Salted Butter Company — Restaurant in Pasadena

Stopped by The Salted Butter Company on California & Fair Oaks across from Huntington Hospital. Staff were friendly and smiley, and the space itself was clean, hence the 2 stars.

Unfortunately, my experience fell short in several key areas:

Pastries

By the time I arrived (before 12pm), all baked goods were already sold out. While it’s a great sign that demand is strong, as a first-time guest, not being able to try the items you’re known for makes me hesitant to return, especially if this happens often. I also noticed a few guests before me leaving disappointed when they learned there were no pastries left. That’s not just a loss in sales, but also a missed opportunity for word-of-mouth marketing and customer loyalty. If this is a recurring issue (as Yelp reviews suggest), it would be wise to raise par levels so guests throughout your full operating hours (until 2pm) can actually try what you specialize in.

Drinks •Iced Cloud Matcha: Grainy texture, tasted mostly like milk. The foam was nice, but overall it didn’t do the matcha justice. •Salted Brown Butter Maple: I ordered it iced but received it hot. Even then, it wasn’t served hot, more like room temperature. The flavor leaned heavily toward plain milk and coffee, with very little maple or brown butter coming through. Don’t be afraid to turn up the flavor profile here.

Food

The cashier recommended a sandwich (I believe it was the Vodka Parm). I appreciate the upsell, but if you’re going to stand behind a product, it should represent the pride of the kitchen. Unfortunately, the sandwich was less than room temperature and soggy. Sitting in the dining room, I also noticed pre-assembled sandwiches left out, with flies landing on them. This not only affects food quality but also creates a negative perception for guests.

Suggestion: Ditch the preassembled approach. A made-to-order sandwich with hot, crispy chicken, warm vodka sauce, and freshly toasted bread would have elevated the experience significantly.

Overall: Friendly staff and a clean space are a good start, but execution on food and beverage quality needs attention. The pastry shortages, underwhelming drinks, and pre-made soggy sandwiches make it hard to justify a return visit, especially when Pasadena has so many strong options. Again, Good luck and congratulations, guys! I hope you guys take this in...

Was driving by probably a month ago when I noticed the red sign hanging outside. Didn't take long before my IG feed was full of influencers posting pics and videos. Was nearby on a Wednesday and decided to check it out around 9:30. I do like the location as they have an ample amount of parking next door. Was a bit surprised as I didn't see a line and just walked right in. There are 2 benches inside which people just sit and talk. First thing I noticed was how loud it was inside, not from music or the staff but the women sitting and talking on the bench. Then noticed the display case was pretty much empty minus a few ham and cheese croissants and their apple fritter croissant. The lady at the front did say that there were items coming out at 10 but wasn't sure what was currently baking. Decided to just order those 2 pastries and wait it out since it was less than 20 minutes. As the time got closer to 10, more and more people started to come and the line began forming. Was able to get most of the pastries I wanted to try minus the chocolate croissant.

Ham and cheese croissant - wasn't huge fan of this one as I really couldn't taste much of the ham nor the cheese. Would definitely give the nod to the one at CAR.

Butter croissant - the croissant was flakey and light but didn't have a real strong butter flavor. Again would give the nod to the one at CAR.

Cinnamon roll - loved this pastry and way better than what I had at BadAshBakes. Really love the frosting on this one.

Spinach and artichoke dip danish - loved the danish but found the spinach and artichoke dip to be a bit too salty. The danish was super flakey.

Apple fritter croissant - all of my friends know I love apple fritters especially the ones at Goody's. This croissant was still warm by the time I got home and was amazing. Wife did think it was a tad bit too sweet but I thought it was perfect.

Would definitely head back to Salted Butter in the future once the hype dies down and once they figure out a way to keep the pastries in stock throughout the day.

Staff was friendly and kept thanking everyone for being patient as they are still in the soft...

I’ve seen so many photos and videos of Salted Butter Company I had to try it! While the croissants and drinks were amazing, the customer service and overall operations were lacking. I know they are a new business and still getting their footing, but this was my experience.

When I arrived there was a line and I waited for about 20 minutes. As we neared the front of the line and entered the shop they let us know that they were sold out of pastries and it would be another 15 minutes for new ones to come out. I assumed this meant we could still order but would have to wait, but no. When we got up to the pastry case they told us we could only purchase what was out (plain croissants) and we had until we got to the register to add to our order if they put anything else out (they put out 1 batch of danishes). I placed my drink order, purchased a danish and sat to wait for my drink to be prepared.

Immediately after checking out and sitting down they filled almost the entire pasty case. 😂 I unfortunately did not get to try or purchase/try any of the pastries I wanted to and in order to purchase, I would have to go to the back of the line, and hope there were better options after another 20 minutes. This just seemed so strange and disorganized, I felt like I was playing the pastry lottery and unfortunately did not win. 💀

That being said, my strawberry matcha was great!! So was the danish, but I would have had a better overall experience if I had more options!

Overall the lack of organization is the reason the line is so slow moving, because people are hoping they will put out more options before they get to checkout. It could be helpful to maybe hold the line while the pastry case gets filled, or allow people to order and have their name called when it’s ready. The workers seemed a little irritated that they were being asked for items that were not available, but I can’t blame them as I’m sure being asked the same question over and over...