The West End Bakery

What a lovely stop to start the day with. I found the café to be clean and charming. The serving staff was very nice and cheerful, and the whole place smelled of coffee. They may be "pivoting" towards a bread-ier, more savory menu, but I'm happy to confess that the "Breakfast Bun" looked perfect to get me going. Croissant dough with cinnamon and sugar everywhere? It was Mmm-Mmm good, sticky, and perfect dunked in my coffee. I probably didn't need a mocha on top of such a sweet treat, but I can say it was a sort of delicious, flavorful mild mild cup (not too bitter, and not too punchy). Outdoor seating is in the shade, and there's a more intimate corner towards the back, so really, there's plenty of space. come on in!

A few notes: yes it’s under new ownership. This is like 4 new owners in 4 years but these people are really doing it right. If you are still complaining that the cinnamon rolls aren’t the same get over it, that was a long time ago. The bagels here are excellent. I’m headed back today for the breakfast pot pie. Really glad to have a good bakery back in central west again!

A great selection of locally baked sweets and breads with generous options of drinks. The BLAT was delicious, amazing bread, aioli, turkey and bacon. Size was fulfilling.

West End reopened with an amazing new menu... This breakfast chicken pot pie might be the best thing on ANY cafe menu in town right now.

Haven't tried them yet, but those donuts served w/the hole as a little extra donut treat look incredible. There are a ton of amazing looking GF baked goods in the case, too!

Friendly staff. Fresh baked goods. Everything we had was excellent.

For pricing, 3 people was about 40 bucks.

We have been through many incarnations of the West End Bakery, and each one starts with so much promise but quickly disappoints. We only had one visit with the newest version (Feb,2023) but it only takes one visit to turn you off so you don't want to come back and get burned again.

So here's my beef: I had the chicken salad sandwich on focaccia. They are a bakery and make their own focaccia which looks great but this was very tough as if it was several days old or they had put it into a microwave. The chicken salad was quite good but it was pretty skimpy and buried under lots and lots of greens. Served with super crispy, hard potato chips - you know, like the ones that can leave your gums bleeding. Our latte was okay but not as hot and rich as one could get, for example, at the Odds Cafe just down the street.

We sat on the old leather couch which might be comfortable if it wasn't so saggy that we almost touched the floor with our butts. The decor is passable with nice new tables throughout, but once again depressing gray walls - all in all a little austere.

And lastly, typically, the music was loud and intrusive so that if you're interested in having a heart-to-heart with your best friend or a quick business meeting, you're going to get drowned out and distracted by the odd and loud music.

Sorry for the negative review, but if you're going to open a restaurant you've got to think of some of these things if you want to get established and create a good customer base. We may try it again in a week or so and see if we get a different impression, but considering, I'm not that hopeful.

Well, hello Dolly! Stef has brought the morning glory back to West. What a delight! The cinnamon rolls are back, the delicious food is back, the customer interaction is back, the PLANTS!! It’s such a joy to walk in there. I wanted to keep it to myself, but I can’t.
Go there, she’s great, it’s fab, you’ll be delighted.

Almost back to the original West End Bakery after a series of changes. The only negative for me was the "new" cinnamon rolls. Those and the doughnuts have too much dough in my opinion. The "old" WE bakery had the very best cinnamon rolls - they were a big draw.

The pastries, bagels, and breads here are phenomenal! Best croissants I’ve ever had. Staff was super nice and helpful. Good coffee too! Definitely recommend!

Quiet cafe vibe... solid sandwich. The salad was tasty but too small. Service was super friendly but slow with only a handful of customers. Hope they get more staff before it gets busy.