Hold The Wheat — Restaurant in Saint Louis Park

My son and I visited Hold The Wheat on April 16, around 9 AM, this was a Saturday. My son has autism, and there was no issues with him walking around and flipping the light switch even if I tried to stop him from doing both.

First impression, there is little parking, so you may have to make a few U-turns or walk to get in the store. The store was busy. Most of the gluten-free bakeries I've visited only had 1 or 2 people in front of me. The store was clean with a sitting area outside and in the side room. There is a bathroom at this location.

I did not have any of the drinks. I did buy an organic apple juice for my son from their cooler. I also didn't have everything they had to offer, as they were already selling out by the time I arrived.

List of Items that I did try this visit:

Vanilla Spencer Cake - This was fantastic, tasted and texture of a real cake. Wasn't overpowering sweet - I will be buying a lot more of these in the future.

Lemon Bar - I did like this one; however, my son didn't care of this one too much. It had a nice lemon favor but can be overpowering for kids.

Sausage Snuggle Pies - I didn't care for these as much as I thought I would. They were still good, just not my thing. If I had to pinpoint the why, I would say that it a little too flaky for my taste. If the pastry had been softer, then I would have most likely like it better.

Caramelized Onion pie - I tried this not sure what to expect from it. It was okay in my opinion; however, my son LOVE it. It had a sweet onion taste with cheese. I think my son like the fact that it was easy for him to handle without it being messy, autism thing.

As I was leaving, they had told out of everything except three trays in the display. This tells me that if you want your pick of goodies, you should be there at opening. This just be the reason why they sell coffee as well.

Overall, I don't have anything really bad to say about this place. I will be back with a few considerations, maybe without my son so it is easier for me to wait in...

Hold the Wheat is a dream come true for the celiac community in the twin cities. Delicious gluten-free pastries AND a cute aesthetic? It's hard to ask for more, especially when people who must eschew gluten are so desperate for quality baked goods that gf places can coast along on having gluten-free foods without having an attractive look worthy of Instagram.

But while the aesthetic (pink and orange, vintage mixed with modern) is adorable and appreciated, it's the pastries that have us driving back here all the way from St. Paul regularly (getting up early on the weekend even!). The Spencer cakes are about the size of a hostess cupcake and they are always moist and delicious, no matter the flavor. (They also stay good for a few days after you bring them home.) HTW seems to usually have chocolate, lemon, and "celebration" cake flavors on any given day, but they frequently come out with new and exciting ones. They advertise their new, limited time flavors on their Instagram account, and they seem to sell out quickly. I really hope they will permanently add a Nutella cake to the rotation. I can't help but imagine it would be a unique draw.

They also make tarts and hand pies, both sweet and savory, and the savory, breakfast flavors are particularly good. The crust is flaky and scrumptious. They also have personal sized quiches (like pizza hut's personal pan pizzas back in the day) and those are also great. The only things I haven't tried there are the beverages and the cookies. My husband says the beverages are good, but neither of us has tried the cookies because why eat cookies when there are pastries available? Gf cookies are easier to find, so less exciting to try.

My only complaints at this time about Hold the Wheat are that they seem to sell out too quickly of their products (get there right at opening if you have your heart set on something), and they don't have a phone number listed anywhere. Also, this is not a complaint, but they really should add the Nutella cake to...

Definitely will be coming back here. The breakfast items - breakfast skillet fancy pie and sausage item - very flakey and delicious!!! I’ve yet to find a GF biscuit type item that was flakey and they nailed it! The Spencer cakes are amazing if not only for one reason….they don’t fall apart!!!! If you’ve been GF for any time you know this is a huge win. But for real, I had the cookie butter and it aaa exceptional. The coffee cake was my only “disappointment” just didn’t hit the mark when compared to non GF items. Missed the marbling and crumbly topping. BUT it didn’t fall apart and was still good. Just didn’t taste like a classic coffee cake.

Staff was delightful!!! So upbeat and friendly. Kind and gentle with my special needs child. Very patient. Very sweet

I love their unique items. Puts a fun spin on what you’d find elsewhere. But In the future I hope to see a few more classic items, like donuts and cinnamon roles, mixed in occasionally. I haven’t found a bakery that does those items well GF. So I’d love to see a bakery who has nailed it on other items give it a shot. If you mastered the cinnamon roll or donut I’d be a serious regular 😂

I laughed as I read some of the lowest reviews. The biggest complaint they have is that things run out 🤷🏼‍♀️ I mean some of the best restaurants and bakeries sell out quickly. So I take it as a good sign. We went at 9am and had full selection. Early bird always gets the worm when it comes...