Plaza Bakery

Sure miss having a Haagen-​Dazs store in Albuquerque but it’s a treat to still have a place that serves the good stuff in Santa Fe.
Service is typically friendly, the prices a bit steep and no parking but it’s the Plaza after all, and while the seating is usually taken, enjoying the square with the treats works just fine.
We’ve never tried anything other than the ice cream, but they also have baked goods and coffees available.

I hate writing negative reviews and always try to give the benefit of the doubt (visit multiple times, take in what other say, etc). I know what reviews can do to a business, and I choose my words wisely. Sadly this review couldn’t be turned around.
I have had several bad experiences here, the bread was hard (as if it were weeks old), pastries tasted pre-​packaged, and to top all of that off I experienced a very sad wedding story.
My fiancé and I chose plaza bakery to make our cake because it was cheap. We have learned that with this instance, cheap = you get what you pay for. 3 weeks before our big day we go back to Plaza bakery to pay for the cake and they had NO CLUE who we were! They had lost all of our paperwork about our wedding, our cake, our designs etc. The owner/​baker came over and said we could start again and he could throw something together. I told him no thanks and I wouldn’t be able to trust their service after that. He pulled out his cell phone and said, «I can make a wedding cake in just a few hours notice, see?» and showed us his cell phone photo of a sheet cake with writing on it. We left at that moment. (Don’t worry — we ended up finding the perfect cake bakery — Say It With Cake in ABQ — See my review of that). Also, he never said sorry for totally forgetting about our order. That personally hurts and denotes bad customer service.
This story, and many others you see here on Unilocal,wasn’t always the norm for this bakery! This used to be a place where you actually looked forward to visiting every time you came to the plaza (especially for kids!). The food was fresh and baked at the location, customer service was tops, and music was always pleasant.
Well, something must have happened (new management? budget cuts?) because finding those grand moments here are not the norm.
There are many other bakeries in the area that bake their own pastries/​breads and make their own ice cream (Plaza Bakery serve Haagen-​Dazs ice cream which I can also get at a grocery store — for cheaper). I suggest trying The French Pastry Shop just up the road or Ecco for amazing hand-​made gelato.

They made me eat the brownie/​mousse/​chocolate ganache cake. It was a pretty rich dessert for my palate, the firm parts chocolate on chocolate, the soft filling fluffy, nicely chocolate, but not too sweet. IT all went well with the coffee chaser. It was a total impulse stop.
A mini art gallery, the the old well-​known southwest images not for sale, some newer items on the north wall, some very reasonably priced old-​school style kachinas, and a new one I’ve never seen before, Bat Man. Ogre? Clown? Crow Father? Depends on the movie.
Nice NM photography by some new names.
Plenty of ice cream too.

This bakery… is the king of dollar bins. Puff pastry, raspberry jam, braided blueberry danishes, fresh olives & garlic tapenade bursting out of day-​old, yeasty pizza rounds, sun-​dried tomatoes hidden beneath leaves of basil… $ 2, you say? and $ 1 for the sweets? I’ll take it all. Yes, I’ll need five bags. Oh… make that six. I forgot the biscochitos.

It was snowing again and we were hungry. My daughter was all «ANYWHERE MOM I’M GOING TO DIEEEEEEE!!» So, we dove into Plaza Bakery not expecting too much. Boy, were we wrong. After hot apple cider, hot cocoa, turkey cheese croissant, chile cheese fries and strawberry crème puff we were full, happy and a little bit sad to go back out into the snow.
First of all… we are from Texas and chile cheese fries means something totally different back in Big D, and it usually involves a can of Wolf Chilie. We were pleasantly surprised when our giant mound of fries laced with cheese was full of green chiles! Mmmmm! It was a perfect compliment to my supper flaky stuffed with tons’o’turkey and cheese croissant.
They had a ton of great looking desserts that I wanted but the munchkin wanted the crème puff with strawberries, so that’s what we had. It was good but I really wanted one of their more complicated chocolaty looking desserts out of the counter. I was laterally in dessert overload.
Folks working there were great! Reminded me of a coffee shop that used to be in Deep Ellem in Dallas. Love that vibe. I would go here again in a heartbeat – even if it was not snowing.

We originally planned to grab lunch at Café Pasqual’s but when we got there, there was a line out the door and we were too hungry to stick around so we decided to go elsewhere. Instead we turned the corner, walked up Don Gasper Ave, made a right on San Francisco Street, and by chance found Plaza Bakery, an adorable spot directly across from the Santa Fe Plaza in the heart of the all the movement. It’s a small space with only a few tables but it has a LOT of natural light and a pretty decent menu. I had their spanokopita and a fruit plate. My friend ordered a grilled chicken wrap with a side of hot salsa. The spanokopita wasn’t the best I’ve had, it also had diced olives in it, which I’m not a fan of, but it was ok for the price I paid ($ 5.25). The fruit plate was amazing, a colorful plate full of fresh kiwis, strawberries, blueberries and sliced apples. It definitely balanced out the heavy and oily spanokopita. My friend seemed satisfied w/​his wrap, he didn’t complain about it, but also didn’t rave about it. I really liked this place primarily for its atmosphere and location. With the large windows, you get a fantastic view of the hustle and bustle of town. It’s a great space to enjoy a meal and people watch (which I like to do sometimes!). It was also snowing when we were there, and we got a great winter view of the Mercado, which to me was worth the time and satisfactory food.

Great café style bakery. The fresh pastries, breakfast burritos and cakes are always fine. Fred and Patti have done right by us every time! Early morning is the best time to hit ‘em up.

We were out exploring Santa Fe, were hungry and were struggling to find somewhere to eat. We stumbled upon this place where there was a huge line of people waiting. The tables were also all full.
I am a sheep it seems. I see lots of people and assume it’s a place which is good. However, having read the other reviews it would seem that I had been a tourist and gone where the tourists had. Fair enough. I was a tourist in this place.
We eventually got a table. Had to let them know behind the counter where we would be sitting. The cleared away the previous plates but didnt actually wipe the tables.
The food? It was edible. But very expensive. All we had was a sandwich each with some chips, for the price we had paid we could have got something much nicer.
It was loud, the constant line of people behind us was annoying to say the least and there were flies buzzing around. I certainly wouldnt pick this place again for somewhere to eat.

Yes, it’s a convenient place to get ice cream near the Santa Fe Plaza, but it is dirty and expensive. I spent $ 12 for 2 kid-​sized cones and an iced coffee. Ridiculous.

Great cookies… From New Mexico, shortbread with some spice. Stick with those…

*shrugs*
I thought I’d cap off my pizza and beer dinner from the Rooftop Pizzeria next door with a light dessert from this local bakery.
Apparently this place has succumbed to the touristy schmaltz that sometimes creeps insidiously in to high traffic tourist areas.
I didn’t want expensive ice cream and I had a look at the cakes and such. When I asked the counter guy a few questions I got mostly shrugs in response.
«How’s the chocolate cherry cake?»
*shrugs*
«Are these day-​old slices also?»
*shrugs*
«Should I just grab what I want?»
*shrugs*
«Can I have a fork?»
*shrugs with fork held out in my direction*
The cake was overly rich for me but still moist and tasty for a day-​old (I think *shrugs*). It was sweeter and more sugary than I care for and I didn’t finish it.
*shrugs*

One scoop of strawberry and one scoop of raspberry in one cup, and one scoop of mango in another cup. What did we get? One cup of each in their own cup.
There’s a tip jar with a taped note on there that says something along the lines of «Tips for intelligence.» Huh?
There’s one bathroom and you can post your flyer or business card on the wall near the back.
Good sorbet though.

I have to give this three stars mainly based on their free wifi and the variety of ice cream flavors they offered. I spent nearly two weeks in Santa Fe and this is one of the main places I came to borrow the internet.
The ice cream is good and so are the milkshakes. They are super pricey, though. Reminded me of being back at Disney or any touristy ice cream joint. They were kind enough to offer half scoops of ice cream if you wanted to try two flavors in a small cup or if you were feeling as though ice cream was a bad investment in your wallet or waist line.
The girls at the counter were always very friendly when I was there. I never felt rushed. There are booths in the back and some bar stools and counter space in the front with the plenty of plugs around, and thats where I spent most of my computer time.

Most of the time, restaurants and cafes right in the heart of main tourist spots are definitely places to avoid. So I don’t know why we ever considered coming here, but I suppose it was because each of the preceding days we’d seen this place packed at nearly any hour of the day.
So finally after three days of being in Santa Fe we decided to try Plaza Bakery for breakfast. We stepped inside, looked at their menu and selection, and decided to stick around. My friends settled on bagels, and I went for the day-​old pile of pastries, which ranged from danishes to muffins.
When it was time to pay, however, things went downhill. I had a day-​old blueberry danish with an Odwalla drink, totaling nearly $ 5. Let me get this straight, the danish was $ 1 and the Odwalla drink came to more than $ 4?! My friends each got a plain bagel, marked as $ 1 each behind the glass, yet they were charged $ 3.01 for the bagel for the cream cheese and toasting. One friend got the bagel and an Odwalla; his total was $ 7!
Nowhere on the menu was the price for Odwalla listed, and I suppose listing prices in plain sight is a luxury I’m used to in California, where it’s the law. As for charging an additional $ 2.01 (yes, don’t forget that extra one cent!) for cream cheese and for toasting the bagel? I could certainly do without that.
The food wasn’t bad, but come on! Have some mercy! I would definitely advise against this place, given the other excellent choices in Santa Fe (see my other reviews if you so desire).