SoNo Baking Company & Cafe

I’ve come for breakfast and pastries a few times over the last couple years and have never been disappointed. I dream about their almond croissants. the brioche stuffed french toast is just the perfect combination of deliciously satisfying and decadence. the breakfast burrito (with or without bacon) is extremely filling and comes with a delicious dipping sauce. their baked goods are fresh and made on premises. you can tell they are proud of what they do. the location is small and there are a few tables, so come early to avoid the crowds and the lines, though you can get anything to go. if I’m ever craving something a little «fancier,» this is the place!

would not recommend ordering take-​out from this place! we ordered five salads and after driving back to the office, we opened them up to find out they not only forgot the dressing on half the salads, but forks and napkins too. the biggest problem, however, is that the salads are heavy on the lettuce and super light on the toppings. balsamic is very sour but green dressing is good. also, sandwiches are poorly constructed and small.

Went in for breakfast and am having remorse. The coffee is basically Starbucks. If you like that strong smokey taste then you will like it. The eggs were overcooked and the bread was made of birdseed and had no taste. The potatoes were also tasteless.
Would not eat breakfast there again. Plenty other places to go with much better food.

If you are into pastries, this is your place. The food is good, but can take awhile. This is more of a place to take out of town guests for special occasions.

This is my favorite brunch place! Great food, good service.
I come here every weekend for the stuffed brioche French toast. The see through kitchens are so interesting. This’s bakery first. The food is exactly what you want; a good bakery but even better café.

I went back after a long time and must say it got much better… Did have a bad meal once as well as horrible service. Glad i gave them a 2^nd chance.
Wish they’d revise pricing though… It’s really expensive!!!

A Norwalk & Darien gem. Haven’t been to Westport location yet. Great for breakfast & lunch. Good coffee. Amazing baked goods. Nice atmosphere.

When you have a distinguished guest visiting, it’s nice to take them out to a well-​known, local establishment for breakfast/​lunch. We walked into SoNo Bakery around 11:45am. The two women at the counter were less than pleasant, handed us a breakfast menu and when we began to order told us breakfast was over. My guest politely asked what was in one of the items on the menu and the young lady replied to look at the menu. I’m unsure if she is lazy or did not know but either way, there was not a description on the menu that she shoved in my guests face and said «here.» As hungry as we were, we left and headed to the always trustworthy SoNo Harbor Café. The food is great at SoNo Bakery so it is a complete disappointment hat the service was awful. With those prices everything should come with a smile.

We moved recently from Greenwich to Sono and I was excited to live in walking distance to this great bakery — I looked forward to coffee and treats on my days off. I also have had their soups and salads for lunch –everything is very fresh, clean and nicely presented.
HOWEVER there are a few staff members who are totally rude and obviously hate their jobs –these people ruin the whole experience for me and make me stay away from Sono bakery.
*once on a busy Sunday morning they only filled my coffee halfway after I paid for a large to go– Iike literally not room for milk but 3″ filled in a 8″ cup. That is not going to get me through my day! I hate to complain or bother people but I nicely asked the man who filled the cup if I could please have a little more coffee– he gave me a dirty look and nearly rolled his eyes at me –as if I had asked him a huge unreasonable favor (the conversation should have gone -«oops I’m so sorry didn’t I fill that up? Here you go!!! (Smile)) — more like I was a nuisance that added to his job which he already dislikes. I also overheard him rudely reprimand some of the young girls for not putting more coffee on when they were busy– the tone was not professional and that should never happened in front of guests. So, they must have not had enough coffee but that’s no reason to half fill cups and hope people won’t notice ! I would have gladly waited if anyone had explained that to me …
*another time we asked for a multigrain bread — which was labeled multigrain on display — we paid and then after we were told there was no multigrain –the one on display was actually flaxseed so that was $.50 more. Totally not a problem but since it was technically their mistake just give the customer the bread !! They insisted on running my card through again for $.50. I didn’t mind but just thought that was really silly.
*the final straw was when I stopped by for some donuts and muffins for breakfast along with coffee. The girls were sweet and friendly but when I asked the man behind the counter for some soy milk (which every other time I’ve been there they have just handed me) — he again rolled his eyes, gave me an exasperated look and said in a nasty way «you know that costs $.60» — first of all –was I trying to steal the soy milk or not pay? I had no idea they charged for soy milk just added to black coffee –so I offered to pay and said ok no problem and he said «it’s ok this time –just know for next time «- I’m sorry there will not be a next time.
The young ladies they have as cashiers are almost always sweet and helpful and mostly smiling — but this one guy has got to go! I work in customer service and I would never want somone like that as the face of my business. If this issue could be fixed, I would give Sono 5 stars.

This is amazing!!! So natural and delicious! The olive oil in my sandwich is so fragrant. It is baked to perfection. The prosciutto is lean. And the soup has everything an Italian kitchen Should make!!!

I’ve never had more than a mediocre experience here. It surprises me how high the reviews are. Service is sub par and the same with most of the food. Bread is pretty good. Window inside to watch bakers is a plus. Some good management would really be helpful for this location.

Everything tastes awesome, but the new Church Street location in Westport ALWAYS messes up my order. It’s almost a joke. Service is typically terrible in the Darien location as well. I like everything I have had, but it usually takes too long to get it. If you get in there at just the right time, you’ll be pleasantly surprised. It’s delicious! Just don’t go in a rush. And if you go to Church St. in Westport, double check your order before leaving!
I recently planned a breakfast for a group of 30 women and ordered pastries and breads from the Darien location. Everything went as planned, the assortment was magnificent and ready for pick up the morning of the breakfast. I was very pleased with this experience!

Such a disappointment. Went this afternoon for the first time and will never come back. Service was AWFUL. Crew needs managing and service training immediately. The guy who took our order was lost. We ordered to stay, sat and waited. And waited. And waited. After 20 minutes he approached the table and asked us for the fourth time what we have ordered. When he went back to make the coffees he told the other guy they ran out of skim milk. Instead of being honest, they laughed and took some regular milk from the fridge and served us as being skim. Why would someone do that? Just be honest. Food was nothing special. Decent environment.

Perfect little spot for breakfast or afternoon coffee. Food tastes homemade and they always showcase a spread of delicious treats! Love having this little café in our neighborhood

They have a branch store in Darien now,
And it’s closer from my home I often drive there to grab their sweets /​breads.
At Darien they have seating spaces and some café menu, so we can enjoy there.
Every their baked goods are awesome.

Great in concept but very inefficient when there’s a crowd. Panino was tasty. Service was slooow and doughnuts were dry. Stick with sandwiches and take them to go because snagging a table is trivial.

Holy delicious!!! Light and fluffy eggs, clearly homemade English muffin. What a breakfast sandwich!
And I’m just saying… The staff was completely friendly and accommodating.
Oh and everything looked delicious, I wish I lived near one of these
One con is it is easily confused with sono deli and café down the street

I have been going to Sono Baking 3x a week for the last few months. The food is very good and so is their baking.
HOWEVER, this place has some of the worst service I’ve ever experienced. Their staff is rude and pretentious. When I asked one guy what the specials were, he said «read the menu.» Same guy wouldn’t tell me what the soup of the day was at 11:15 because he didn’t have his specials list yet… not like he couldn’t have walked 10 feet behind him in the kitchen to ask the chef what he’s been cooking for the last 5 hours.
Did I mention that every time I go there after 2 the first thing they say is «the kitchen is closed,» not hello how are you. This is EVERYTIME. I’ve never even wanted food at that hour, just a coffee, but glad they feel the need to tell me that everytime.
All in all, this place has potential but they should either tell their staff to be polite or fire them. It’s ridiculous at this point.

Consistently good service, food, and ambiance. Certainly one of my top breakfast spots when I’m visiting my hometown.
I stopped in with a few friends for breakfast on Saturday morning and ordered the Western omelet with bacon, cheddar, onions and a slew of other veggies. Served with toast and well-​seasoned homefries, it was the perfect choice to start the day. Watching your waistline is torture here because the pastries, cakes and other confections are simply decadent. The brunch french toast stuffed with fresh berries and vanilla pastry cream is another otherworldly experience.
Coffee is delicious and the calm, soothing atmosphere of a downtown bakery is really the perfect setting for a morning break.

Love this place!
My mother suggested coming here to do a «birthday brunch» for my husband on a Sunday morning. As we were coming from NYC, it didn’t take us very long to get here– about 45 min (no traffic). Despite not being a «sit down restaurant» but a order at the register and grab a table, the staff went above and beyond making sure that our party was satisfied. There was 6 of us and they rearranged the tables quickly accommodating for our party size– we were surprised we didn’t have to stand around waiting for somewhere to sit on Sunday morning around 10am.
We started with a mixture of pastries that we broke apart and shared while waiting for our main meals. All were delicious, but I must admit, the sticky bun was the crowd favorite-​so gooey and delicious, flavor & texture spot on! For my main, I went with the stuffed brioche french toast after seeing the rave Unilocal reviews. When it first arrived, I was so excited as it was huge and looked beyond amazing! Unfortunately, it wasn’t as perfect as I had hoped. I’m pretty sure the bread was under-​soaked as it did have the dry/​crunchy outside but the inside was not soft at all, in fact, it was dry, plain bread. However, the vanilla pastry cream in the center with the berries was absolutelllyyy delicious! If only the french toast surround the filling would have been better it could have become one of my favorite french toasts ever based on the filling alone. Hopefully next time I visit, the bread will have been allowed to soak a little while longer. I also had a cappuccino which was actually really good – espresso creamy/​flavorful with perfect foam.
After eating all of the pastries/​french toast, we decided to switch things up and instead of singing happy birthday over a slice of cake, we went with the strawberry shortcake which was quite possibly one of the best desserts I’ve ever had! Once the staff knew it was for a birthday, they had one of the pastry chef’s write happy birthday before serving it which we didn’t even ask them to do. I cannot wait to come back for more!