Sur La Table

I’ve been to plenty of Sur La Table, including the original in Seattle. This one does not stand out by any means. The prices are a bit on the pricey side but their products are typically a higher quality. While the staff doesn’t go above and beyond, they do make an effort to help. I will be back for more.

While they do have some nice things here, the items are also overpriced; they have run up to 150% — 200% of what I bought them for elsewhere. I’m talking about the same exact brand and model, not a knock-​off, and no, they were not discounted at the time. I’m not against paying a bit of a markup for convenience or better customer service, but this is excessive. The cooking classes seem spendy, too, since they cost at least as much as the class I took in Paris last month (both are about macaron basics), when Paris was in general more expensive than the U.S. when I went.
Their return policy is also inconvenient, or as a cashier put it, «evil.» They claim not to look up receipts by credit card number, though they require you to present a credit card to get a refund, so they clearly do have this information linked together. They claim instead to look up receipts by name, but they don’t actually ask your name when you make a purchase; this was the first and only location to ever ask my name, and only as I was trying to process a return. Neither do they offer store credit, so I’m pretty much out of luck without the gift receipt, though I know exactly who bought it, and I know for a fact that they used a credit card — all because a cashier didn’t ask for the buyer’s name at the beginning. This strikes me as not only a terribly poor way of doing business in this day and age for a large company that has the resources to get its computer systems (or whatever the excuse is) up to snuff, but like a cop-​out. Even Target looks up receipts by credit card and offers store credit without, and nobody would argue that Target is a high-​end store like Sur La Table positions itself to be.
In summary, Sur La Table’s customer service policies (not the actual salespeople, who were pleasant here) just don’t seem in line with what it actually costs to shop here. Combined with the fact that I can get their items for cheaper elsewhere, and that this, the closest location to me, is a solid hour’s drive away, I’m just not a big fan and do not see myself returning anytime soon.

Love this place! Its like a toy store for anyone who loves kitchen things!
Its basically Williams-​Sonoma without the air of pretentiousness. Everything is on a wire rack or in a large jar, so it feels like a restaurant supply store. Except this store stocks Le Creuset!
Everything is not as expensive as it seems — walk around and you’ll find some great deals. Keep an eye out for the orange stickers. I came out with tupperware that was marked down from $ 12 to $ 6!
I have yet to try the cooking classes, but I do plan on doing it sometime soon. Its hard to find group cooking classes in the area.

Sur La Table is like a playground for anyone who truly enjoys cooking, and takes it seriously! From La Crueset cook-​ware, to Wustof cutlery, Sur has it all. Although shopping here can run you a very high tab, it is a wonderful place to buy gifts for the holidays or parties — and the quality will last a long time.
If you’re on a budget, the discounted items are in the back of the store and can be up to 60% off for accessories, supplies, and essentials for the kitchen. Another perk Sur has is that they hold cooking classes throughout the year in their kitchen attached to the store — FYI they are hiring for chefs currently to teach classes per-​diam.

I lucked out when the only Sur La Table happened to be 15 minutes from my house!
(Frankly I’m surprised by this… you would think there would be more of them in Connecticut)
This past weekend I went in to exchange a Wüsthof knife and cutting board set I had ordered online. The sales associate that helped me, Loren, was awesome! She offer many excellent suggestions on cutlery and cutting boards.
She explained the pros and cons of the different cutting boards and while I loved the look of the John Boos Cutting Board I didn’t realize the upkeep it required. I’m happy to say I selected a great Epicurean Nonslip Carving Board, with one side with a carving groove for catching drips and nonslip buttons that keep it from sliding during use.
Thanks again, Sur La Table and Loren!

I’ve had a love affair with this store for years and years. It’s huge and you can find just about any piece of cookware or bakeware you need in addition to cookbooks, aprons and other linens, espresso makers, fun kitchen gadgets, etc. One of my favorite kitchen pieces of all time, my beloved fuchsia Cuisinart food processor, was purchased here. If you’re anything like me, you’d feel like a kid in a candy store at Sur La Table. There are so many things to explore and marvel at. Staff have always been super friendly and knowledgeable. As others reviewers have mentioned cooking classes are also offered at this location. I had always wanted to take a cooking class at Sur La Table so imagine my delight when my boyfriend informed me a few weeks ago that, as part of my birthday present, he had signed me up for Secrets of a Pastry Chef that was held today.
When I arrived things seemed a bit disorganized. The class instructor, Audra, and her assistants were still setting up when I got there less than 5 minutes to class time. There were no clear instructions as to what to do initially so it was somewhat confusing, but after about 10 minutes it seemed to smooth out a bit.
Things I liked about the class:
— Audra was an excellent instructor in terms of teaching techniques and being thorough in her answers to questions raised in class. She’s had years of experience as a pastry chef at Bricco, The Hartford Club, and the Wadsworth Atheneum, to name a few places. She had a great attitude and offered some very helpful tips that she’s learned over the years.
— Her class assistants were wonderful and kept things running as smoothly as possible by doing dishes, running to get spatulas and other supplies when needed, explaining things when Audra was occupied, and were generally very helpful.
— Cheese and crackers were offered (to tide us over until lunch since class was scheduled 10:30am to 12:30pm) as well as iced tea, water, and any coffee or espresso beverage. I had come to class under-​caffeinated and one of the class assistants promptly made me a cappuccino on one of their lovely machines upon my request. Woke me right up!
— It was fun to work with other people in the class even with all the different personalities in th e room.
— The food was absolutely incredible. We made: Bittersweet Chocolate Soufflés with Vanilla Crème Anglaise — Dark Chocolate, Caramel, and Hazelnut Tart — Profiteroles with Cocoa Nib Cream — Lavender-​Sugared Palmiers. I was even provided a glass of milk to cut the sweetness of the delicious creations when I asked for it!
— Students in a cooking class get 10% off any item in the store, including sale and clearance, for a week. We had time to browse the store when things were baking up in the oven.
Things I didn’t like so much:
— I expected to be hands-​on for the whole class but for some of the items we worked together in small groups and shared the end product. That was fine and fun, but I think some of the learning was lost on not being able to do all the steps myself.
— We jumped back and forth between recipes when we were waiting for a part of one recipe to be completed on the stove or oven. I understand the rationale behind it in terms of making the best use of the time, but it got kind of confusing when it was not absolutely clear which recipe we had moved to.
— Despite this, we still finished a whole hour after the class was supposed to end, which was inconvenient because I had somewhere to be afterwards.
— There were nine of us in the class and at some points people were talking over each other and the instructor (which I know isn’t the stores fault and I am not sure how it could have been remedied).
All in all it was a lot of fun and I am glad I went. I just wish we had been warned that it could go overtime. Audra noted that she had expressed her concerns about this to her manager so hopefully future classes will not have this problem. A final bonus: I got to bring some goodies home to my boyfriend and he loved them! Despite the glitches, it was a wonderful experience overall and I am already looking forward to going to another class. I will definitely be recreating most if not all of the items we learned today.
Note: If you take a savory class you are not allowed to leave the class with food for liability reasons.

Sur La Table is a store specializing in cookware/​kitchen necessities. The store also offers cooking classes and tutorials.
THE POSITIVES:
Selection– The store is massive and they have so many products!
Staff– Helpful, friendly
Layout– Pretty easy to get around and find certain things
The classes– I have taken three classes there and have enjoyed all of them! Then again I was only 12 – 13 at the time, but I enjoyed them. I also learned how to properly use a knife!
THE NEGATIVES:
Price– It can be pricey (hey its kitchenware!) But they do have a clearance section in the back
Space– It can feel crammed at time when a lot of people are in the store, but it isn’t too bad.
Overall Sur La Table is a good place to go if you need some kitchenware or want to take a fun cooking class!
–Kim
P. S.- It isn’t pronounced Sur La Table, it is pronounced Sur La Tab (it took me forever to figure that out) :)

thought i had written about this Sur. if you have never been and you are a person that likes to cook, Sur La Table is worth checking out. It’s sort of like Williams-​Sonoma but a little bit better, with a slightly different selection and this one has a pretty nice large kitchen setup where they teach cooking classes. Some things are pricey here, but it’s pretty much average for what they sell — and they do have a large clearance section in the back that usually has a lot of good stuff.