Schat's Bakery Cafe at Friedman Brothers Home Improvement — Restaurant in Ukiah

Trucker here. Coffee acquisition has become something of a wild venture since covid. With Starbucks typically refusing to serve anyone on foot - no exceptions - and very little options to the contrary I'm often left wallowing in caffeine-absent misery. So when a delivery at the Costco up the street got held up for an hour and I was scrolling through the local places on google maps, I really wasn't surprised when I found myself out of luck - only a Starbucks... maybe? What is this café hiding inside this hardware store?

Let me tell you. One of the first signs of a good place is when the folks working on the other side of the counter remember people. It usually means they have a decent relationship with their work, and it means people come back regularly enough to be remembered. It seemed like I was the only person there who had never been before! Excellent sign.

Ordered a cappuccino and the veggie quiche. When I asked for dry the barista knew exactly what I meant. It was perfect. The espresso had never gotten the chance to burn through and the dry foam had perfect texture. She did an amazing job. The quiche was not at all what I was expecting. It was a huge slice, like a deep dish pizza, with layers of cheeses and a variety of veggies. I'm so used to places on the road throwing one veggie on there and calling it a medley. No, this had spinach and squash and olives and... it was so good! Maybe too good. With a wonderful flakey crust that was absolutely perfect.

So uh, the long and the short of it, this place is wonderful. What a strange thing to be hiding in a gardening/home improvement store. 12/10. A lovely...

Schat's Bakery Cafe is located inside of Friedman's Home Improvement center in Ukiah and is set up to service those customers yet has all the delicious bread, pastries, made to order food, and specialty drinks and coffees their Downtown location offers. On this visit I had their Hot Hot Hot breakfast burrito that had Louisiana Hot Link, potatoes, eggs with jalapenos and salsa and a 16 Oz latte. I also purchased a loaf of walnut cranberry bread to take home. The burrito was generous and the latte had just the right amount of foam, the service was quick and efficient and the servers were friendly. The atmosphere is somewhat utilitarian but there's plenty of seating and I enjoyed my meal there while most customers were getting a coffee and pastry for takeout. I would highly recommend Schat's at Friedman's for a quick breakfast or lunch for the home improvement or working crowd and as a really great place to grab a coffee or espresso and or a pastry or traditional baked goods on the run. If you desire a sit down bakery experience with more ambiance I would try their downtown location it is also more kid friendly with larger tables and more seating in a historic building which also has outdoor seating. I recommend both locations and that if you try Schat's that you take one of their loaves of bread home, you...

ZERO STARS!! I used to go to this little bakery EVERY single morning to get coffee and a pastry on my way to work (i work next door) and consistently ordered lunch from them as well. Over the last year or so the quality of food has gone down hill.... dry sandwiches mainly is my concern so i rarely went anymore. Today i ordered a tri-tip sandwich over the phone, picked up and when i opened it was disappointed to find it was not tri-tip but ham, salami with pickles and olives. i called back to them told them they said they would make a new one and have ready in 10 minutes. Great! i thought to myself, NEATO! so i happily left work AGAIN in the middle of a busy schedule to get my correct meal. Pick it up, thank them for their help and go about my day. Once i return to work i again happily unwrap my sandwich anticipating the delicious tri-tip that they had two chances to make me...... and you guessed it!!! IT WASNT TRI TIP!! (GASP). It was roast or corn beef but certainly NOT tri-tip. So by now im a little perturbed, i call again, get placed on a brief hold and then get told "oh no thats tri-tip we dont make roast beef". so thank you for reading this but i will NEVER set foot in this poorly run branch of an otherwise good...