The Essential Baking Company

Thing is; I like this place. I like their sandwiches and their pastries are also very tasty. The atmosphere is nice and it’s close to home; so it would totally be the ideal hangout spot.
I’ve gone here twice and the same lady was working there. Her attitude was so curt and rude that I honestly questioned whether or not I even wanted to eat there. It was a quiet afternoon. My boyfriend and I were the only people in line; and she was very irritated that we were taking awhile to figure out what we wanted. We ordered a few sandwiches; they were very good. When we went to pay I asked her if it was possible to split it between two cards– in a very rude tone of voice she said no. I told her to just put it on my card. I initially went in thinking I would order a pastry, too, but because of her attitude I decided not to.
I rarely write Unilocal reviews. I’m in the industry, so I understand everyone has bad days. But the service was enough to give me a bad taste in my mouth. I don’t think I’ll be coming back for awhile. I hope management at Essential Baking Co. is aware of this, because it definitely has the potential to drive customers away; and that’s definitely a shame.

Rude employees and left ingredients out of my omelet that I paid for. This place used to be good. Don’t know what happened :/​2^nd bad experience.

Love this place! The breads are delicious, the soups and salads fresh and the pastries scrumptious. Plus breakfast all day!

I’ve already seen their bread in a local QFC, but if you know the feeling that you want to go to the source you might know why I stopped at the Baking Company after a nice break in gasworks park.
They offer many great looking breads (the german part in me celebrates the fresh baked breads with real crust!) and other delicious little good as cookies, cakes, pies and so on.
I went for the columbia sourdough bread and a heart shaped chocolate cake as a surprise for my SO.
Now, after my taste buds met all these fresh baked goods I can tell that I really am a fan of this bread! It is easy to slice (I forgot to ask if they can do this at the shop), it smells delicious and ist tastes really good. My teeth are finally getting used again (what is it with all the spongy, soft baked stuff in the US??) and I enjoy every bite of it.
And the chocolate cake? It was more mousse than cake, but hey… I love chocolate mousse! ;)
If you need the ingredients they can tell/​show you what’s inside, so I am sure also people with allergies will find something nice there.

I’m really only motivated to write reviews when something is really bad or really good — this is in the really bad category. First of all, the woman who took my order here made me feel like I was the world’s biggest annoyance just by being at the counter to buy something. I bought both food and a tea, so I had two opportunities to have transactions with her and both times were the same. It’s not exactly inviting when you’re spending your money somewhere. The male seemed to be much more friendly but the damage was done (and I’m not easily offended!).
Secondly, when I got a tea, I literally got about 1.5tsp of loose tea in the bag — about half of what a place would normally serve you. I almost asked for more tea, which I don’t think I’ve ever had to do in a café, but decided to let it go.
I would so much rather have spent my money down the street at Solsticio, where they’re far nicer and prices are literally half of what they are here at EBC.
Final note: music is some of the worst I’ve ever heard in a café! Some 1990’s best bits station. Don’t come here — so many better options nearby!

Love this place. Always excellent food and high quality for a café. I swear the serves that work there are all models/​actors that have lost their way in route to a casting call. Everyone that works there is super nice and accommodating.
Lots of seating for a coffee date or to study. Well sized portions of good and tasty coffee!
Keep at it Essential!

Not a huge fan of this place. Gave it a few tries and had a similar experience each time. Custom service team was not attentive nor friendly. Raspberry thumbprint was a bit dry for my tastes. The coffee I had her was good though.

tl;dr — don’t order lattes, irritated/​curt staff, mediocre hot food, pastries/​bread are worth it
This used to be our regular hangout on Saturday mornings so when we were in the neighborhood recently we had to stop by. It’s been a few months and we were in late (4pm), but the experience was less than pleasant. The cashier was immediately irritated that we and several customers came in, yelling to the back «we just had EIGHT customers come in!» Chairs were upside down and the place was empty. After ordering, we heard the cashier explain to another customer, «we’re closing soon» when they asked for drinks for here (their website and the door said 6pm). Our lattes were made hurriedly and the milk was burnt. The food (2 crepes) came quick but were mediocre. Disappointing that this late afternoon staff has made this café a subpar eatery that is no longer worth our time.

I frequently stop in to Essential Baking when I’m carpooling with my husband. He works just across the way from this location, and I come in to grab a cup of coffee and a nosh before I traverse the freeway again.
Walking in to this place is like getting a warm, delicious smelling hug. When you open the door, you are greeted with the smell of coffee and bread. HEAVEN. The pastries are light, flaky and not overtly sweet. I’m a fan of the almond croissant. I haven’t had any espresso drinks yet, I tend to go with drip, but my husband has plenty of good things to say about their espresso-​based drink selection.
There’s street parking all around and a small lot behind the building, with a large bike rack on the side. Definitely worth a stop!

Such a lovely cozy place! I really like the coffee here. Although I’m not much of a coffee drinker nor a breakfast person, but I really, really like their lunch! Delicious soups and yummy, interesting sandwiches. Plus they have the most delicious peanut butter — I asked, but I forget what kind it is — some kind of local organic i think? Anyways, great place to grab a cup of coffee and head down to Gasworks Park!

Meh. The person who took our order was outwardly annoyed that my friend was taking time to read the menu and make a decision. They weren’t that busy and nobody was in line behind us. Then, they made no effort to give napkins or silverware with our meal. As if it was our fault for not knowing where to get these items on our first visit to this place.
Food: I don’t know, I got a salad that was huge. But low in flavor. Not impressed. Sure, size matters, but not as much when it’s boring and lacking substance.

So– they did contact my wife and send a fresh 3-​pack of bread to the house, which was thoughtful and nice. Good job.
But– several months later– we once again bought the bread at Costco, cooked it exactly the way the directions said and it came out raw in the middle
WTH?
Argh– too much trouble. Buh Bye

I’ve been going on a cold brew tasting around the city and Essential definitely has the best one. It’s extremely smooth with an unmistakeable toffee flavour. They have a large selection of pastries and desserts for sale, including their take and bake items. Parking in the area is a little scarce right now because of all the construction. If it wasn’t such a pain to park, I’d come by more often!

It’s sad to see this place go downhill — this used to be one of our favorite places in Seattle, but lately they have really slipped. The food is still excellent, mostly, although the poor service helps ensure that anything hot you ordered will be lukewarm when you get it.
There used to be quite an upbeat spirit to the place — the staff all seemed pretty happy. Lately, that isn’t true — on a recent Saturday, the staff was surly and the mood was grim. The gentleman who took our order (and got it wrong) was openly rude to my wife and I.
Also, if you go in there after 2pm on a weekend, they’re already closing it up, even though they’re actually open until 6pm. We went in at 3pm on a recent Saturday, and I asked the rude gentleman at the counter when they closed, thinking it was in a few minutes because of all the chairs up on the tables and closed sections. He told me they closed at 6. When I commented that it looked like they were closing in a few minutes, he said to me (rudely of course) that they had to start cleaning now so they could have some «time for themselves». I don’t really understand what that meant, but I guess I get it — they want to shut the doors at 6pm and get out of there, and not have to spend any extra time cleaning.
So that’s why on a weekend afternoon, your food sits on the counter waiting for someone to bring it out. All of the staff is busy cleaning, three hours before they close, and they only have one person to take orders, make coffee, and deliver food. Screw the customers — we need to get out of here.
If they want to be a lunch-​only place, and close at 2 or 3pm, then do so — why stay open but make customers feel uncomfortable so they’ll either order to go or leave quickly?
We’re done with them for one year — we’ll see if they continue to deteriorate until they go out of business, or if they manage to turn it around. I hope they can turn it around — it used to be a lovely place to have an afternoon lunch on the weekend.

The most tasteless, dry, nasty food I have ever paid for. With Bakery Neavou or Café Besalu in the area, do yourself a favor and avoid this one like the plague! A dry tasteless croissant, and a greasy and thin tasting quiche? I think not ever again. And the prices are the same as at the other mentioned places (but theirs are simply awesome).
How does this place stay in business? $ 29 for a horrid meal for two that we ended up not even eating half of. Time to up your game or close up shop.

Great Lunch spot! yummy sandwich and fresh salad.
They have organic and no GMO stuff.
My favorite is croissant with cup of coffee for breakfast, and roast beef sandwich for Lunch.
If you see day old banana bread, get it! banana bread is better day old anyway!

My co-​worker had picked up an assortment of pastries for the office… I had the BEST chocolate almond croissant ever!!! Simply delicious.
My only regret is that I wish I lived close by to frequent this establishment on a daily basis.

Have you ever craved toast? Really yummy fresh toast with preserves… with a hot cup of coffee. Essential does exactly that. The Essentials.
And they do it delish!
On my 5^th visit I finally decided to designate Essential as 5 stars~!
Because you can COUNT ON Essential to be really really good.
— awesome coffee, brewed right, and no expired shots
— Breakfast served all day
— HUGE salads
— amazing sanwhiches stacked high, served w giant pickle spears and a side
— cookies, bars, mini pies and scones
— free wifi
— rustic ambiance, quiet enough to get work done.
This is a quintessential Seattle bakery!
Walk to Gas Works park from here.

I like to walk up here to get lunch, although they do have a parking lot if you are on wheels. The soups are always delicious, and they will always have at least 1 vegan and vegetarian option. Comes with tasty pizza dough bread as well, perfect for dipping. If I could make bean soups taste this good, I’d probably be a vegetarian! The salads and sandwiches are also good, and the portions are huge. They usually have a good selection of pastries left to choose from at lunchtime as well. I have not tried their coffee but they have a full selection of espresso drinks.
If you are coming to dine in, get here by 11:30! After that they get busy, the line starts to creep out the door and the kitchen starts to get backed up. I have found calling in a salad or sandwich order works well, it usually takes them 15 or 20 minutes which times perfectly with my arrival. Nice people too!

First time lunch here. Yum. The ciabatta bread was perfect for the Italian sandwich. The pesto did not dominant the sandwich so your taste buds could still taste the cold cuts and mozzarella cheese. I bought a ciabatta loaf to go!
My partner had a ½ BLT which I was not offered a bite so it must have been grand! I did get to taste her salad which had pears thinned so slice that they appeared to be lettuce leafs. Awesome. The house dressing was light and not heavy handed.
I’m coming back!