ValSof bakery — Restaurant in Sandy

I bring all this up not to decrease your rating--as a fan, I want you in business for a really long time--but to offer a bit of (hopefully) constructive criticism. (For context, I'm originally from Colombia.)

You get high marks for your service. Everyone I speak with is courteous and helpful. But I had to take a star off because the quality and flavor of your foods has been lacking recently. (For more context, we've only had your sweet and savory pastries.)

At our most recent visit, we bought some Almond Croissants, a Tres Leches, a Choco Flan, an Hojaldre de Guava & Cheese, and a Milhojas. In the past we've also bought a Roscón, some Merengues, and some almojabanas, among others.

Your Almond Croissants used to be soft, moist, and very almond-y. They were perhaps our favorite thing to eat there. The ones we just bought were instead very dry, felt stale, and had a paltry amount of sweet almond paste. (See picture.) Moreover, they no longer tasted as much like almond; they were mostly hard bread. I spat the couple of bites I had because I didn't want to eat merely bread and threw away the rest. Please go back to the old ones; these new ones resemble those at Paris Baguette and they’re not good.

Your Tres Leches tasted nothing like what a TL should taste like, and I know because it's not only my favorite dessert.. but also because I can make a mean one (I don't b/c I often want a couple of bites rather than a whole cake), your former TLs didn't taste anything like your new one IIRC, and the ones made at the two Hispanic bakeries right by you DO taste right. For some reason, your most recent TL tastes like anise, which I find disgusting. Your anise cookies are at least clearly labeled so one knows what to expect flavor-wise (and not buy them), but to add anise (or anything besides the usual “tres leches") to a TL and not label it as such is sacrilege. Ours went to the trash as well.

Then there’s your flan. Though your brownie reminds me very much of Colombian brownies, why anyone would add a brownie to a flan is beyond me. Flans don’t need much else, esp. Colombian flans! Colombian desserts are notorious for being scrumptiously simple; less is more. We know to quit while we’re ahead instead of making things ostigantes or too sweet. American desserts, OTOH, are famously over-the-top. I really think you should sell your brownies separately and your flans separately.. like your neighbor to the South.

Your Hojaldre de Guava & Cheese and your Roscon de Guava both need WAY more guava and to be fresher/less dry and stale. They had very little filling and the cheese was already hard. The custard in your Milhojas is tasteless, its hojaldre stale and chewy rather than brittle and easy to bite off. Its whipped cream is actually sweet but without the arequipe, the whole slice is just underwhelming. (Since you like offering French pastries, consider getting inspired by a popular local French bakery.) Your almojabanas are also saltier and harder than they should be.

I’ve asked what the best times to come in where and she said mornings, but that’s not always true considering (1) we’ve been there some mornings and have found near-empty displays, but on some afternoons the displays have been full.. and (2) some things don’t feel fresh; they feel and taste like they’ve been there since at least the previous night.

Please consider improving the quality, taste, genuineness, and freshness of your offerings. One of your neighbors charges more for its offerings, but at least they taste accurate and worth...

We used to love coming here but we are not coming back after our last experience. My wife ordered a Calentado, which in the menu said it was beans, rice, egg and arepa. Since she does not eat beef or pork, that seemed to be one of the few options. The beans and rice came with chunks of pork, when she asked them if they could change the dish, they just said it was not possible, that any Colombian would have known that calentado comes with pork. She is not colombian, and me being colombian, can tell that chunks of pork is not a norm. They made my wife feel so guilty about not liking pork, and even the manager just said that it is the way it is, and that they are not going to offer any solution, that it was my wife’s fault for not asking, even though the menu did not say anything about chunks of pork. We didn’t need a refund. It was never about the money. It was about acknowledging a customers concern about menu items that were not clear. Anyway, I hope one day they can understand that they are in America, so customer service should be held at the...

We came for my husband's birthday, he was so excited to come eat some Colombian food. I ordered a plate which was not supposed to have pork. The menu only says beans, rice eggs and arepa. I asked if they could give me something else instead and they blame it on me, that the way they cook beans in Colombia is with pork and it was my responsibility to ask if I have any dietary restrictions. When I said the menu should say that it has pork the owner told me that I can't tell her how to write her menu, she was offended. We had come so many times before and loved this bakery but I never expected even the owners and employees to be like that, I was so frustrated no one understood my point. I had never been to a place where they treated me like this. I told them to just take the money and we were going to leave, at the end they gave us...