Companion Bakeshop Westside Santa Cruz — Restaurant in Santa Cruz

Ouch!

I came in here for my first time today because of the write up in Good Times, and unfortunately had a negative experience.

I ordered a latte and few baked items. The woman who checked me out was very friendly. After waiting almost 10 minutes for my coffee I finally walked up, and asked about my coffee. At first they told me I had to wait my turn (10 minutes seemed like a fair amount of time to wait for a coffee drink..), then the woman helping the barista discovered my drink had long ago been taken by someone else. So she told the barista to make me another latte. I waited another couple minutes, and finally got my latte. THEY NEED TO WRITE PEOPLES NAMES on the to go cups.

The first thing I noticed as soon as the barista handed me the coffee, was that it was lukewarm. I was irritated but decided to not say anything. At this point I was at over 15 minutes for waiting for a cup of coffee, and just wanted to try my pastries with the coffee.

Well the latte was horrible. It was super bitter, the foam was non existent, it was lukewarm. I was pretty dissapointed. I walked back up to the barista and requested a Chai instead of Latte. She told me, "No, I am sorry we don't remake coffees for people." She was pretty rude about it, and I think she saw how shocked I was by her response. So she then said maybe... the almond milk was weird, and that if I didn't mind going to the back of the coffee line (really, should bring my hammock the next time I come for my coffee?), she would make me another in a few minutes. I politely said I would wait another 10 minutes if need be... Who screws up your coffee twice, and then makes you wait at the end of the line a third time. Horrible customer service.

5 minutes passed, then 10. When I walked back up to check again she gave me a rude look. At that point I walked away gathered my things and walked back up and asked for a refund. I belive the woman who helped me was a floor manager?? She was polite and asked what had happened, I didn't give her the scoop because there was a line out the door. I didn't want to be rude and hold it up. When she gave me a refund though she accidentally shorted me .50 cents.

No the .50 cents wasn't a huge issue, but when you add up the whole experience it wasn't at all the fun outing I had planned for my friday morning. I was really excited about this place, what a let down.

This review was more based on a very poor customer service from the barista. The baked good were pretty decent. The barista however needs some grooming. She couldn't make a proper foam, she didn't know how to pack the portafilter, she didn't fill the portafilter up all the way to the line with the espresso, the temperature of the coffee was totally off. It was the worst coffee I have ever had honestly.

The coffee making and attitude of this employee left a bad taste in my mouth this morning. Please get her some more training. $13 bucks and 35 minutes is to much headache for a horrible latte and 2 pastries.

I am not sure if I will come back here again, which is a bummer. I was looking for a regular spot. This place might have good baked goods, but if the customer service is bad that...

Found this place because we were planning a trip to the natural bridges beach. I was impressed by the amount of items on their menu and fairly cheap prices, compared to places like Manresa and Verve.

Came at around 1pm on a Friday and there was just a few people waiting, but nothing too long. Many items were marked as sold out, which should have been an indicator that what was left wasn’t very good...Person at the front was pleasant and we got our food in less than 10 min.

We ordered their veggie sandwich, everything pinwheel, lemon tea cake and simple bread. I enjoyed the everything pinwheel, however the staff didn’t seem to know what cheese was in it, which was a little disappointing. My partner had the veggie sandwich and said it was extremely bland and there wasn’t enough of anything to really add flavor to the sandwich. Then the tea cake—looked good, tasted awful. It was a dry brick with a bitter aftertaste. My guess is they got too much of the pith from the lemon when zesting. Lastly, the simple bread is just a basic sourdough loaf. Compared to the one we get at Manresa, this one is small and definitely not worth $7 when you can get one twice at big at Manresa for $8. Crust wasn’t as thick which was nice but the bread lacked salt, so it was a little flavorless.

Parking lot is very small and awkward to get in and out, so I suggest you just...

Don’t get me wrong — I LOVE Companion bread. But that’s the problem. I live in the San Lorenzo Valley, so the only way to get the bread is to either drive to Santa Cruz, or, during the summer and early fall months, get it at the farmers market. However, Companion cares so very little for the San Lorenzo Valley folks that if you do not get the the farmers market early, they sell out. Today they were out of Fluffy White, the only thing I can eat since I’m on a low potassium diet, at 2:30! Companion has expanded to south county too, but has completely ignored their neighbors in the San Lorenzo Valley. The other thing is that the bread, purchased at the farmers market, dries out very quickly. However, if you buy it at one of their retail outlets, like Whole Foods, it is wrapped in a plastic (I know…) bag and lasts really, really well. I can, and will, order Manresa bread from Locale. Same price, but wrapped in plastic and delivered. Early on, I donated to their go-fund-me for a new oven, so feel really bummed out at their disregard for people wanting good bread in the San...