Bothof’s Bakery

I never really leave reviews but feel inclined to provide one here for a bad experience for the most part.
What I thought would be a treat by getting a cake to celebrate my mom, daughter, sister in law and niece’s birthday from a local bakery which was here when I was a kid 25 years ago turned out to be a not so good experience after all.
The wifey called in the day of to see which cakes were available for the same day pickup. She was given the options and price. Cake would be ready within 3 hours for pickup.
When she went to pick up, the cake was as ordered with the typical birthday note. It was actually neatly and conservatively decorated but lacked a little something to stand out. Wifey inquired if some flowers could be added complementary. The cake boy mumbled something (not price related) and went to the back to check. He returned and showed my wife the 3 sugar flowers added. Total price was now $ 3 more than originally quoted. Wife paid and went to the car.
After a brief thought and realizing that she had been up-​charged without authorizing the charge, she returned to the store and demanded an explanation from the manager. The owner, supposedly, spoke with wife and said in an «…unhelpful, I don’t give a rats a$$» tone not even addressing the up charge like you should be lucky that I prepared the note for you on the cake on short notice. Bear in mind that there was no one else was in the store at that moment so it could not have been that busy for him to accommodate a simple, yet typical request. He made it seem like he went out of his way to do that. The rudeness and unaccommodating manner that the owner presented was unacceptable.
We have ordered many cakes here for huge birthday family parties and special occasions and have not had the type of poor customer service we had today. Many of our family members have also ordered cakes here too. Given this situation we won’t be coming back.
To the Owner: please ask your sales team to inform customers if there is an extra charge for such small additions prior to charging them. Also it may be prudent to empathize with your customers. There are many other bakeries to purchase a cake from and a touch of customer service does go a long way. Oh and we have had better cakes from here before. This cake was good but not Bothofs great.

1^st off I walk in & cashier was friendly… The guy who was delivering a cake who was boxing a cake could be of been friendly… I am all for great costimer service
ANYWAYS I had a laxy give me cookies from here. so I came by today to get myself some cus they were so good! I didnt know what they were called but when I looked at the cookies section… I seen the cowboy cookies. I ordered my self some… it was not good at all… they weren’t what I expected:(
Ordered peanut cookies and they didnt even taste like peanut butter… Chocolate chip cookies needed sugar…
I do give them credit for the croissants… they were very buttery and flakey… totally gotta try

Disappointing! Bought a cannoli and lemon cupcake, the guys behind the counter were super helpful and friendly. Unfortunately, the cupcake and cannoli were dry and tasted old :(I like the location and the service was great, just sad the quality of the food did not meet expectations.

I used to come here all the time as a kid and I loved the rolls and desserts.
Boy has this place gone downhill.
My mom, grandmother, and I stopped in for some cupcakes, something we used to do all the time. We hadn’t been in in a while and just thought it’d be a fun afternoon. We ordered the cupcakes and probably paid $ 3 each (.50 more than the place around the corner which is much better).
The cupcakes were dry and tasted a couple days old. When we asked the man I am assuming was Max, the owner, about this he was very condescending and told us it was because he keeps them in a fridge. We then kept it light, but he ignored us and had a very snarky look on his face. No wonder why the place was completely EMPTY. Will not be returning.

Admittedly, it’s been a number of years since I’ve been here. I remember a wide selection of high-​quality pastries, cakes and cookies from years ago. My family and I were downtown this morning and we decided to stop in for a quick bit.
First failure was the service. I’ll cut them a bit of slack here as it was really busy (there was a 5k happening right outside their front door), but there was absolutely no joy in the demeanor of any of the staff. Like we were all just a number… next?
Second failure was the small selection. A few types of cookies, some cake pops and 3 – 4 donuts. Again, I’ll cut them a little slack and give them the benefit of the doubt. It was a holiday, so maybe there was a rush and they had already sold out a lot of the popular items. But this differs dramatically with the Bothof’s that I remember.
Third failure was the coffee. To say that it was awful would be the understatement of the year. It was extremely weak, barely lukewarm, and not inexpensive at $ 1.85 for a small.
I think I’ve made my last trip to Bothhof’s. If it were any one of these, I’d probably give them another shot. But with all three, I’m not sure that I’ll be able to overlook the deficiencies.
As a big proponent of local business, I enjoy supporting small, mom and pop companies. But in this case, the experience at Starbucks is better in every way. Not to mention that there is another bakery just one block away and two local, independent coffee shops within two blocks.

Great price and quick service. Needed a design cake for a 13 year old party. It was ready in days… Adorable and reasonable cost

Will never consider this bakery again. Ordered a cake for my daughter’s 20^th Birthday, a 9 inch round, never being informed that has an established bakery they have no boxes to accommodate a cake they offer. I went to pick the cake up it was decorated just as I ordered, but to get it home it was placed in a sheet cake box (?). I asked the clerk to cut the box to fit, and I explained how to do so but she refused. The cake as ordered was never seen by my daughter as it shifted and fell off the seat in my car as my floorboards are too small to fit the box it was in. A little thing like cutting the box to fit would have made a difference. Cakes have always been good but this left a bad taste in many mouths. We in Visalia definitely need a replacement for this bakery

I’ve used them twice for cupcake orders for my daughter’s birthday at her school. Very good with last min orders too.

I was in town for business, stopped by the bakery at 9am and was looking for bagels for my business meeting. I had expected them to have a decent selection of bagels but little did I know, they only make a few bagels daily since they make other pastry items.
They had 7 bagels left by the time I had arrived. I was not too upset about that since that just meant that I was able to pick and choose other pastry items to make up a full dozen. I was under the impression that I was able to choose other pastries to make up a full dozen for the price of a dozen bagels but I was sorely mistaken. I can’t fully blame the shop but now thinking about it, I wish I was told that by adding other pastries to my dozen of bagels, it would cost me more since my original request was for a dozen bagels only. At this point, I just wanted to move on but the clerk kept talking my ear off about how I should call in next time in advance if I want a dozen bagels… no thank you since they also charge for individual cream cheeses for each individual bagel. This is just my experience at the shop, before tasting the pastries.
Taste wise, only ok. I will not go back to this bakery. Main Street Café will be my spot for bagels in Visalia.
Too bad their isn’t a bagel shop like Noah’s or Einstein Bagels.

Be careful of those ever-​popular cream puffs.
Mom and I went into the bakery in April and purchased two cream puffs. First of all, the woman behind the counter was one rude lady. Owner? I don’t know. But even if her product had been fabulous, her attitude was enough to nix the thought of any return visits. As it happened, a return visit was necessary.
We got our cream puffs home and split one between us. It had an odd taste which Mom thought lemony. I could detect that, but I thought it tasted more… spoiled. I wasn’t anticipating eating the second puff. As it happened, neither was Mom. She offered it to my brother.
The Big G took one bite and said, «It’s spoiled. Look, it’s moldy.»
And it sure was. We took it back, with our receipt for two puffs. Thankfully, the nasty woman wasn’t there. The second woman seemed to have trouble understanding, however, that refunding our money was the only reasonable recourse she had. Apparently the bakery isn’t real clear on that policy. She grudgingly refunded us our money for two puffs… but never apologized for having sold bad product.
BTW, there was VISIBLE mold on a product IN THE SALES CASE when we took our puff back.
I will never, never eat anything from Bofhof’s again.

We bought a birthday cake for my step-​dad today.
First of all, it was hot & gross on the inside. I think it was cooler outside on this hot august day.
Secondly, the employee was not helpful at all. We thought we were early on picking up the cake, but she said it’s been done for a LONG time. Thanks for the heads up?
She was rude, and I felt like she was irritated that I was asking a question.
The cake looked nice, don’t get me wrong, but she put the lid on the cake too tight and when we got home, the top frosting came off, so it was illegible.
We called back and asked if they could fix it, and not only did she say «There’s nothing we can do.», she tried accusing us of damaging the cake. Listen, lady… we live like 2 blocks down the street. We wanted the cake. Why would we do anything to it?
First time going here, also my last time going here.
I would recommend somewhere else!
Carson C. C.

Lost its charm a long time ago. Cupcakes are old, cakes aren’t fresh either. The prices are way too high, where do they think they are, San Francisco?

A little pricey but LOVE the cream puffs! I also enjoy the sugar donuts while my husband enjoys his chocolate bars filled w/​cream. Plenty of space to sit down inside or just outside with a great cup of coffee to enjoy the weekend mornings! Such a great treat. :-D

As a long time Visalian I’ve seen Bothof’s grow
and change. The quality of the baked goods changed a few years ago and has never been the same. The swirl cookie when baked fresh is outstanding! The dot cookies with the dollop of chocolate or multi-​colored frosting got bigger but less flavorful. They used to sprinkle shaved almonds on top and the taste used to be better. The cakes are still a must for my husband’s birthday and the price is still fair. Overall Bothof’s is a Visalia institution worth supporting.

A pretty spacious Mom and Pop shop.
I picked up a chocolate éclair, vanilla cupcake, and milk to start off my day. The frosting on the cupcake was better than expected, which raised my expectations of the little cake, but it was dry and not everything I made it out to be in my head after having several licks of frosting.
The chocolate éclair was generous on the vanilla custard. Now that’s the way to do it!
The assortment of turnovers and croissants looked extra flaky and delectable. Note to Tricia of the future: you might want to try one. I’m just sayin’.

A Mom and Pop Bakery that delivers the goods. Excellent pastries and cakes and a Visalia Tradition for decades. Don’t miss the chance to go there.

Not just their cream puffs, but their cheese danish as well!
Now thats nuff said!

Go here and get a cream puff-​nuf said.