Lafayette Bakery & Cafe

I’m so fortunate to live within walking distance! This is the only place I will buy baguettes from– my grandma is French and swears these are the closest you can get to real French bread :) I’ve eaten an entire baguette by myself in one sitting because it was so delicious! Go early in the morning and they will still be warm from the oven!
Their pastries are so delicious! I love that they are bite size– perfect to satisfy a craving for sweetness. Some of my favorites are the baba rums, the lemon tarts, and the mini éclairs.
They can get pretty busy on weekend mornings, but if you can snag a table it’s worth it to stay for breakfast! Their croissants are, of course, delicious (and you can ask for them warmed!). I also enjoy their other breakfast options, and try to get something new every time I’m there. I enjoy their coffee/​espresso/​cappuccinos too! My boyfriend and I definitely try to come here when we have extra time.
The service is always really friendly and personal, even when they are super busy! The line is often long, but it is worth the wait :)

Here for the week and searching for a good coffee and bakery place. Was somewhat disappointed with the ones in downtown Carmel, but decided to try this place after seeing photos and reading the reviews.
We were very pleased with our first trip here and believe that downtown Carmel can be a trap. We actually heard French being spoken in the kitchen. Cookies and pastries were delicious and refined. Egg, ham, bacon and bechemel on toast was perfect. We picked up two small ham and Swiss sandwiches for later in the day. Latte was also done correctly.
We will be back soon!

Almond croissant is a must! The quiche is delicious. Sandwiches to go make a perfect picnic staple. We had the roast beef baguette and turkey croissant. I don’t think you can go wrong with anything on their menu.
The line gets a bit long, so set aside extra time for the wait. (It’s worth it!) Indoor seating is limited to 5 – 6 tables, but there is lots of outdoor seating too.

Lafayette Bakery has THE best almond croissant I’ve ever had. It is perfection. Loved the vibe of the café, loved the wonderful French woman who served us, loved how decadent everything looked. It was overall a lovely experience. My husband had the gluten-​free brownie & cherished every bite! Not too sweet, clearly made with high quality chocolate. We will definitely be back next time we’re in the area.

Why not indulge! We had the ham and cheese croissant and the 2, yes 2 different egg filled pastries with fresh OJ and Café Americano. I was in Carmel for training for two weeks and go figure, I go to this gem the second to last day before leaving. In a way it’s a good thing, because French pastries are decadent and I’d getting so happy and gain weight! Thank you for a divine breakfast!

What a lovely place… and smells heavenly inside! Why hasn’t anyone come up with a bakery scented perfume yet?!? :P The tartine with ham, cheese, bacon, and egg (essentially an open faced madame croque with bacon) is so yum! You’ll feel so warm and fuzzy inside eating it with a hot cup of espresso or latte. A fantastic start to your day!
Why 4 stars? The macarons :(They were cold, which is a sign to me of not being fresh, probably refrigerated or frozen previously. You can get the same taste satisfaction buying the frozen Trader Joe variety. It was an anticlimactic end to a lovely, lovely breakfast. *sigh*
If in the area, will definitely stop by again and try the other desserts. My eyes wanted it all, but my stomach can’t keep up ;)
The lady with the over-​the-​top French accent was lovely. High spirited, helpful, and spreading the happiness with each order. Alas, if only Paris was the same as it was not my experience there. Come here instead, lol.

Flan is amazing. Iced mocha was out of this world. Best mocha I’ve tasted. No wonder they are highly rated. Didn’t like the macaroons.

Utterly love this place. for a simple and fresh salami and cheese sandwich and an indulgent cake for dessert it doesn’t get much better than this !

I ordered a cup of cappuccino, a sweet baguette & an almond croissant to go, since this small place was so packed with holiday tourists. The line was a bit long, since obviously those three French ladies were so busy to take care of the previous sitting clients’ needs.
After 5 – 10 min standing there waiting, one lady told me the croissant (also the last one) was a little bit over-​baked, since I was so in the mood of it and willing to buy it anyway, she was so nice that just gave it for free to me :-P this made really my day; I can tell by my experience that they cared about the service/​food quality a lot, great business attitude that earn their reputation.
I will drop-​by next time for sure on my SR-​1 road trip. Highly recommended.

Great spot for a light meal
*yelp wants longer reviews… Ain’t nobody got time for that :) So here are a couple of sentences to please the people of Unilocal who think that people need to keep reading reviews instead of getting on with their lives

Amazing bread and amazing service from the owner my wife and I came here for a quick breakfast I ended up going home with $ 40 worth of baked goods the owner was so sweet and very attentive overall their pastries are amazing highly recommend it to anyone

If I could give this place more than 5 stars, I would! Pascale, who we think is the owner, is awesome. She was so patient with us as we ordered a whole bunch of things. It all looked so good we couldn’t decide and just ordered a whole bunch! When we finished we asked her if we should order anything else and she recommended some chocolate muffin-​like things. We sat down to eat an almond croissant, a blueberry tartlet, macarons, and lattes. It was perfect — that almond croissant was pure heaven and as good as anything we have ever had in Paris. The only downside was that we wished we had had room for the quiches too! We are looking forward to the sandwiches and baguette we bought for later eating. Mom says you could do a whole foodie tour just in this place!
Carmel is quite the drive from my new digs in Seal Beach, but this is worth it and I will come back!

First stop when I arrive —
Last stop to bring it home to Los Gatos!
A Real French patisserie!
Tastes like Paris !

Love this place… feels like I’m back in Europe. The smell of the pastry draws you to the place it was busy this morning. I had cappuccino and almond croissant and it’s delis!!!
Of course I can’t leave the place without getting my favs fondant with caramel and chocolates. I lso love the vanilla plan and their turkey croissant. Well I’m not going home with extra almond croissants. .my daughter Kristen will love this. come and enjoy the ambiance. I highly recommend this place.

If I could pick 5 best restaurants, bakeries cafes of all times I would place Lafayette Bakery on the list in a heartbeat. Matt S. and I came across the bakery after exploring the nearby shopping center. I tried French Macarons and some assorted bakery items. Everything was incredibly fresh and tasted unlike anything I have ever tried in my life.

Lafayette Bakery & Café (LBC) is a great place if you love freshly made baguettes! My dad and i recently visited LBC on a hiking trip to point lobos. Although I had been there before, I hadn’t tried their baguettes.
If I hadn’t tried it, i think that I probably would have given it a 3 star but their baguette and flan patissier have taken it over the top for me.
First off when you walk in, it smells like a true parisien boulangerie. Growing up in France, i recall making daily baguette runs for my dad and walking in with my dad really reminded me of this. You can tell they bake bread all day every day!!! Just pure awesomeness.
Next they offer something that I had never found in the US. Flan patissier which is probably my favorite «pastry.» it’s basically baked custard! their flan is very close to authentic! I’d have it everyday if i lived in Carmel! very creamy and smooth, it too reminded me of France.
But i think what they really nailed is their French baguette. First off, they aren’t all uniformed shape which gives them a little personality of their own. And second, they taste like real french baguettes! nothing like your local safeway but rather your local boulangerie!!! sooo good, the crust is just perfectly crunchy and the white is soft and tender. AMAZEBALLS!!! My dad and i literally devoured ours in a 5 mins and had to buy another one for later!
On the downside:
Prices are a little pricier. Not too crazy but get ready to pay double for a piece of bread or pastry.
Their croissant are just ok. nothing great write about and don’t compare to their bread.
Their macaron look ok but they are definitely not their specialty. Earlier, i mentioned how their baguette weren’t all the same shape and size well same with the macaron however in this case, it does actually matter.
Regardless of these small negative, LBC is definitely worth a stop and i know it wont’ be my last time there.
Bön apetit!

My wife say the Quiche is great and I say the apple turnover is good as well. The Ham sandwich was very tasty and light. It’s the best bakery in Carmel Ca. It’s located in the Barn shopping area. Plenty of shopping after your induction to special treats.

This is a pretty neat place and really easy to get comfortable in. I enjoy the atmosphere of the place; moreover, the staff with the quality of service that provided. Everyone was happy and chippy for a Saturday morning at 8AM which makes the customers feel better. The variety of items here are pretty nice and delicious looking. I ordered 3 things: Ham/​Cheese/​Croissant, Raisin Croissant, and Apricot turnover. I didn’t like all of them except for the raisin croissant. The Ham/​Cheese/​Croissant had too much cheese for my liking and the apricot turnover was not good. The raisin croissant was awesome! Overall, its a nice place but some of the items were lacking in my opinion. Definitely a place to try.
Pros: Staff, selection, décor
Cons: items
Stars: 3.5

Scrumptious fresh baguettes! Crunchy on the outside and pillowy on the inside-​heaven!
The lemon tart was also exceptional; perfect balance of sweetness and tartness. Good almond croissant too, not typical.
MUST get freshly baked bread!

Love the selection of pastries and breads here. I have a sweet tooth so it was basically heaven.
I tried a couple different macarons. The hazelnut was my favorite. It was just bursting with flavor.
I also got a hazelnut shortbread which was okay, but not my favorite.
My mom got a loaf of cheese bread which was delicious! We ate that up very fast. I also tried a little chocolate morsel and their sugared brioche. Both very good and decadent.
I stopped by for a second visit on my way out of Carmel and tried their palmier. I really liked it. Buttery and flaky and not too sweet.
I would love to go back and try more of their tarts and their croissants. The almond croissant looked outstanding, but I was too full!