Cocola Bakery

A sweet tooth after dinner in Santana Row. Everyone looked cozy with their coffee and dessert, we had to check it out. The coffee… Burnt/​expired tasting but their desserts (macrons) are amazing!
I got the vanilla macron and they are soft and so creamy. I could eat 10! But sadly I only got one.
The line is pretty long but it moved pretty fast. I’ll definitely come back for the macrons.

Apple tart and lemon tart are delicious. I got a cappuccino the last 2 times I came here. The first time it was perfect and creamy. The second time I came it tasted like burnt coffee. It was really crowded so I didn’t want to send it back. Customer service is inconsistent as well, not very friendly and I felt a little rushed. I would probably come back for the lemon tart if I’m in Santana Row and try the cappuccino one more time, but I would not go out of my way to come here.

We here on a Friday evening with some friends. We got the lemon tart, hazlenut cake, Passionfruit mango mousse cake, and coffee cake.
I’m giving it only 3 stars because I got the Passionfruit mango mousse cake and it was not good. It had a layer of chewy hard cake on the edge which did not taste good at all. The middle part was decent.
My friends got some other desserts that totally made up for my lame cake. The coffee cake is definitely worth trying!

Rude service. Can’t remember who was the lady (I think she’s Hispanic?) who took my order but she was very unfriendly and impatient towards my boyfriend and I. She treated us as if WE should be serving her.
Pastries weren’t that great either. We ordered a fruit tart and it was as rigid as a rock. The cherry filling reminded me of the medicine my mum used to force feed me as a child. Yuck.
Never going back there.

Bought an over price chocolate pound cake and then saw little flies in their pastry display case. Was told it happens from the worker and she did not seem too concerned that one could land on something she would be selling to a customer. Disgusting. I can get a better chocolate dessert from Costco.

Yummy pastries and coffee. Their almond croissant is really flaky and delicious. Their other cakes looked really tempting. They sell tons of cakes and that day, so many people were ordering cakes and having them written on. Service is good– baristas try to get the coffees out on time. Plenty of seating inside and outside.

Very convenient little bakery next to Straits and right next to any DeForest residents. :)
I really like their pastries and cakes here. Especially any cheese or custard-​filled pastry! Mmmmm.
I haven’t tried any of their coffees but from what I’ve seen other people order, they look pretty legit too.
This place seems to be packed regardless of the time. There’s plenty of seating inside and outside but like I said, it gets packed so best of luck finding a spot for your tush and your coffee and pastry.
I think Cocola is one of the few bakeries in the area that’s open late. Probably to cater to the Santana Row late-​night party animals.

Stopped for quick cup of coffee and pastry while waiting for stores to open.
The coffee was hot and robust. I got the raisin roll which was quite tasty so I’m sure it was full of calories.
Friendly staff and cute bistro ambience. The only con is chairs were metal and not very comfortable.

I think this place is a little too hyped up. Their coffee and desserts are just OK and the seating in this place is very limited.

This bakery is usually busy because of its location in Santana Row. They have an assortments of drinks, sandwiches, sides, pastries and cakes. It’s a fairly small bakery, so it can get crowded quickly. Seating inside looks uncomfortable. Good thing there is outdoor seating as well.
My visit today was very chaotic. There was at least 8 or so people in line and many more coming in. The staff looked disorganized and overwhelmed. Although I got my drink quickly, my meal took a while. It’s about 11 $ for a portobello sandwich and they do give you a side and some bread so it’s not a bad price point.
I got also got a chai tea and hazelnut macaroon (large of course!) and both were tasty! The macaroon was soft and the hazelnut flavor was prominent.
Although their pastries looked so appetizing… I saw three little flies flying inside the case where they display their pastries… UHM gross!!! No thanks!
Hopefully, I came on an off day.

I so want to take a star off for the unstable and uncomfortable seating, but maybe it’s a business strategy, to keep customers from hanging around too long, they ant to get other customers in.
Anyway, the pastries are quite good and so is the regular coffee. The mocha’s are a little too rich for me, which is a good thing, I don’t need to be spending anymore, the regular coffee and pasties are already pricy, which is totally understandable given their location. I love their Crème Feuillete, I always kind of trail off at the end of pronouncing Feuillete, I don’t have a tongue for pronouncing anything French.
The service is pretty good, too.

I think the bakery has gotten downhill over the years.
I remember when the hazelnut cake was nice and perfect in texture.
I used to always make my way to come here for dessert.
After the years has past and I revisited it again, it seemed very low in quality and freshness.
The cake and desserts seems to always be stale and old.
It’s a shame.
For now, I don’t plan to stop by.

Cocola is a lovely bakery, with even lovelier staff (shout out to Halima!). My friends and I enjoyed a Roulette and Raspberry mousse, which complemented each other well. I would definitely recommend a tartier dessert paired with a creamier, richer choice.
The ambience brings me back to a hole-​in-​the-​wall, Parisian café. The seats and tables are a happy hue of yellow, and cheer up a drowsy day! God bless!

Stopped by for 4 small cakes to bring for dessert to a friends house. I forget the exact names of the cakes, but they included a Tiramisu, banana crunch (my favorite, very flavorful fresh banana taste), mango mousse (nice mango flavor), and a cake with espresso flavor. All were good, but prepared a bit «heavier» than Paris Baguette or 85 Degrees. But still good and I would repeat.

It was freezing outside so we stopped in here for coffee and cakes. I had the mocha which was super sweet then I ever had, so it was not to my liking. The cakes we had however was pretty good. Too bad i did not save the receipt or take pictures because i forgot what they are. When we came, they were super busy and inside is small. Kind of like packing a bunch of sardines in a can lol. Overall not bad for a dessert fix.

If you’re pooped out on Santana Row of San Jose, then you gotta take a load off at the moderately budgeted but fine sandwich, dessert and coffee café that is «Cocola Bakery.» The owners lucked out with the surrounding real estate and were able to put tables under a very Parisian-​like tunnel with grounds of cobblestone (if I’m not mistaken). Cool off, heat up with hot chocolate and lattes, stuff your mouth silly with cappuccino mousse and cake roulettes — you know what I’m talking about, you get it. You’re the type that knows how to throw twenty dollars down to enjoy this kind of stuff with your partner. So really, no hesitation, okay? Oh and if you are hungry I do recommend the ROASTED BREAST OF CHICKEN SANDWICH or the ALBACORE TUNA NICOISE SANDWICH, both stuffed with a fine medley of ingredients that will have your lips humming a fine melody. #decadence

Stopped by yesterday for National Dessert Day! This place has cases of beautiful desserts and pastries.
We tried the 3 layer cake, cheesecake and crème brûlée. The crème brûlée was creamy and had a tasty of citrus that was different than anything I’ve ever tasted. I give it 4/​5, it would have been a 5 if it was hot. The coldness was weird for this dessert. The 3 layer cake was delicious! ⁵⁄₅ because it had 3 different layers of chocolate cream/​mousse that was perfect. And lastly the cheesecake. I didn’t care for it. I was actually expecting a cheesecake, but instead it was a cake, with some type of raspberry or strawberry inside and a spice crust. It just didn’t work for me at all. I would give it a ²⁄₅.
But I will come back as I want to try the apple tart and chocolate croissant. They both looked absolutely amazing and tasty!

Cocola sells their desserts via Costco, so naturally my mom and I were thrilled when we saw it here and in person in Santana Row! They have the best food you could probably get in the area, especially for the prices.
I got a chocolate croissant and bowl of fruit, with a chocolate mocha. My mom got the same thing. A side of fruit at any restaurant would cost the same price, but at Cocola, you get significantly more here than you would anywhere else. The seating was nice, with the option of outdoor and indoor, both had shade.
Definitely would come back here next time I find myself in San Jose.

i dropped by while shopping at santana row b/​c i was craving a macaron and i knew that cocola always had a nice selection of flavours. not only do they have 6−7−8 different flavours, but they have mini/​small macarons and the larger macarons. small macarons sell for $ 1.40 (probably the cheapest you’ll find in the bay area) and the larger macarons sells for $ 2.99, which is a very good price considering how big this treat is.
although it was pretty late in the evening, closer to closing time, they still had a lot of macarons left, in a wide variety of flavours. kudos to cocola for being well-​stocked b/​c i have visited many a bakery where the pickings are very slim after dinnertime.
rather than getting a large one, i decided to get 2 small ones so that hubby and i could share. there were many choices available: vanilla, coffee, hazelnut, mango, passionfruit, rosewater, and pistachio, but after a few seconds of deliberation, i chose the rosewater and the mango. i paid my $ 2.80 for macarons to go and headed out.
to my dismay, the cookie portion of the rosewater macaron was cracked, would have been nice if the lady behind the counter had grabbed me one that was intact (b/​c i know that most of them were intact). the cookie part of the macaron had a nice crunch and tasted a bit like rose, but the inside just tasted like pure butter, not creamy or flavourful at all, firm and butterlike texture. the mango macaron was much better, with strong mango flavour in both the cookie and filling, but again, the filling had more of a firm, butter texture, than a silky smooth creamy texture, which is what i’m accustomed to.
not a bad price to pay, but the crack in my rosewater macaron didn’t leave such a good taste in my mouth.

I would be skeptical of a bakery on Santana Row serving tiny $ 5 cakes, but Cocola is a legit, serious bakery – we tried the hazelnut cake and it was worth every bit of the $ 5 spent… decadent layers of:
1) hazelnut mousse
2) white chocolate cream
3) velvety chocolate cake
4) a surprise crispy caramelized pastry layer
5) finished off with a thin chocolate piece on top with Cocola branding in gold lettering that looks simultaneously classy and tacky.
It has a classic ambiance, and I especially like the mosaic tile tabletops. You feel very European enjoying a slice of fancy cake on the esplanade and people-​watching the bourgeois of Santana Row.