Beard Papa's — Restaurant in Spokane Valley

TLDR: Great food, better people 😊

I have been to Beard Papa's Spokane at least 6 times now, and it has been an absolute delight every single time. One of the owners, Mark, came into my place of work to introduce himself to everyone at the front and hand out some business cards. I went in for my first time, weeks later, and he remembered me! Him and his wonderful family have not only remembered my name every time I come in, but have been so kind and polite and just all around wonderful.

The customer service is 10/10. It takes a few minutes, but the outcome is always so worth it. Please note: THIS IS NOT A FAST FOOD EXPERIENCE. They don't have everything put together ahead of time to put in bags and send you on your way. They actually fill, and sometimes glaze, your creampuff fresh EVERY time. As a foodie, I really appreciate what this does for the overall creampuff experience. Nothing can get soggy this way! And the mark of a good creampuff (besides taste) is always the crunch of the shell and the texture of the cream. You're getting the best of both worlds here at Beard Papas. Don't get me wrong though, they're incredibly fast at what they do.

The food is also a 10/10 IMO. The creampuffs are always so amazingly light and sweet, while not being an overwhelming sugar bomb like most pastries in the U.S.. There's a great selection of year-round flavors, as well as a flavor of the month! I try to come at least once a month for that exact reason. The flavors even match up perfectly with the season. June's flavor was Passion Peach and tasted like the BEST peach ring I've ever had in creampuff form.

Atmosphere? ALSO 10/10 for a clean sweep. There's a really cute wall of their logo in all kinds of colors that makes for a great photo op. They also have little claw machines for $1 a play that have the cutest key chains and mini prizes that rotate sometimes. And everything is always SO CLEAN.

I really want to reiterate though that it is the staff that make the trip to Beard Papas worth it. I brought my fiance in for the first time today. I've mentioned him many times before and even gotten take-away for him from B.P.. Mr. Mark and his lovely wife were kind enough to remember that his favorite filling was matcha and suggested tasting a sample of his wife's favorite pairing; Dulche de leche with matcha filling. He was so moved by their service, hospitality, and generosity that he plans on buying more ASAP to spread the word to...

UPDATE: The service is still mind numbingly slow. No urgency at all by employees. It's like watching people work in slowmo. I am seriously concerned they might be drugged out. They will continuously take orders while not fulfilling the ones they have already taken, then mosey around instead of doing the work. Expect to wait 20 to 30 minutes for even one or two puffs. God forbid someone orders anything other than a puff because a single drink order will take an employee over five minutes in the backroom. They have had NINE months to figure this out. I have no idea how nobody in these reviews is mentioning this.

Something is very wrong with the order fulfillment process. There are tons of already-made puffs on the counter but nobody seems to be getting their orders from them. It is minutes between orders being handed out, even simple ones of only 3 or 4. They seem to be custom-making every order which takes a very long time. The lines and wait would not be so long if they used the common practice "first in first out" like every other food establishment.

EDIT: The bottleneck is due to the blue-ponytailed girl who is filling the puffs very slowly. It takes her about 15-20 seconds to fill one puff while the other employee does about 3 in that time. There are only 2 fillers and most of the time the blue-haired girl is the only one filling.

It took me nearly an hour to get 3 cream puffs; I was about the 6th group in line when I entered it.

The shop should be prefilling puffs to combat this, and have someone with a little sense of urgency at the filling station, or rotate employees if their arms get tired.

On top of this, the puffs are nothing special. They taste fine but are overcooked so they are all crunch and have...

10.13.24: We had to come back after trying Beard Papa's for the first time back in September for a Yelp event. I'm all about consistency and our first time in was so great that I wanted to try it again to make sure it wasn't a hit or miss kinda place.

Well let me tell you, the consistency of Beard Papa's cream puffs are definitely there and so is Mark's excellent customer service and attitude. The woman who also works there (wife maybe? I don't want to assume ) is really nice and friendly too. The store is really clean, which is an inviting plus.

This time around as a dine-in treat, we ordered the Purple Oreo (Oreo custard filling w/ ube and Oreo topping), Churro w/ horchata custard filling, and Cereal filled w/ frozen mango custard. As a take home, we ordered a half dozen of the classic puffs with vanilla custard. My friend also keeps ordering this Oreo custard shake that he says is thick and delicious lasts the entire hour ride home.

I love how you can make your own unique custom cream puff that would suit even the people on the pickier side. I enjoy trying the flavors of the month and they're all so different too, not too mention really flavorful. If you love tropical flavors, then the frozen mango custard is worth the try. The purple Oreo is a great catch for Halloween month. The subtlety of the ube mixed with the Oreo makes for a perfect sweet chocolatey goodness. I was surprised with the Churro horchata because I thought the horchata would be more on the plain side. I was totally wrong and the horchata had a great cinnamon and nutmeg flavor combo.

We come to town about once a month and Beard Papa's is a place I look forward to stopping at every time! Fyi, they have...