Prantl's Bakery — Restaurant in Pittsburgh

Ok not sure about everything they sell but we went for the burnt almond torte and it did not disappoint. I’m from Pittsburgh but have lived in CA for many years and have heard about this famous dessert. I had a knock off at Giant Eagle once but this is a whole other level. I always though it would be dry from the way it looks on the outside but it has custard in it and is amazing. The clerk said it is best served at room temperature which I would agree. Here’s the story of the torte.

Prantl’s Bakery has been a tradition for decades. A Pittsburgh institution, the bakery is the home of the original Burnt Almond Torte, which was acclaimed by the Huffington Post as “the best cake in America”. In 1970, the torte was conceived by Henry Prantl after attending a national bakers conference, when 13 bakers demonstrated one good item from each of their bakeries. At the demonstration, Prantl took detailed notes when an Anaheim baker demonstrated the Burnt Almond Cake. When he got back to Pittsburgh, he altered the recipe. He changed the sponge cake to a sweet yellow cake and added custard between the layers. He topped the cake with Prantl’s famous buttercream and toasted almonds. (There was an almond surplus the same year and the Almond board was persuading bakers to use almonds in new and inspiring ways). Prantl kept the name of the cake and its square shape as it appears today. Henry and Jane Prantl retired and sold the business in 2007. Today Prantl’s Bakery is continually acclaimed as an iconic bakery by a variety of local and national publications. Offering over 100+ bakery items, the bakery is considered one of the top bakeries in...

The one star that I’m giving this review in no way reflects the employees that work behind the counter at the East Ohio Street location. In fact they were very friendly and helpful. No, the problem is with their management that puts these poor people in the middle of their management’s incompetence. We had an order a week before we were to pick it up at the East Ohio Street location. I also had to prepay for my order, so Prantl’s had my money for a week. When we arrived, the counter person said the truck was late and would arrive later in the day. Fine, we’d call later to make sure the order was ready. We called but without explanation, Prantl’s stated the order quantity would be cut in half. Finally, after we complained, they refunded the amount for the order not completed.

When I got to the store, the refund was not put back into my account and I demanded that they immediately reimburse my account. The counter person was very nice and called the office. After all that pain, my account was reimbursed.

If they had called me and at least given me 24 hours notice, I could have made arrangements elsewhere.

We used to go to the bakery when it was the Priory, but no more. I’m not going to drive to East Ohio Steet. And I’m not going to have someone take my money in advance to promise me a product and not deliver. In my opinion, that’s dishonest. I’ll be telling my friends and family as well.

Just wanted to add to this review. We opened the box of cookies and tried one. Stale. Had to go to Sewickley Ultimate Pastry Shop to get...

This is not a review of the store employees and manager. They were incredibly helpful and did everything they could to assist us with the situation.

I ordered our special event cake over 2 months in advance, paid the same day, and was instructed to arrive at the store at the specified date and time. We arrived to find that the order form had been delivered, but the cake was not made and delivered as promised. The store team working that day were very helpful and tried their best to get us what they could to serve our guests and delivered them to our event location.

I have never had this issue with Prantl's before, including no issues with our wedding cake. We come every year to purchase cake to celebrate our anniversary and this bakery is very special to us, which is in part why we are so disappointed.

It is my understanding that they switched to a central ordering system which is clearly not working. We were told that "checks" will be put into place for this to not happen again, but looking through the other reviews, this doesn't seem to be happening and is a reoccurring issue. Please please please go back to the individual locations handling the ordering and delivery of products.

We did receive a refund for the cake, but this experience was unacceptable. I do not have faith that orders will be handled properly and will not be placing any future special event cake orders. We will be looking for another bakery for our special...