Corner Bakery Cafe — Restaurant in Tukwila

Disclaimer: I am very partial to truly great food from passionate chefs and tend to rate aggressively; however Corner Bakery Cafe is a chain shop and needs to be rated appropriately: compared to similar chain shops. This breakfast and sandwich chain handles itself with aplomb. It excels at being what it is, and competed very well with Panera (I found this experience superior) as the quality of the food surprised me. That said, be warned - the coffee does not inspire here.

Very clean, very sharp, exactly what I'd like from a fast-casual stop. I was tempted by the pancakes but decided against - I worried that they would turn out processed and rubbery like a high-rent take on a McDonald's breakfast platter. I completely misplaced my concern, as several nearby customers were plated with beautiful hot cakes that appeared to be griddled nearly perfectly. I can't speak to taste, but those platters looked and smelled very enticing.

The egg and bacon Panini that I ended up ordering was well beyond serviceable. The bacon was crisp, the grill was perfect, and the eggs didn't have that distinctly awful plastic-like mass-produced feel you tend to see elsewhere. I particularly enjoyed that the sourdough had enough bite to do justice to the pacific northwest.

I ended my visit with a lemon bar. If I had pride I should have resisted, but I'm glad I didn't. Decadent (as lemon bars should be) with enough of a zesty bite to cut through the richness and provide good ballance.

My only disappointment was the potato side I added to the panini - quite reasonably at one dollar extra. My discouragement was for wasted potential and not for poor taste. It's a simple side: potato with sauteed onion and garlic, but the flavor came through and ballance on the seasoning was absolutely perfect. I'm serious: those potatoes tasted wonderful. Unfortunately the dish missed the mark on texture by a wide margin. Considering the bit of excess oil that still clung to the outside of the food, the outside of the potatoes weren't crisp at all. They were well cooked and fluffy- but not only on the inside. There was no caramelization whatsoever on the outside; therefore the whole plate had a uniformly mushy consistency. Turning up the heat at the end or even running it once under a conveyor toaster oven would add so much!

The coffee was flat mediocre. Probably because the various choices dispense from self serve carrafes and may sit out too long. Some might consider this a deal breaker at a bakery shop with a strong breakfast tilt, but I wasn't offended, personally. This practice seemed consistent with their fast-casual business model. I wasn't expecting - or needing - Earth-shattering coffee. If you want great coffee just skip it here and hit one of ten million great coffee shops in the greater...

My boyfriend and I woke up at almost 10 in the morning last Sunday and boy, was it hard to get up but we were hungry and craving for a breakfast meal. Our first thoughts was to go to I-HOP which we did, so we drove up to the one in the Renton, the parking was full so I said let's try the one in Tukwila and same thing, there were people waiting outside so, I yelped real quick and found this place. We went in and was a little bit confused at how the restaurant flow was. No one was there to greet or sit us, after the quick confusion my boyfriend saw the front counter where to order. I even told him that we might have entered the wrong way since there was another entrance which directly takes you to the front counter where you order. It wasn't busy when we got there, which surprised me because usually that's the busiest "breakfast time." Anyhoo, we ordered our food/drinks then just right before we were settling in our food arrived :-). It was fairly quick. Their menu is very basic especially their breakfast items. You can tell right away their food is pre-cooked.

Buttermilk Pancakes with Bacon: 7- pancakes were extra buttery a bit but I didn't mind. I'm giving this a 7 because of its bacon, they were so crispy and crunchy just how I like them. Eggs, meh. It was alright.

Strawberry Lemon Pancakes: 6- same deal as my description above but except I feel that the flavor wasn't executed right.

Hot chocolate: 7- typical drink, nothing much special about it but it does taste better than the other local diners I been to.

I would recommend this place because the food is not bad and the place itself is presentable and they do have other food that I do want to try if ever I-HOP is full again.

ig:...

I went in to have dinner with my husband on my dinner break. We got two sandwiches, then decided we wanted a dessert after. The first transaction was great, the second not so much. I went to the counter asked for two of the chocolate bundt cakes which were marked $1.49. When being rung up the price came up $2.79 each. When I told the cashier that the little sign poking out of one of them said $1.49. Another employee that was off to the side, stated I was wrong, told the cashier I was wrong and then said they are $2.79. I pointed at the sign and then the employee who stated I was wrong, pulled the sign and said "It's not for those, it's for other ones". There was a line of people behind me and the cakes were already packed , so I just paid for them. I then sent in feedback to only get a response from the manager stating that she was "Sorry I feel I was treated poorly". She also said they were a new establishment with new employees and they were trying to train them on proper responses to such situations. Really??!! Ok, so first it's not how I feel I was treated, it WAS HOW I WAS TREATED! Next, no training in the world would change that attitude. It was quite embarrassing and the people directly behind me said that they felt the situation was "Horrible". The manager offered me a $5 off next purchase. I have to say it wasn't about the money at that point, or at this point. A"new" business looking to develop positive feedback in a location that has a lot of competition would have not only dealt with customers better but to have a Manager of the store basically say "Sorry you feel that way"....