Le Boulanger

Came in on a Friday morning & ordered the ham & Swiss omelette sandwhich.
Customer service is on point & so is their sandwhich.

My family and I have been here plenty of times before with great service. But today was somewhat unsatisfactory. Because there are two sides to place an order and it wasn’t busy yet, it was unclear where to stand. One worker took the time to ask who was first, and there was someone on the other side who was indeed waiting before us. No problem. It was in fact the other worker who completely blew off our question of where to order, and then proceeded to take orders of those who had just walked in. It would seem the better situation should have been to make sure that the customers waiting longer who had also tried to ask to order were taken care of next. But it doesn’t stop there because even after jumping in the newly formed line, as soon as it was our turn to order, she walked away with a mumble and a cold shoulder. I understand there are demands but better customer service needs to be the most important part of them all. FINALLY, after getting our to-​go order she had not charged me for the chips I said I would grab. By this point, I’ve had it and putting the the chips back was better than having to wait again to be served.
Luckily we’ve had better experiences more often than worse ones, but the audacity shown by the workers today may change the future of our patronage to this place.

I’m lazy when it comes to feeding myself. That’s why it’s so convenient being in SF. I can more or less have delivery from anywhere. This past Saturday, December 26^th, I wanted lunch, but didn’t want to drive far. After Unilocaling places by the roommate’s house, I decided to try Le Boulanger. I walked in around 12:45pm and placed an order for takeout.
*Bay shrimp salad: romaine, bay shrimp salad, cucumber, tomato, avocado, with thousand island dressing, served with a freshly baked roll ($ 10.50)
*New england clam chowder: cup served with a freshly baked roll ($ 4.05)
*Pesto chicken: hot sandwich with grilled chicken, monterey jack cheese, roasted red peppers, tomato, mixed greens, pesto on ciabatta, served with a pickle ($ 8.25)
The shrimp salad was big and full of bay shrimp and crunchy romaine, but I didn’t care much for the dressing. It was a too sweet for me. I wanted something to contrast the sweet shrimp. The clam chowder was my favorite dish. Hot, creamy and comforting. And their bread is delish! Crusty and chewy on the outside and soft in the inside. Great for dipping in the clam chowder. I just wish they gave me butter so I could warm up the roll and butter it. The chicken pesto had promise. Nice flavors. But for a hot sandwich, it was only lukewarm. Where’s the melty goodness from a nice hot gooey sandwich?! I later heated up the remaining half and it was much better. Though the bread suffered and was soggy. Note, I believe the sandwich also comes with a bag of chips as they gave me a small bag of Lay’s potato chips.
Great bakery for breads. And their clam chowder was good as well. But their sandwiches and salads were a little disappointing.

Good coffee and breakfast breads, nice for a quick lunch, this location is incredibly convenient. Using their loyalty card you can get a free loaf of bread from the bakery once a month and free lunches seem to add up pretty quick. All in all not a bad deal.

I came here because Starbucks next door did not have any tables available. There are a ton of open tables here to work on homework, score. However, there are not a lot of outlets to charge your phone or laptop. On another note, their menu is big pretty big. There’s soup, sandwiches, tea, coffee, loafs of bread, and pastries.

Le Boulanger didn’t look busy thought the parking lot was full
menu: breakfast, pannins. soups, peet’s coffee, french pastries.
eats:
–almond croissant (2.65)
sweet, buttery, flakey, lots of almond slices
–petite cream cheese croissant (1.65)
flakey, tasty cream cheese
3.5 stars
footnotes:
–LB claims to bakes it’s own breads, pastries early in the morning.
pastries lasted fresh, natural tasting. not baked from frozen.
–curious not all croissants same change, dark brownish ones similar to prefrozen ones other
bakeries carry.
–fast, courteous service…

I was at school (evc) and the hunger started kicking in during class. I’m over the student cafeteria thing here at evc, it lacks the variety that made me poor while I attended SJSU, so I Unilocaled something close to school due to only having 40 mins before my next class.
You can imagine my surprise when I came into the shop and realized I used to eat here at SJSU all the time! It’s in the student union though, not an actual store on campus. I always used to get to campus early enough to run to Le Boulanger for a muffin before class. This visit I really wanted a salad, so I decided on the Bay Shrimp salad for lunch. ($ 10.50) Delicious! The salad came with avocado and lots of tiny shrimp and delicious tomatoes. I recommend this salad.
The rest of the menu is good, too. Muffins and sandwiches are worth the price, especially the vegetable medley ($ 5.95) Unfortunately, the cooks believe the only way to properly enjoy a sandwich is to have it scorching hot. Beware. What I typically do is buy a muffin and eat that while the sandwich cools down.
The location is so convenient for evc students, and it’s quiet in this plaza making it a perfect place to study outside. They have outside seating so if you have a pet you can come have a muffin in the morning after you walk them. There’s a CVS, Pizza My Heart, Beach Hut Deli, and Honeyberry at this plaza along with some other shops.
Service is meh. Sure, nobody is running behind you as you’re leaving wishing you a nice day, but nobody is giving you death stares either. Clientele does seem to be older folks, as others have mentioned. I saw someone having a business meeting, too. I need to stop people– watching.

So it seems that this business condones the action of its manager kevin. I was approached by Kevin again yesterday and threatened again for the review that I had written last week even though I wasn’t at the store and was walking towards CVS.

2.5 stars
For a place with a French name, I was expecting a littttttle better. Everything here is, at best, mediocre.
The sandwiches are dry and bland and EXPENSIVE! Why would I pay almost $ 10 for a TUNA sandwich? The tuna wasn’t even flavorful!
The soups and pastries aren’t memorable. They’re always stale.
C’est terrible! Donnez-​moi la vrai nourriture francaise!

Really great place to meet up for lunch and visit with friends. The environment is clean and the staff are very friendly. Personally the food is a little pricey for what you get but the quality of the soups and sandwiches are pretty good. In my opinion overall this restaurant is a great place to meet the coworkers before heading back to the office. Will definetly be returning as I have done several times already!
Cheers!
Amy

1 Star
Disgusting breakfast sandwiches makes even McDonald’s look good! The bagel itself was just okay, but the eggs were not good and looked Styrofoamy. The sausage was gross and unappetizing. The cheese looked like it was melted the day before. I don’t know how this place stays in business.
Final Thought: Over $ 20 for two crappy sandwiches and two coffees. I will not be returning.

Le Boulanger is a great place for a quick breakfast or light brunch kind of eatery when I came here a few times. There’s several parking spots in the area, so parking won’t be an issue until probably the afternoon, because it is located near Evergreen College.
I would usually come for the chocolate and almond croissants because of how they aren’t stingy with the filling. All i could say is that some of their dishes are somewhat pricey for certain ones, but overall the service is always great.
Overall Rating: 3.5 stars: D

Le Boulanger is one of my favorite restaurants in San Jose. I have been here several times because this place it’s really close to the church I used to go. The restaurant is really busy on Sundays but I have never left disappointed. I recommend people to try the avocado, lettuce and tomato sandwich or the spinach salad with strawberries, mango and cheese. The managers are very attentive and they always make sure that every guest leaves satisfied; indeed, they bought my lunch once because they noticed that I did not eat much. If I was still going to the church around the corner I would not hesitate to go back to Le Boulanger for breakfast but for personal reasons I started going to a church in Palo Alto and I can’t make it to Le Boulanger any more.

I honestly have nothing bad to say about this place. A majority of their customers are either older retired people or families. Although, most of the time, I’m there on Sundays so that makes sense.
I’ve ordered a couple of things from the menu and think they’re all worth trying.
If you love your breakfasts like i do, you have to try their ham and cheese breakfast crossiant. The cheese is melted and the crossiant is lightly toasted. They also have a bakery. They display pastries and bread loaves which, they also sell by the slice. My parents love buying our bread here. If you don’t want the Starbucks across the street, Le Boulanger proudly brews Peets coffee.
On their other menu, they have a pretty decent amount of sandwiches, pizza, salads, and soup. If I were to recommend one thing, it’d definitely be the hot pastrami. You won’t regret it. The sandwich is perfect. I’m always full before it’s gone but I always end up eating it all anyways. The pickle adds a nice touch. If you’re looking for something lighter, there’s a soup and salad combination or a half a sandwich and soup/​salad combination.
Clam chowder and bread roll is on point. I’ve tried their cream of tomato but it was only okay…

Came here for Easter brunch with the family and it wasn’t too crowded. A nice day to enjoy the weather outside. I really recommend the clam chowder, can’t go wrong with that! My favorite salad is the strawberry, mango, & mandarin salad. The portions are good and fulfilling and I believe there are free refills for soft drinks. The customer service was great, they brought all our food out for us so we didn’t have to go back in and bring it out ourselves. The manager, Kevin, even came out and greeted us. Would definitely come back!

I think the customer service here is sometimes a hit or miss. There are times when the person helping you will be happy and friendly and other times where they will be tired and unwelcoming.
I absolutely love the California Fresh. I get it almost every week. It’s basically turkey, cheese, tomato, avocado, lettuce, and mayo on DUTCH CRUNCH! I am a Dutch crunch fanatic as you can tell. I ask for no honey mustard or onions. Beware– their portions are decreasing! Also, my mum loves their clam chowder. She says it’s very creamy and delicious.
I ordered coffee for the first time there and got the white chocolate mocha. They lady asked what size I wanted my chocolate milk. Say what? Then she asked me if I wanted coffee in it and I was so… confused. I mean, it’s under the Espresso menu… When I got the drink itself, what do you know, it tastes like white chocolate… milk! I’ll go for a more simple coffee next time…
There’s only one or two outlets so it’s really hard to plug in your computer or charge your phone. There’s always plenty of seating, however.

I had just removed my wisdom tooth and was craving some clam chowder. I decided to look up this place on Unilocal and everyone was raving about their chowder so I thought, «Why not?»
I walk in and the place is practically empty. I thought it was weird that you have to walk past the register to take a look at their menu. I saw the clam chowder under «soups» and I could order it 3 ways: Small, large, or family style.
I got to the register and the lady taking my order was not pleasant and didn’t seem to have any patience taking my order. I told her I wanted the clam chowder — large and that was all. She was about to give me a pager for my order but then changed her mind and said, «Wait here I’ll get it.» 2 minutes later she hands me a bag with my soup and a small, hard piece of bread.
At home I realized how tiny the large size really was. Needless to say I was quite disappointed. I’ll give them this: The clam chowder is as amazing as everyone stated as it was very well seasoned and the pieces of clam really hit the spot. But would I pay $ 6 for the portion that was given to me? Probably not.
Next time I’m trying one of their salads and/​or sandwiches.

Wow, I’m only the 2^nd to review? Weird…
Anyway, I would probably give this place 3.5 stars for food, but will rate up because 2 stars is just not doing them a lot of justice.
My mom and I split the eggplant sandwich, and it was very tasty. It comes with some Lays potato chips (not sure if you can substitute this for something else). The staff is also kind — I had asked them to double check if their French Onion Soup was vegetarian (usually made with beef broth, which I don’t eat), and she happily looked it up in their manual (it IS vegetarian, as indicated on the menu).
So all in all, a quaint little shop. Lots of seating, and probably a great place to study because it’s not as crowded as a typical panera. Additionally, in my 20m that I was there, I saw several people go in and out purchasing loaves of bread!

Alright. Not great, but good. I love their menu though!
Ordered:
— Soup and Salad Combination — Clam Chowder and Caesar Salad — $ 8.50
— Summer Salad — Sweet Strawberry, Mango, and Spinach — Baby spinach with strawberry, mandarin oranges, mango, gorgonzola cheese, sliced roasted almonds, and sweet herb dressing — $ 7.75
I liked my salad. It wasn’t drenched in the sauce and the soup wasn’t great. It had the yummy clams though. Total of $ 17.67 for that. What a deal.

I finally had the chance to try their sandwiches. I ordered a roasted portabella for my brother, le club for my mom, and I got the reuben. My brother really loved the portabella sandwich. Le club was an incredibly big sandwich. My reuben was a little salty for my taste. The pickle really balanced it out. Each sandwich comes with a pickle and a bag of chips.
And of course, like always, I got a cranberry orange scone. I would love to try their soups and other sandwiches.