Bijan Bakery & Cafe

We have tried this place twice, and found it ok. They are not bad, but weren’t very great either. I liked their cookies etc a lot better than the mousse and cakes.

Went to this bakery this morning and quality has suffered greatly.
Annually my family comes to San Jose for an event, we usually get breakfast pastries. In the past Bijan has been very good.
This time I order a large order and it was wrong. Instead of getting English Breakfast tea I got Earl Grey, and some of the coffees tasted pre-​sweetened. The breakfast croissant were heavy and greasy.
To add insult on a $ 90 order, they charged me $ 2.50 for the bag to carry it in. They claimed it is a state law. There is no state law about charging for bags. There is a local law requiring a $ 0.10 charge. Most companies pay it themselves on large orders like this one.
If they are willing to lie about the law for profit what else are they lying about?

Bijan baked our wedding cake at Silver Creek Country Club years ago and we’ve been getting most of our birthday and special event cakes there ever since, especially since they’ve had this closer location in downtown SJ!
In addition to full cakes, their selection of slices, cookies and savory sandwiches/​salads for lunch make this café a go-​to place during weekdays as well. They have ample seating inside and out on the patio and are conveniently located next to the Fairmont hotel.

Bijan is really beautifully decorated, the location is nice, and very spacious. However, I was so disappointed today when I stopped by. Mine and my friend’s pastries were old. The service was just so so horrible. Lazy, disgruntled and uninviting employees. We were not greeted when we came in. In fact we were ignored for a good 6 minutes before someone asked us if we were ready. Normally, I would be a lot more understanding but there was literally no one there. My friend got a spinach and cheese pastry and they literally just plopped it on a plate and didn’t even offer to warm it up for her. Like cmon, even Starbucks has better service than you and they aren’t even a real bakery. My Neapolitan was old and soggy. And the custard was horrendous. On top of that, a majority of the tables were not bussed. Plates and mugs were everywhere. I will not be coming back again unless the employees get re-​trained and the quality of their pastries improve. Bijan truly has so much potential but the service was one of the worst I’ve ever experienced at any bakery. Not one employee was kind. Giving two stars because I like the décor/​atmosphere.

Got a cream cheese croissant, chocolate croissant, and lemon tart. All of these tasted wonderful. The croissants were soft but also flakey. The only thing I didn’t like was the huge gap inside the cream cheese croissants. Idk If it’s because the way it was baked but I’ve seen cream cheese croissants without the huge gap inside.
The lemon tart is definitely worth praising. The crust is a soft crust, not too hard and not flakey. I love these kinds of crusts. The tart is also not a cringing sour tart. Perfect balance between sweet and sour.
Extensive cake selection! Will be back to try more.

I’m not sure why this place is rated so low. It’s a great place with very friendly staff. I often travel to San Jose for work and this is my go-​to place for breakfast or an evening coffee.
Thanks for making my stay more enjoyable…

I’ve visited this bakery and café a number of times over the past few years. I always enjoyed their food and especially their fabulous pastries and cakes.
This last visit a week ago left me disappointed. Granted there is a little extra traffic due to Christmas in the Park but this was on a Monday around noon, still not too busy.
My friend and I took a number as is their practice and waited at the empty counter. No one manning the register but three ladies were working behind the counter. We waited. And waited. One girl in the meantime, walked right by behind the counter, headed on her break, without bothering to say someone might be with us in a second, or letting the other two ladies know someone wanted to place an order.
When one of the girls finally came to take our order, she was very sweet and helpful. We ordered a few slices of quiche, a hard boiled egg, croissant, and a few hot chocolates.
Our order came up pretty quickly. The hot chocolates were very warm, not quite hot. The quiche were disappointing because they were barely above room temperature. And their ham and sausage quiche? Yeah, that would be hot dog sausages. I had to do a double take before taking a second bite.
The piece of guava mousse cake was yummy. So the pastries and the sweet lady at the counter were the only redeeming things here. Pace of service definitely needs to change and so does some of the food!

terrible service! I went in 8:30 am for coffee and pastry and stood at the counter for at least 10 minutes while all of the employees completely ignored me (it wasn’t busy) I was the only person waiting … no eye contact, no «I’ll be right with you»
I would definitely recommend going anywhere else, if that’s the service when employees outnumber guests imagine how terrible the service will be when busy!
I was going to enquire about ordering a large cookie platter for a Christmas party — but forget it! I’ll never be back! don’t wast your money here there are lots of great options nearby

This review is for the poor customer service, not the bakery items, even though the lattes leave a lot to be desired.
Me and two of my friends stopped by the café Sunday morning before a performance of a show we were participating in nearby. We chose to stop by here since it was closer than the Starbucks… bad idea.
We all got numbers, and my one friend had the first number (42), but did not know what she wanted just yet. The young lady (I wish I had her name) at the counter started very nice, stating there was no rush and there were no other customers waiting. While my friend (42) was looking, my other friend (44) knew what she wanted, so she started ordering. The lady put her order in the computer, then when it came time to pay, there was a huge deal about her number (44) not being the next number in line (42). Ok, I get that it can get bad in situations, and it is policy to take a number, but we clearly all came in together and were friends. Even though my friend said they could just switch numbers so they would be in order, the lady just would not budge and said it was proceedure and the system would mess up… that makes NO sense. WHY would that cause and issue with people just switching numbers. It is the same food/​drink/​money received… why does it matter what order it is made in if we all three are leaving at the same time! I get it if two strangers walked in… but come on!
So my friend (42) ends up ordering and I was helped next because I was 43, my friend (44) was then waiting and an employee asked her if she ordered and she began to explain that she ordered, but had to wait instead and before my friend (44) could even finish explaining, the lady that she tried to order from yelled «no she didn’t order because her number wasn’t up» across the café. That’s nice.
I ordered, paid and received my food. My friend (44) was skipped and they were already onto number 46 without someone asking her what she would like. She ened up going to Starbucks anyway because she was so upset by the way she was treated.
They make such a huge deal about making the orders in number and yet somehow she managed to be skipped by at least two numbers???
None of us will be back to this café, which is a shame because the treats they have here are gorgeous.
Side note: While I was waiting for my latte and bagel I noticed a woman standing at the register with a cup a fruit that she wanted to buy and at least two different employees saw her standing there and not once asked her if she had a number or explain that she needed one. She finally realized that she needed a number and she stated she didn’t know she needed one and she just wanted to buy the cup of fruit and the same lady that was rude to my friend stated «There are signs posted everywhere». THAT is your response? WOW.
The manager of this café NEEDS to invest in some customer service training.

My review is based on a 10 minute experience and I only ate 1 item — Lemon Tart, please keep this in mind.
I am in town only for the weekend and my family and I wanted to try out one of the desserts from this bakery after breakfast. The location is on a cute corner which during the holidays is across from this christmas tree festival. It would be a nice place to sit in the outside tables and drink hot coffee and hang out. If I lived nearby I would probably be studying for school there in the warmer months. The taste of the lemon tart was excellent. The crust was just the right amount of soft, flakey, and crunchy. The lemon flavor could have been a little more tart, but that is only a matter of opinion (I love tart lemon flavor). The customer service was okay; the girl at the counter was polite and rang us up in a timely fashion. The place also seemed to be very clean, which is something I immediately look for. The prices were a little high, but based on the ambiance, taste and look of the pastries and cakes, and location, the price is necessary for the business. I also do not mind paying a little extra for quality food and desserts.
I would recommend it to anyone who loves sweets!

As always… a great place to get quality sweets!
I’ve been to the downtown and Saratoga locations and neither locations seem that inviting to me. This is coming from someone that likes the environment of coffee spots. But, that’s just a preference of mine so I won’t take away from their awesome desserts!

The cake here is amazing! I would definitely go here for dessert all the time if I could.

Sure, the prices are a little steep. But all I can say is that it depends on what you get.
My work is a quick walk through the Fairmont hotel, but whenever I want a pick-​me-​up (aka some cake) you can bet your bottom I will be walking to Bijan.
I had their mushroom and cheese croissant today and almost DIED (from happiness). I was in croissant heaven. It was warm, flaky, and didn’t leave you feeling uncomfortably full after consuming it.

Review on ordering a birthday cake.
I called Friday, September 11 at 9:07 pm to order an 8 inch chocolate mousse cake to be picked up on Sunday at noon. The girl (I wish I would have gotten her name)…kept putting me on hold to ask someone else there…“Let me see if they can do that.” She wasn’t very knowledgeable on what they could or couldn’t do for a birthday cake… I should have just spoken with the other person she kept asking the questions to.
Today, Sunday, September 13. I show up to go pick up the cake and it is not ready nor can they find the order slip for it. Luckily there was one chocolate mousse cake on display. The girl had to ask me what I wanted written on there again (writing was very sloppy and the cake had a crack on the side (see picture). If there was another chocolate mousse cake I would have had them redo it but I wanted to get what the birthday girl requested. Not happy to pay $ 39.95 for a cake that they should have had ready to go — they could have at least given me a discount or given it to me for free since it was their error. I will think twice about ordering another birthday cake from here… I shouldn’t have to call a day or few hours in advance to make sure the order was received and ready. Such bull$hit.

My fiancé has gotten my birthday cake three years in a row, and every single time I was impressed. I really love princess cake, and this place really does it right. It’s a bit on the pricier side, but it’s worth it in the long run.
I’ve been here a few times and it’s a nice little location, that has a décor on the fancier side. It can get pretty empty on a weekday afternoon as downtown San Jose slowly becomes a bit of a ghost town around those hours. Still, it’s a great location and I truly love the quality this place puts into their pastries. Give it a shot I say.

You MUST stop and get a dessert here if you’re in San Jose! My husband got the hazelnut mouse and I got the small chocolate mouse. They were both delicious! The best desserts I’ve had in the Bay Area! We will definitely be back.
The small chocolate mouse came in an edible chocolate cup, and had raspberries and some powdered sugar on top. Delicious and a perfect addition to our family day out.

Very conveniently located just off the the street from tech museum. Elaborate spread of pastries and breads but loathe the café latte they make:(
Tried the pistachio mousse which was pretty interesting but didn’t like the almond layer in it. They also had the sugar free version which looked fancy so perhaps will try that next time.
Opened on Sunday evening so a plus when pretty much everything is shut.

Amazing deserts!
Came here for mothers day. Place was very busy. Looks like almost everyone was getting orders to go. This place does not have a lot of seating (Maybe 20?), so that might be the reason.
The selection of Mousse pastries is great. They have a good selection of tart pastries and some crème patries as well. Everything runs about $ 5.00 each. They also have a good selection of cakes, which look delicious.
Ordering at the counter seems a bit hectic. After 9am you have to take a ticket to order from the counter. This seems efficient, but lead to people scrambling around when their ticket was called. During my visit, the clerks seemed a bit overwhelmed.
Ordered the Hazelnut Mousse, Pecan tart and The Black ForestMousse. All were delicious.
Overall, a great experience.
I’m sure i will be back here again.

This place is incredibly busy and for a good reason. The pastries are amazing.
We went for a cinnamon roll but they were sold out. We got a chocolate muffin and ham and cheese croissant. Both were amazing! Iced coffee was high quality and my daughter ordered the «gold rush» smoothie with orange carrot and ginger ale. It was refreshing and not too sweet. You could definitely taste the carrot.

I like stopping in to alleviate my sweet-​tooth. The selection of fancy pastries and cakes is extensive. I’ve been here a couple of dozen times and don’t recall negative experiences to provide constructive feedback on. In fact, I seem to recall that the service here has been consistently positive. The staff here are very nice and seem to care for my needs.
To place an order after 9am you must pull a number, I watched this poor tourist stand there patiently waiting to be served, finally I pointed to the number dispenser. It’s located at the center corner portion of the counter.
The coffee here is nice and dark with the coffee bar at the end of the right wing. In general the cakes are European style with curbed sweetness. I’ve indulged in a variety of cakes, pastries and bakery products in the past and I’ve been very satisfied with their quality, taste and presentation. Most recently, I had the Apple Tart, which was awesome. The apples were soft and sweet, and the dough soft and crunchy in the correct parts of the pie.
The interior is perfect for a bakery, but more tables would be useful. The upstairs seems to be roped off every time I visit. The outside patio is charming and offer a great spot for people watching while enjoying a sweet treat.