so I reached for one of the bags and she instantly smacked my hand, hard. then she proceeded to reprimand me for touching the bags on the counter. I was incensed but didn't want to make a scene with others there...but this was "the last straw from this witch" I thought to myself. I left, tossed the two bags into my car and drove home. When I got there I discovered that the bags did NOT have what I ordered. the baguette was just a roll. I knew the bag was too small and that was why I reached for it, to be sure. So I paid for a loaf of bread and got a dinner roll instead and a slap on the hand as well. I never returned and never will... she's rude, angry, caustic and makes customers feel unwelcome. I can spend my money at any of the many...