La Boulangerie Marguerite — Restaurant in Saint Paul

I unfortunately had a really terrible experience here recently. I ordered four dozen items, five days in advance, to have for a post-wedding brunch. I confirmed several times over the phone when I ordered what I wanted and also paid in advance (a substantial amount). When I went to pick up the order as scheduled, nothing was ready. There was confusion amongst the staff when I arrived, I was asked my name several times for them to go back-and-forth to look for the order, and nothing could be found. I waited several minutes. They showed me an invoice they had for my order, which was incorrect, but despite even having the invoice at their shop nothing at all could be found for me. Staff called their manager, and I had to leave because I was short on time, had people arriving at my home and expected my order to be ready as scheduled. I get a call forty minutes after I was supposed to pick up my original order and was told that they were going to throw something together for me. Since it was last minute, I did not get specific items that I had ordered five days prior and had to settle with items they had in stock that morning.

Then comes the terrible customer service with the whole ordeal. I spoke with the manager, Deb, earlier the next week about my issue and experience. After explaining the situation and how frustrating it was, I was told she could offer me a $15 gift card for my partner and I to "come in for a couple pastries and a coffee." I said that wasn't a very good resolution given the circumstances and the huge error that was made. Deb told me she would contact me "in a couple days" to let me know what they could do, as she had to talk to her manager about it. I told Deb via text later that day I thought a refund of some sort would be more appropriate. Three, four and five days go by. Finally, after nearly a week, I reached back out to Deb asking for an update, since I hadn't heard anything from her, and that I would like to resolve this issue. Again, I was told they could do nothing more than offer a $15 gift card or $15 refund on the order.

The lack of basic customer service was extremely aggravating for us. We used to go to La Boulangerie Marguerite often and were planning on making future orders with them; however, the utter lack of importance they put into my issue and the bare minimum resolution to try to keep us customers after their significant error has caused them to lose our business. I guarantee they have lost out much more than $15 of our future business, and they would have been able to keep us as continued customers if they made us feel a little more valued given their mistake, especially when none of it was our fault.

I would be HIGHLY cautious in placing orders with...

What a disappointing experience we had here! This is the new NE location we decided to try out. Long-time NE residents, we decided to check out the new French bakery. My husband is also an amateur baker& has made his own starter from scratch& his bread is really good! His rounds come out with a nice crust, lots of air pockets & a very springy interior. But sometimes, keeping a starter going is a pain, so he was interested in maybe getting a starter from a bakery. We called a NE bakery& they said they would sell him some, but he thought he might see if Marguerite’s might have some for sale. So we walked in, checked out their bread& pastries in the case, they looked good! We were planning on buying a round& maybe a pastry, so we asked the counter person if we could get some starter. He was confused& said “I have no idea,” and I suggested he ask someone. One of the owners was sitting at a table& I smiled& waved& he walked over to her& asked& she said no. That’s all cool, because I can understand if bakery’s don’t want to sell starter, it is their business after all, tho we buy plenty of artisan bread from different places, Eastside Co-op being one. Then their “marketing manager” came over to the counter to help the counter person deal with us I guess, tho we were very pleasant& had already picked out a round of bread & a scone to buy. We asked her about the starter & she was very cool about the whole thing, not friendly at all& so we left with the bread& the scone. The counter person wasn’t very good at customer service either, not giving us a smile or enthusiastic greeting on arrival& being very lackluster after our transaction. They also have the tip option on check-out& I tipped 15%, which was more than they deserved. Overall, not a friendly place at all! Then the bread: no wonder they don’t sell starter, because their bread didn’t have any natural leavening &wasn’t very good at all! It was “sourdough” and it tasted like sourdough, but the interior was dry& dense& there was no springiness. A little crust but that didn’t help this bread. The scone was decent, but you can get those anywhere-Sarah Janes bakery NE, makes a better one. The round of bread was 6.75, so save your money& go to the Co-op, and get good artisan bread for cheaper! Could almost overlook the mediocre bread, and come in again& try something else, but with the horrible customer service, we won’t be back! I can’t see this...

I live in the area and love that I can walk here, but I think the invisible hand is going to be the death of this place, the baked goods are fine (not the best you’ve ever had, but good)…don’t get me wrong. However the service is slow due to understaffing (and the owners are no where in sight during the busiest time supporting staff???) and you can’t buy a baguette at “La Boulangerie” on a Saturday…what? How can this possibly be? And it wasn’t a sold out situation, I asked are you out already…no, we don’t have them on Saturday.

I hope they succeed, I really do - we need a neighborhood bakery & I like supporting local, but I’m not going to support local if they don’t put out a good product with good service. I’m guessing the wholesale business is paying the bills, so the retail operation is left to its own demise. The unfortunate part is they aren’t likely taking into account the overhead it covers and the fact you retail side is a HUGE marketing arm that fuels your brand. Small business is hard, I know…I run one, but please jump on these little things before they get you in the end & for the love of god go help your staff during what appears to be your busiest time (according to google) - your surrounding neighborhood customers are getting frustrated.

I also know us small businesses live & die on google reviews, if it changes…I’ll happily & with excitement change my review! ...