Big Sur Bakery

I love the smell of a bakery and it seems like this placed is placed perfect for the stop on the way to Esalon. I always have to stop here and get a warm croissant. The coffee is hot and dark.
The atmosphere is a little beatnik which adds to the experience. Great surf spots nearby.

25 years ago we all made fun of the $ 20 hamburger at Nepenthe (and the tourists who paid for it).
There’s a new joke in town, and it’s the $ 30 individual pizza at the Big Sur Bakery.
If the food was as great as it once was, the expense would be worth it.
But it’s not. It’s just okay. They still have a captive audience and very little competition, so the tourists will still come. But it’s a shame, really.

3÷6÷16: Note, the full name of this place is «Big Sur Bakery & Restaurant», and the last «restaurant» part was left out in Unilocal’s name for this place. So, I don’t feel so bad about reviewing only the bakery part of this place. I didn’t eat at the restaurant, but only bought stuff from the bakery.
1. Ham & Cheese Strudel ~$ 6 – 7?: This was a standard dessert-​sized portion of strudel, not particularly large, so yeah, $ 6 – 7 was very expensive for what you get. But it did look good on display with a nice golden crust, and I was really hungry so I figured I can try it. But nope, it was pretty bad. The bread was not flaky at all and lacked moisture. There was some ham and sliced cheese inside, previously only half-​melted, but now cold didn’t taste good at all. No effort to warm it up for us. No good. ²⁄₁₀
2. Coffee ~$ 2.50?: So, got the coffee, and the lady placed it in front of us. We then helped ourselves to cream, but afterwards could not find a cover. Asked, and was told they ran out. Well, could have told us before hand right? There’s no way we could drive now with this, so we had to down it instead…
3. Beer: Alright… so this part I did appreciate. They had a good selection of bottled beers that you could actually purchase. Got me 3 Bruery’s I’ve never seen before! And it doesn’t seem like their prices were much above market price. Awesome. Thanks for that!
4. Cookies: I didn’t have any, but just wanted to note that they had cookies in addition to the strudel. That’s it. Nothing else at this bakery.
So, being a bakery, what I did have was terrible. And selection is tiny. This review probably wouldn’t stop you from coming here since if you’re hungry you’re hungry and you don’t have much of a choice out here anyway. But just setting expectations for you.
²⁄₅
#bigsur

People are nice.
Ambiance is nice.
Food.not impressed with.
Maybe I’m not a pancake fan. Or maybe I just don’t like my pancakes ½ inch thick. They’re soft and fluffy, but so is cake. My favorite part of the dish is the fruit topping.
My next issue the pizza. I LOVE thin crust pizza. It was good. However, if I’m going to order a pizza with artichoke on it… why is there so few? It’s like someone decided to take my artichoke wedge and split it as many times as possible to cover my pizza! Annoyed.
For over $ 20 each dish, I would seriously expect more.

Big Sur is a special place … it’s kind of like an island, where everything has to be brought in from the mainland … Almost everything is expensive so it is great to find THE place to spend the bucks on something amazing. We had been here 4 or 5 years ago and had discovered this place, which was too expensive for us, but worth every penny, so we just coffeed, breakfasted and lunched here … Literally three times in three days … We were hoping it was still as good and it exceeded our expectations!
The coffee is amazing, Collin the Barrista is a true original, gorgeous with a personality to match, performing his duties like the Maestro he is. The Carmelized Bacon Bow Tie pastry is to die for, the oven baked eggs dish with yummy buttered toast looks normal but absolutely kills, and even the donuts are fantastic. Service is a little loose, and the first time you go you need to learn where the paper menus are with more to eat than what’s on the counter … Hey it’s Big Sur, very cooled out, but there really isn’t any rush, is there?
It is interesting that so many regulars come to this place at these prices … In the morning it is a great glimpse into the real life of Big Sur. If you are too late there isn’t much to choose from in the Bakery section, boo hoo! Best get there early for that. And the bread is fantastic!

This is a really great place to stop by for a quick bite (unless it’s the weekend). Big Sur blows up starting Thursday evening through Sunday afternoon. So, you can pretty much expect a line anywhere you may roam down there during their prime time. But… I digress… If you want to know what a $ 5+ coffee should taste like, here’s where you can make that happen. The barista at the Bakery is the real deal. Collin, you are a coffee guru my friend! Keep doing what you do, and I’ll be back.

Stopped in at Big Sur Bakery on my way back to San Francisco. I read a few recommendations about this place so I figured I had to stop in. I was expecting to go in and be able to purchase some baked goods to take with me on my long trip home. Sadly, no treats. All they served in the «bakery» portion was hot drinks, and a few other items (packaged cookies, mugs, etc.).
Since I went to the trouble of stopping in, I did have to try SOMETHING. I ordered a cappuccino, costing a whopping total of $ 5.25. I thought San Francisco cappuccinos were expensive! Despite the price, the cappuccino was up to snuff!
Overall, the location of Big Sur Bakery is great, located along the roadside. It’s a cute little cabin, surrounded by wilderness. Definitely makes you feel like you have gotten away from the big city. I did hear good things about the restaurant portion and will make sure to try this out next time I am in the area.

Rude greeter… told that there would be a 30 minute wait and counted 6 empty tables. Asked why the empty tables and his response? We can only wait on so many tables…
Then he told us we could order drinks in the bar which is about 8’x10’ and there were 6 other people in… and… there was no one working the bar!
Apparently these guys don’t give a hoot…

My boyfriend and I came here for brunch on a Saturday morning while visiting from out of town for the day. We had been to Big Sur Bakery once before, but only ordered coffees and pastries at the counter.
This time, we decided to sit down and order. The wait was 15 – 20 minutes even though there were plenty of open tables, bur assumed it was because they didn’t have enough staff to wait if all tables were full. Once seated we received water right away. I ordered the «Sur-​thern» fried chicken and my boyfriend ordered the «Hometown Fry» bacon and oyster omelette. We also both ordered mimosas.
Our food came out fairly quickly and was well cooked. My chicken was well seasoned and not dry at all. My boyfriend was surprised at the dijon mustard in his omelette but thought it gave a unique flavor. The mimosas were small for the price but had fresh homemade orange juice.
Our waiter was very quiet but nice and attentive throughout our meal. We enjoyed our food and will come back to the bakery next time we are in town!

Bottom Line: If romance has a name, it’s «Sweet bacon croissant»
I have never stopped here in the many years that I have been traveling up through Big Sur. I stopped this time because I was a little peckish and something baked sounded good.
I went in and there was a decent crowd, so I pushed my way to the front and ordered the best looking that behind the counter which looked like a croissant with bacon in it (!)
It was expensive at $ 5 but it was also freaking amazing; sweet, savory flaky goodness. I almost went back in and got another one but couldn’t justify spending $ 10 on two croissants… would have been worth it though!
The best place to get baked goods within 100 miles?

Dinner review: Really overpriced but so is every restaurant in the area. We ordered the bread & butter and the chile verde chicken pizza. The bread wasn’t even toasted or warm or anything, which was disappointing. In addition, we only got 4 small slices. Way overpriced. I recommend just bringing bread from the grocery store for your trip to the Big Sur. For $ 7 or $ 8, you can get so much more elsewhere.
The chile verde chicken pizza was pretty good as well! I enjoyed it but my boyfriend thought the dough was too soft and wet, unlike how a regular pizza should be. The thin crust got soggy so it was difficult to eat so we used our knives and forks.
The service was alright. The food took quite a while considering there weren’t many people in the restaurant.
The strangest thing was that the napkins/​cloths on the table shed everywhere so we left with a million little white specks on our jeans. How hard is it to clean your napkins right? Considering how expensive this place is, I expected things to be a higher quality.

We stopped by for a snack. Yes, as everyone as mentioned, it is very expensive. I presume anything that is transported via US-​1 in that neck of the woods is! I read a little on the background of the restaurant and it is a if-​you-​build-​it-​they-​will-​come. It’s unfair to assume a place should be cheaper because it isn’t in an expensive city.
We got there close to noon on Sunday and opted for the outside seating or else had to wait. For the Manhattan-​like prices, the food was delicious and the perfect portion size. Everything on the plate went into our stomach.
We had the coconut chia pudding and sur-​thern fried chicken. The chia pudding was fresh and delicious. The fried chicken was very lightly breaded in flakes and sooo tender. This was a very memorable snack.
I was tempted to get a few items from the bakery, but the price put me off.
The bathroom is outside. Freezing cold, but very clean!

This is a great option if you are craving some coffee and baked goods before, during, or after exploring the beautiful Big Sur area. Everyone was very friendly here and they had a small, but solid selection of treats.

Very very expensive but they’re the only game in town so I guess they can charge whatever they want. They are out of almost all their pastries by noon so we had to get the last thing they had left – a rhubarb corncake which was delicious, tiny and cost $ 7.25
The hot chocolate however was out of this world and well worth the 6 $ it cost. They use cardamom so its very uniquely spiced and very creamy.

I’ve now been here for dinner, brunch, and quick coffee/​bread/​pastry/​granola runs probably a dozen times and while everything they serve is nothing short of delectable, you’ll pay a proper price for it and the service/​wait even with a reservation and especially in the dine-​in restaurant portion, will likely be abominable.
I don’t think it’s even that they have poor staff, I think it’s that they’re poorly staffed. Having some extra hands would go a long way and with those prices you’d think they could afford it.
After my last brunch visit and hour crazy long wait and the staff continually leaving the back door open event though 100% of the back tables repeatedly asked for it to remain closed (it was a very windy 40 degrees outside). Our brunch for two consisting of soup, bread, an order of pancakes and toast took over 2 hours and we had to do without plates or our bread, sugar for coffee, any water refills or even basic attention from a server outside of the initial order and he food being dropped off in a random and not at all spaced out order, as you’d imagine would happen when a bowl of soup and bread order are thrown into the mix. But not here. It comes when it comes and it’ll probably all come at once and after you’ve wait over 20 minutes to order a coffee.
Luckily, every bite was phenomenal. So phenomenal that we almost forgot that our table hadn’t been properly cleaned before we were sat (did I mention we’d made a reservation 2 days in advance?) and there was a looming coffee cup set under our wobbly two-​seater that wasn’t totally apparent until it tipped and spilled all over my bag on the ground. oy.
For brunch, it’ll run you about $ 40 a person with no alcohol and dinner is easily $ 60 a person but it’s destination dining and again, nothing on the menu is bad. You just find yourself wishing for even a basic level of service to be withheld but I can’t lie, I’ll totally be back. Just will remember to stick to the to-​go pastry and coffee line instead of sticking around to dine in.

Wood Fired Bread Board with Butter and Sea Salt. The most accurate description on a menu ever because I thought the bread was going to come «wood fired» and warm but nope it was just the wood fired plank it came on. The bread was delicious and had walnuts, blueberries, and citrus.
Polenta with scrambled eggs and bolognese… should probably be removed from the menu or drastically improved. It might as well have been three separate mediocre sides because none of the flavors went well together. Polenta was lacking in flavor and tasted more like grits. The bolognese had chicken, pork, and beef and in a way had too much flavor, mostly salty. It tasted more like stew than ragu. The eggs were eggs. Not light and fluffy, they were dense but good. I probably should have sent it back but the hubs was loving his pancake soooooooo much that I didn’t want to distract from his experience. Also, the restaurant was cold so I really didn’t want to sit in there any longer than I had to. I was dressed in 3 layers for a hike (with a down jacket) and I never took one of those layers off.
Thank the Gods he shared with me! The 9 grain pancake is made in a cast iron skillet and is crispy on the outside and light and fluffy on the inside. One of the ugliest but most delicious pancakes I have ever had!
I think this place is all about what comes out of the oven because my plate was a real disappointment. Their baked goods are great and I should have gotten the «Sur-​thern» Fried Chicken or their breakfast pizzas. I had some major plate envy as patrons sitting around me got their meals.

I’ve only come here twice for dessert/​coffee breaks, once for their brownies and once for their banana chocolate chip bread. Both were fantastic, moist, chewy, and just overall delicious. Their coffee is pretty decent but nothing earth-​shattering, and their berry teas are really refreshing.
Definitely want to come back to try their brunch and entrée items. While this place is always packed and a tad overpriced, the goods are worth it.

This review is for the bakery only. I don’t even care that it cost $ 20 for 3 pastries and a bottle of water. When angels weep, their tears are made of almond croissants, ginger scones and blueberry strudel from Big Sir Bakery. Worth the money AND the hype.
Also, I think everyone that works there is high.

You have to stop here when you’re doing the Big Sur drive. Excellent food. Ordered the to-​die-​for fried chicken and corn chile pizza. just excellent. best part was that they gave a complimentary scone and croissant to us which were amazing. We wish we had made it in the early part of the AM to have more variety in the pastries department but such good food and happy service that we fell in love with this place.
In the morning/​afternoon, this must be a casual family frendly busy place. we hit this place just as the sun was setting so we were able to see how fun it must be during the day and then how they make the switch over at night to a romantic, intimate place with fairy lights. totally adorable!
Stop by and see the hype. its completely worth it. Buy and be blissful in a pastry laden coma!

Very nice restaurant for the night time!
We sat at the bar because they were all booked. We ordered a pizza, and was really good. The service was very friendly. We got the chance to meet the pizza chef, a very nice guy.
They have an ample variety of teas. I love when they have a lot of teas to chose from! And they are stored in jars, so you can smell them.
I would recommend stopping here. I’d like to go back for breakfast or to grab a pastry to go!

Coffee was great — drip, macchiatto and iced americanos. Line gets pretty long as there aren’t many places for tourists to stop off for food, coffee, gas, etc. Definitely worth the wait! We also grabbed two pastries and a fresh loaf of sour dough bread — it was still warm! The peach and blueberry strudel were delicious — blueberry was best. Bread was fantastic.
We came back the next day for a rainy day brunch. Almost everything was great — avocado toast was delicious and poached eggs were great. Potatoes were amazing. We also enjoyed the bread board for breakfast which was fantastic. Unfortunately, two of the people in my party got fried eggs and they are realllllly overdone. The yolk was 100% cooked through, which was really disappointing. Regret not asking for new eggs… :/​
Docked another star because everything is overpriced, but, to be expected in Big Sur.

After reading through some of the reviews, I had some high hopes for this place. Really want to give this 4 stars but I think 3 is fair.
1. Overcharged for our food. We ordered the fried chicken and lasagna which on the menu states were the same price, but when the bill came out, they overcharged on the lasagna. I thought prices were system driven these days?
2. None of the «popular» baked goods were available, which was disappointing. We came here for lunch so it wasn’t like it was during their «off hours» but the options were quite limited which was disappointing…
However, I will give credit when credit is due. You MUST get the fried chicken. Legit and on point, crisp, tender, juicy and tasteful. The best item on the menu here and a definite «must have».
Friendly host who even gave us some advice on where to go for hiking/​walking trails nearby. They also have a parking lot, don’t make the mistake I did and park in the 15 minute zone by the little grocery store in the lot next to it!

We LOVED this place. We came for dinner, easily making a res via Unilocal,and had the best waiter ever. We had a cozy corner table that was just barely lit by a candle and the sunset. Lovely. I mentioned it was our anniversary and they congratulated us as we checked in for our table. We were immediately seated too, with our choice of sitting outside or inside (we chose inside because the sun had mostly set and we didn’t want to be sitting outside in the dark since we were going to do that later around our firepit at Glen Oaks).
We took advantage of the appetizer special, which was a yummy roasted mushroom dish, made even better by the fresh bread. For mains, I took two veggies — the morel mushroom risotto (MORELS! YIPPEEE!) and the stir-​fried kale. Hubby had the fresh salmon and broccolini. Our food was absolutely delicious and paired really well with our glasses of vino.
Lemon icebox pie and a cappuccino couldn’t be resisted so we had that as well. The pistachio crust was divine and the lemon just the right mix of tart and sweet. Absolute delicious food, romantic atmosphere, terrific service = A+!
We came back for breakfast on our way back through from Lucia to Carmel. It was a Thursday morning and the line moved rather quickly. We got a bacon pastry and coffees and it was just such a fun breakfast atmosphere. We easily snagged a table to enjoy our pastry before getting on the road.
Prices are steep, but there’s nothing else for miles and miles, especially with this chill atmosphere and yummy food. If you’re staying in Big Sur and looking for a romantic night out, I highly recommend stopping here. I would also recommend stopping for a pastry and good coffee (but be prepared for $ 5 cappuccinos — mercy!). Just don’t get gas here… $ 5.49/gallon for regular unleaded is highway robbery!

Sorry to say that for all its fame and renown, once someone has laid his taste buds on stuff like Tartine, Model, B. Patisserie, etc, the baked goods here seriously PALE!!!
But I did read the BSB cookbook a few years back,& I am a sucker for history… I adore the story of how it was birthed. Nothing can take that away. Rizzolo and Wojtowicz refurbished that cabin behind Shell gas as a labor of love, I am sure.
A bowl of yummeeee black lentil soup with arbequina? About 5 pastries: damage$ 28!!!

3.5 Stars
We stopped by for brunch on a Monday morning. Waited in line for about 20 minutes to place our order.
I had the Avocado Radish toast. It was fresh tasting, with a salad on the side and pickle. The combination of flavors really worked. My toast was really burnt on one side. I probably should have said something, but after the long wait, I just wanted to sit and enjoy the scenery. My soy latte was tasty.
My fiancé had one of the egg toasts with cooked veggies. It was good. That’s all. Nothing amazing.
We grabbed a couple of pastries for the road. The banana chocolate muffins was not good at all! I love banana and this one just didn’t seem right. $ 4.50 down the drain. The cinnamon boom was really good. Not too sweet and just the right amount of cinnamon. We also ordered a blackberry strudel. We were accidentally given a strawberry one. We like strawberry, but really wanted to try the blackberry one.
Overall– Its Big Sur, not a whole lot of options. I have most definitely had tastier items at different small bakeries and probably for about half the price.
It was weekend of splurge, but honestly I dont know how they get away with charging so much!
There was a woman ahead of me wearing a work uniform. She had a $ 6 drink! I hope employers around the area realize how expensive this little things are and fairly compensate their employees.

Pratiquant des prix très très élevés, le restaurant est sans doute bon, mais les pizzas né méritent clairement pas de se faire payer 20 $.Le personnel est sympathique, sans plus, mais le cadre est forcément magnifique.
La carte réduite est alléchante mais né laisse vraiment rien pour les budgets plus réduits. Sachez toutefois que vous pouvez partager les pizzas quoiqu’elles né soient pas énormes.
Le manqué d’alternatives joue en sa faveur.