CIA Bakery Cafe

Ya better get here with your cash in hand and have a flaky croissant or decadent chocolate dessert before they close down on December 20^th!
(A one sentence review you can take to the bank, son!)

I stopped by CIA for a quick bite after a yoga class during my last trip to San Antonio, and I was pretty wowed by their pastry case. The café itself is clean and seemed like a very pleasant place to meet up with a friend, have a business meeting, or get some work done.
I can only speak to the yogurt and coffee that I had there, and all of that was a-​ok. There wasn’t a ton of savory food selection, but if you want something sweet, hit this place up!

Better late than not at all for this review given our experience at the CIA Bakery in San Antonio was a wonderful one when we visited last year. Having been to the Apple Pie Bakery Café at the CIA in Hyde Park, I suppose it is heresy to say I liked this San Antonio outpost bakery better. But there you have it. I did. If you’re in San Antonio, look for this gem in The Pearl complex. Well worth the visit and the calories.
THE DRILL
Order at the counter inside from either the sweets selection in the bakery case or from a selection of soup, salad and sandwiches posted on the chalkboard above. If sweets they’ll serve them up to you at the counter for you to take to your table in or out, or in a to go box for take away. If savories, seems they’ll deliver to your table when ready.
SEATING
The space is small inside, but there are a few tables there and more outside on the sidewalk and patio surrounding.
SERVICE
Very friendly counter person who knew all the goodies in the case very well and could help us narrow down our choices.
FOOD /​VALUE
So many good choices of sweet temptations, which is what we were after to take away, and only so many calories to invest. We loved all three of our take away items, which were carefully and beautifully boxed. Big woohoo here that they make alfajores! These delectable Peruvian cookies filled with dulce de leche are über difficult to bake at home and super delectable as made here. Also, if they have the Monte Alban Oaxaca ($ 3.80) do not pass it up! Hazelnut dacquoise, hazelnut chocolate cris, dark (72%) chocolate ganache… it IS as good as it sounds. We thought all items were a great value for how delicious they were.
TH’S N THAT:
1) ACCESSIBILITY: Level in and throughout. Standard height seating in and out.
2) PARKING: Pretty ample parking in an adjacent lot.
3) RIVER TAXI: You can get here by car and park in the adjacent lot. Or you can take the River Taxi from downtown San Antonio through the Museum Reach to get here. We did that one day. Or you can take the River Taxi from the Pearl here down through the Museum Reach to downtown San Antonio. We did that one day too. Point is, use the River Taxi. Great fun.
4) IL SOGNO OSTERIA: Is just across the parking lot from CIA. Our meal at Il Sogno as outstanding. One of the best dining experiences ever. A tip… don’t miss it!

I always get the alfajores (absolute favorite!) plus one extra item to try. Unfortunately, there have been a few misses for me. For example, the coconut cupcake. It tasted like suntan lotion and had a weird liquidy center. I couldn’t finish it and threw it out after one bite. Also not a fan of their fruit tarts. For me, the crust is too dense. HOWEVER, I had the chocolate caramel tart today that was very good! Super rich chocolatey & caramely. Not sure what the white football shaped thingy was on top of it. But it had a slight tanginess that balanced out the sweetness of the chocolate and caramel. Get it.
So as long as CIA carries alfajores, Nutella cream puff, and chocolate caramel tart, I will continue to be a weekly customer!

I love this place. Great food, nice atmosphere, and amazing location! In my opinion, the Pearl Brewery area is one of the coolest places in San Antonio.
Taste is amazing
Price is good
Service is fast

I love, love, love, love this place, and it’s high gold star day when I can introduce new friends to it.
This place is run by the Culinary Institute for America, and is a beautiful little brick-​and-​mortar bakery and lunch place. I have adored their dulce de leche stackers, the fresh fruit arugula salad, earl grey tea, fruit tarts (shared between friends dropping in together), the orange cranberry scones and the chocolate domes.
So, so, so much amazing, and most their treat for for around $ 3 a piece. You can beat the price, especially for how amazing the food and food quality, especially, is.

To be concise: CIA Bakery Café offers delicious, overpriced food.

2.5 stars
came here around 2pm on a weekday and the bakery selection was sparse. we grabbed a pain au chocolat, a coconut cupcake, and an alfajore for about $ 10. i had my fingers crossed for macarons because they had been mentioned in a previous Unilocal review, but the ladies behind the register said they didn’t make em. :(
the pain au chocolat was sadly a disappointment. instead of the buttery, flaky goodness i was craving, i got this crunchy pastry that had almost NO chocolate filling in it. sad day.
the coconut cupcake was super cute, esp with its slightly burnt meringue top. it was definitely… interesting though. the cake was really really really moist. well, actually more like straight up wet. kinda like if you had dipped the bottom half into a bowl of simple syrup. it wasn’t bad, just unexpected and kinda weird.
the alfajore (2 small, thin shortbread cookies with dulce de leche filling) might have been the best thing we tried, but even so, it wasn’t all that impressive. i liked how the shortbread cookies and filling were soft, but the whole thing overall didn’t wow me. and definitely wasn’t worth the $ 3-​something we paid.
cia bakery brought me to the pearl brewery area for the first time (after being in sa for two years!). the area is super adorable and reminded me a little bit of pearl street in boulder, colorado except kinda really deserted — granted, it was a weekday. im sure the area gets busier on weekends! it’s a nice place to hang out or meet up for coffee on a nice day, so i’ll probably be back, but fingers crossed for more baked goods to choose from next time!

Saturday, 2 pm. Only pastries left are about 10 croissants and pain au chocolate.
The nice gal at the counter sighed apologetically. Get there early on Saturdays.

We stopped in here for some coffee on our way to the Farmer’s Market. The café mocha was definitely «as good as it gets»! We also had the Croissantwich — Their famous croissant split in half and topped with black forest ham, fried egg, jalapeño cheese spread, and carmelized onions. It was so yummy and a perfect start to our Farmer’s Market morning.

Coffee is great, bakery items are tops — every detail is heeded from taste to appearance, but then again, it does bear the name CIA. Fantastic location, right in the middle of the Pearl complex and just a block away from the San Antonio Riverwalk. Not much seating inside, but plenty outside, or take and sit down by the river.
I’ve never been able to keep up with the odd hours here however. They close fairly early and some days I drive by in the middle of the day and they’re closed.

Great alternative to Starbucks. The baked goods are super, which I would expect from the Culinary Institute. They do a great job on espresso beverages, also. There is some limited seating in an out, and with the ongoing build-​up outside, it can be noisy at times.
Service is great. You can also peek in and see the budding chefs at work through a window, which is a nice touch, versus what you’d see at Starbucks: unwrapping items baked elsewhere!!!
Less than 5 minutes from 281, it’s worth the stop.

Got like 6 things for less than 25 dollars. Zucchini bread, alfajores, pear and almond tart, pecan bar, piña colada roll and double xs cake. Oh man, for about 3 – 4 dollars per pastry, the stuff the CIA makes is amazing. Each item was so good.
Double XS Cake — Moist and subtly sweet. Just the right amount of sweet and chocolate.
Tart — Sweet, fruity and nutty. Crust was flaky and paired really well with the filling.
Alfajores — Crumbly, flaky and buttery. The dulce de leche filling was also sweet and sticky. It was like eating a flan-​flavored cookie.
Pecan Bar — Not super sweet. You can really tasted the pecans. It’s not just sugar with nuts on top.
Piña colada roll — Wasn’t as impressed with this one. Just tasted like preserved fruit in a flaky roll.
Zucchini bread — Kind of tastes like carrot cake but not as sweet. Really good, I would go back for this. It has a honey ginger glaze too which I definitely appreciate.
I wanted to try their guava empanadas but they were out. Go there early for them, I’m certain they’re delicious.

I stopped by here with my son after a birthday lunch at La Gloria.
I had two espressos and a taste of my son’s key lime cheese cake. The espresso, the pie, and the service were fantastic. I’ll be back.

Summary: Being that I’m more on taste and less on fancy presentation, I liked the food but can’t say it blew me away. Service here was run of the mill. If you’re somewhat near the place, give it a shot but don’t make a trip out of it.
All of the baked goods I’ve tried here have been pretty solid and none have disappointed as of yet. The mini banana pie dessert I tried the last time I went was probably the favorite thing I’ve eaten there. I plan to try some of their other food i.e. soups/​sandwiches the next time I’m in the area. They also get additional props from me for having pretty good (and sometimes unique) drinks like jamaica. Reminds me of my trip to Honduras…
The inside seating is somewhat limited from what I saw so plan on eating outside or getting it to go. Saturdays morning to midday can get busy pretty quick because of all the farmer’s market folks but the wait is never too long.
Nothing fantastic here but there are some selections worth checking out if you’re in the neighborhood.

Wonderful spot for a fresh made lunch! I really like the Vegetable Panini with the side of Arugula. The sandwich is packed with fresh veggies and a wonderful sun dried tomato spread is a stand out flavor.
On my visits I have tried the Key Lime Pie, a simple Croissant, a Chocolate Cookie and took home a loaf of Ciabatta to accompany a warm stew dinner. I was really happy with each selection.
In house, seating is limited, outside there are tables but also an area of grass which works for a picnic spot.
Behind the scenes, the place is impressive! We toured it and felt such an energy even while the space was empty with no chefs to be seen or cooking to witness.
If you can’t find outdoor parking, check out the garage as it is open to the public and free.

Guava Delight. Pecan bars. My heart hurts knowing that these little guys went *kaput* in my tummy. But they brought sheer joy for those few minutes of my life so their death was not in vain. I’ma pour one for my homies…

Went here with my friend and her mom this morning… I had the salted caramel chocolate tart and the hot Miami (?). Also bought my husband a monster chocolate cookie. Everything was so fabulous!
If you are craving something really rich and divine, the tart was soooo good. But then again, everything is so good.
The culinary students are truly excited about their craft and you can see it in the fine tuned details of their beautiful creations. So eye popping!
Will definitely return to try other items!

This place is like heaven on earth. Where else in San Antonio can you find Thomas Keller quality pastries and other baked goods?
I dare say that their passion fruit macaron is better than the macarons at Bouchon!

like a kid in a candy shop… oh yeah. I am a big kid, in a pastry shop… so yes, we’ll have one of each!
ok, we got four pastries, a loaf of bread and a latte to go. we were in the area and I always loved visiting the st helena branch of the CIA (greystone) so I was anxious to try their new san antonio café.
we brought them back to austin and surprised the kids and my mom. we were like heros as we unveiled these sweets. it was a chilly evening, we enjoyed these by the outdoor fire place, we had a glass of 10 yo tawny port… it was just perfect!