Paris Baguette — Restaurant in Urbana

A fast favorite! I’ve been to this Urbana location a few times as well as to another in state, and I’m impressed by the consistency of the pastries. Always fresh and delicious, I can’t resist my favorites but I also know anything new I try will be a safe bet. The customer-facing staff are totally superhuman, dealing with (and sometimes needing to decipher) the demands of endless customers, juggling serving from the case and making sometimes complex drink orders, and all within an awkward spot in the store. It’s in a strange corner that creates a bottleneck of people trying to come in and go out, which is total chaos when it’s even moderately busy. One oblivious person can clog up the whole flow. There’s a large door right there that’s exit only; I’m sure there’s a logical reason why, but it’s inconvenient when one has to weave through the whole store (and said bottleneck) to get in.

I wanted to note a visit today especially (morning of 3/22) because the cashier and other staff helping with drinks/the case were fantastic! Above and beyond in service, friendly and helpful. In particular our cashier today was so genuinely nice and pleasant that his sunny mood was contagious. He patiently and respectfully worked through some billing confusion a customer had, which could’ve been a challenging situation. We saw him help someone with a cake order, asking if they wanted serving utensils, candles, then he packed them together with such care instead of just tossing everything together… it’s hard to explain but it clearly made an impression! You just don’t see this kind of service very often anymore. This guy...

Very delicious and true to the photos! Expensive for what you get but there’s a value factor to consider.

I got delivery via DoorDash and was worried the filled croissants wouldn’t travel well but they arrived after a 15min ride perfectly crisp and delicious.

Chocolate Supreme Croissant: Not super convenient to eat but good. The filling is creamy, not oily, which I appreciate, but there was a bit too much filling. Luxurious problem I guess but it got everywhere. Blueberry cream cheese pastry: very good Mini strawberry lemon crème croissant: YES. The strawberry was fresh and the crème was well balanced. Maple Pecan pastry: sticky and crispy! Strawberry mocha donut: tastes like a strawberry elephant ear! Coffee Croissant donut: the taste was good (I would have enjoyed it a little more bitter and coffee-y though) but I did not like the filled cronut format. The filling is between layers so they slip around and come apart. Using less crème would probably help but that may ruin the...

Everything is delicious. You cannot go wrong. Been here twice now and it's never more than a 5 minute wait from choosing my pastries to checking out and most of that time is me being spoilt for choice. I can tell however, that the staff are stressed. On both visits, I frequently saw workers awkwardly weaving between customers to refill cases and the cashiers tended to be curt. The constant noise from the neighboring grocery store and the two other restaurants they share the open space with undoubtedly contribute to this and the overall cramped and chaotic atmosphere. I would honestly never sit in to eat here because of how crowded it always is, but I more than enjoy the pastries, so I can tolerate a visit for take-and-go. If you're looking for authentic French pastry offerings with a few unique and also very well done asian ones sprinkled in(curry buns, mochi donuts, ect.), this...