Ben’s Bakery

during my visit on the island, we stayed at the Atwater hotel which is right next door. we had vouchers for breakfast & could not find the bakery at all! we probably walked by 5 – 6 times before asking someone for help. there’s a sign on the door that says «bakery» but that wasn’t specific enough for us to realize. lol
their blueberry muffins are moist & delicious when warmed! I had their sugar bread & was not a fan. it was too sticky from being warmed up and all I tasted was the raw sugar. I’m aware that it was a sugar bread but it wasn’t very appetizing. they have lots of other options too!
I wish I found the bakery before the end of our trip. I probably would’ve been there every morning!

Good cappuccino and muffins. I want to try some of the other baked goods like the key lime tart and the oreo cookies. Will have to stop there again sometime!

This place is a hidden gem! Located inside The Shops at Atwater. It’s not visible/​noticeable from the outside. You have to walk into the building to find out there’s more to it than meets the eye. (Think of it as an enclosed arcade type place).
Bf liked his iced coffee and I enjoyed my hot latte. It was nice to a find a place to sit down and indulge in coffee & treats since we were tired from walking around. We got luck and got the 50%off cakes/​sweets from 3pm-​5pm. The key lime tart was fabulous and the carrot cake (although sweet), but delicious! I went back to pick up Tiramisu & Mixed Berry Tart to take back to LA. Liked the Mixed Berry Tart and Tiramisu was fine (had that last, so hard to tell). The tiramisu looked different than what I’m used to, but nonetheless, all the cakes & tarts were gorgeous. Yum.
Would definitely go back! Wish we went there for brunch. Their pre-​packaged salad (eyeing on the Cobb Salad) looked really good.

Good coffee, nice baked items. Suggested for early AM caffeine fix :)

I received a voucher from the atwater hotel and got my drink and pastry for breakfast. it was fast and no complaints whatsoever redeeming it.

I went to Catalina Island for my boyfriend’s birthday and reached out to Ben’s Bakery to order a custom cake for the special occasion. I got the chocolate ganache cake for about 20 people. Not only was the cake one of the best I’ve ever tasted (and I’ve tried many cakes in my years!), but the decorations were incredible. My boyfriend is a drummer so they created a silouhette of a drummer out of chocolate for the top. It was amazing! Additionally, they hand delivered the cake to the restaurant, at no extra charge. They also provided a cake box so we could take any leftover cake with us. They were so accommodating and it was such a wonderful all around experience that I would order another cake from them in a heartbeat! They also had a fantastic selection of other desserts that I did not get a chance to try, but I’m sure they are also amazing. If you’re looking for high quality, delicious desserts or anything custom go to Ben’s Bakery!

Although the deserts are yummy, the customer service is deplorable. There are a number of great places that sell coffee, breakfast, or sweets on the island. Why go to the place where the girl working the counter is incredibly rude and argumentative?
There were two ladies working the counter today, one blonde, the other a brunette (almost black hair). The brunette had a terrible attitude.
I’d received a coupon/​voucher from the hotel I was staying at, which was good for a complimentary breakfast, which included choice of one bakery item and one beverage. Nowhere on the coupon did it state a time range for when the coupon could be redeemed, and so I saved the voucher for the afternoon so that I would have a snack for my ferry ride back to the mainland.
I went to the bakery at about 2PM and told the ladies behind the counter that I wanted to buy several bakery items (to take home) but that I also had the coupon/​voucher for the free drink and bakery item. The argumentative and rude brunette then tells me that the voucher is only good from 6:30AM-10:00AM and that she can’t help me.
Wow? Can’t help me?
I countered saying that the coupon did not say reflect any time restrictions. She argued saying the hotel should have told me. I tell her that the hotel didn’t, and she continued to fight restating that they should have.
Um, OK, take that up with the hotel. It is illegal in California for a business to not honor an advertisement or a coupon. If the bakery would like to put limitations in place, then that coupon should be edited to include the restrictions. What should not happen is that a cold, curt, and abrasive employee behave like a petulant child.
Realizing that I’m getting nowhere this woman, I decided to ask for the Manager. She says there is no Manager today and turns away, trying to dismiss me. I ask that she calls the Manager then.
Perhaps I should have just walked away, accepting that rude people sometimes work in the service industry, but I had been looking forward to getting these treats since the night before, so I remained persistent that she honor this coupon. Eventually, with a very angry and alarming tone, she says that she’ll give me the items, and that I shouldn’t make a big deal out of it.
Wow again! She, in fact, made it a big deal. The deal would have been very small, had she been polite, honored the coupon, and sent me on my merry way with a darn coffee and muffin.
I really don’t understand why she felt the need to be so argumentative over a coffee and muffin. The whole point of the coupon/​voucher is to get customers not to drive them away by causing a fight over something so trivial. No extra work (other than the energy the brunette expended by being argumentative) went into honoring the coupon, so why put a potential returning customer through the rigmarole?
What should have happened was the brunette should have politely said that the coupon was meant to be used between the hours of 6:30 — 10:00AM, but that she’d happily honor the coupon and that she apologizes for any confusion. But instead, she was mean and insulting.
The sad thing is that I had wanted to buy a large boxes of miscellaneous treats for my friends, but her bad attitude helped me save $ 100, so perhaps I should thank her for that.
A suggestion for the business owner, if you want the coupon to be valid for certain times, indicate that on coupon, otherwise, legally, a customer is entitled to redeem the voucher any time they want. Also, consider giving the brunette a lesson in customer service. She’s costing you money.

Got a beautiful Cheesecake, and a Chocolate Chip Cookie.
Both tasted good.
The presentation of the cake was beautiful. It is covered in a red gelatinous glaze and placed in an individual box.
Wanted to try some more the next day, but it was closed on Sunday when we stopped by.

This place is great… They make the best cold press juice in town and will customize it to your liking. Their sandwiches, salads and baked goods are delicious! A must to visit if your in Avalon Santa catalina. The service is great too!

This place has the food on the go. The pastrami sandwich is the best I have ever had! Ham and cheese croissant is amazing! And the desserts are as good as they look.

Get the choclate mouse cake if your a cheese cake lover get the cream cheese brownie

The coffee is great and it’s free if your staying at the Hotel Atwater. I would definitely recommend coming here if you like coffee. All the staff are friendly too. Also if your into iced coffee ask for a few pumps of Ghirardelli chocolate and leave room for cream and sugar. It’s definitely a sweet pick me up.

So first free coffee for staying at the Hotel Atwater. 2^nd chive omelet sandwhich is great. Flaky biscuit like bread with great herb flavor complimented by the chive egg and cheese.
Lastly they are doing. My moms wedding cake which I’m sure will be amazing. Will post pics when thats done. Check it out next time you’re here. Inside the Atwater arcade.

Excellent customer service. I am always greeted with a smile and positive peppy energy. Absolutely AMAZING coffee. I have been drinking the same coffee every morning for the last few months on the island and I just had my first cup at Ben’s – I will definitely be switching my routine for that! Could not put it down. The Cobb Salad with the avocado dressing was to die for and a little sticky bun for dessert…
. Amazing all around, great leaders running this biz!

Excellent coffee and pastries. Goes well beyond anything I would normally expect on Catalina.

Best smoothies in Avalon! If you don’t stop here you are missing out. Healthy and delicious, what more do you need for breakfast or a refreshing snack. We all love this new place!

I am honestly shocked to find the bad reviews! The oreo cookie is phenomenal and the banana cake is really good too (and gorgeous!) we had the key lime tart too and it was delish. The buffalo cookie was not good but the rest was oh so yummy! Their salads and sandwiches looked really really good too but we never had a chance to try them.

Excellent customer service. I had the red velvet cake. It was sooooo stale. Made me wonder how long it had been sitting in the case! Beautifully decorated cakes but I would ask how fresh the items are before purchasing again.

Nice people running it, but every time we go there we feel the items are stale and tasteless.
Shame. Their customers are mostly locals and island regulars so Ben’s won’t make it if they don’t improve their quality.
Best off to go to Jack’s Bakery next to the Marlin Club.
We tried hard to give it a chance and like it.
Nope, we won’t be back.

Really friendly staff, tasty bakery items, and great Illy coffee! The mini-​indoor mall is nice to relax in and sip your coffee, especially when trying to escape the rain. Be sure to try a banana cake!