Starter Bakery - Berkeley, California

Lisa S.

This review is for the Galette des Rois from January earlier this year (which was a sour cherry and almond). It was a beautifully executed galette and the almond flavor was the best that I had among the galettes I sampled in SF. The one thing I would love that would make it a perfect 5⭐️ for me would be just a little more flakiness and crisp to the pastry. Overall though, I was super happy with this and hope they will offer it again next year!

F. F.

Decided to give this bakery a try after hearing good recommendations from a friend. Despite generally not super fond of croissants, I ordered the twice baked almond croissant as I was curious to try the Frangipane filling. Also ordered a salted dark chocolate chip cookie because why not. Croissant had a satisfying combination of flaky airy texture and buttery goodness that croissants should have. Frangipane was the right amount of sweetness. However, I enjoyed the cookie more especially because of the sea salt flakes. Cookie was full of chips in every bite so it’s great for sharing.

Will be back!

Joseph M.

The Starter kouign amann, along with Fournée's miche, are the two best baked goods if the East Bay (and perhaps the while Bay area). I biked toured extensively in France and eating my way through many boulangerie-pâtisserie products and the kouign amann is top tier even by home country standards.

Cal T.

* UPDATE* RESPOND TO THE OWNER
"IF I remember it right, after buying frew times from you that your bread is ok, but most pastry is on the salty side, like kouign amann? Anyway lower sodium is healthy tend , good marketing anyway"

Their product is pretty good EXCEPT the SALT content is on the high side. If they can cut a little that would be perfect!

Anyway, everyone is watching out for their sodium intake. Right now I kind of reluctant to buy their stuff due to the saltiness

Emma A.

Their baked goods are delicious. I highly recommend the kouign amann as they are sweet, flakey, buttery and overall delicious. With or without fillings. These are now my new favorite pasty and I will gladly sacrafice my thinness for the glazed goodness.

Y K.

Love the breads here, but the service at the front gate wasn't good.
Decided to visit this place after visiting Oakland location several times.

We had to wait outside of the entrance for a bit, which wasn't too bad. When the door opened and the women who works there came out, she didn't seem to bother to ask any questions but just told us to go to the app and slide to right for pick up, and shut the door.
I didn't order through the app and didn't know they had one. I guess she must have assumed it was through a delivery app?..
Anyway, I asked a lady behind me what to do if my order was through the web. She stated to let her know, which we tried but got abruptly cut off.

During the wait at the outside, we also saw her(the worker) bag the breads in a rough way. The sounds of bread hitting the table were quite loud so I could hear them outside of the closed door. As a family who loves breads/baking, we don't want our breads hitting the table while being handled.

A few minutes later, the worker opened the door again, and I told her my order was through the app, and she was, "Oh, then you could've told me!" ...
My husband pointed out that we were trying to, but she abruptly cut us off, which then she finally apologized.

The thing that made me feel more bad about the service is... after the worker noticed that we were the ones who made a huge order; her demeanor changed and was more welcoming.
Although her customer service changed in one snap, I was still worried after witnessing how she was bagging other orders. Fortunately, my breads were placed in the paper bag softly, which was good.

The sad part is that they missed some of our orders, and we realized after we got home. When we were there to pick up, there was no notice of missing items. I wonder if the worker double-checked for the order (mind you, my order was placed 1wk before the pick up).
From my past visits to the Starter bakery in Oakland, they seemed to check the order better, even if the order was placed a day before(less then24hrs). My orders were always packed nicely. If anything missing, they notified me right at the pick up and even processed the refund beforehand, or asked if anything I wanted to get substitude instead.

After this whole thing happened, will I ever go back to this bakery? Maybe, as there are some pastries I can not get from the Oakland location, and I think their breads are worth of 1+hrs driving.
Compare to the Oakland location? I'd prefer Oakland location more. Can't believe the main location's customer service is far below than its branch location.

I do hope the front gate person is more kind and has more attention to detail.

John N.

Some of the best viennoiseries I've had. Their kouign amann and palmiers were both flaky and buttery with the perfect amount of sweetness. Definitely worth a trip back.

Amanda S.

My favorite bakery, and I am super-picky! The citrus pie with brown sugar meringue is heaven. The best quiche I’ve ever had! Super-moist! I get their goods once a week, but it’s not enough!