Ye Olde Bake Shoppe

First off, I loved the décor. The inside is bright and cheerful with ample room to be seated and move around while pondering your order and gazing at the tasty treats. I ordered a croissant which was excellent. It was light, flaky and buttery. I will be back for the baked goods and will try the desserts.
I will not be back for lunch. The lunch menu was very small with virtually no descriptions, and I was unclear as to if they were still serving breakfast options when I went for a late lunch. I decided to order a caesar salad after I asked what was on the farm salad and the lone counter server had a difficult time answering such a routine question. He said it was «just stuff from the garden down the street» and mentioned carrots, beets and watermelon. The boy was nice, but to be honest he was not very helpful.
The caesar salad was nothing special, and it wasn’t even made in house. I watched the chef bring it in from College Inn across the parking lot. He handed it right to me after walking through the front door. I hope that was an aberration. There’s no reason not to prepare things fresh on site.
With a lunch menu so small it’s a wonder they have one. Perhaps they should just focus on the pastries and desserts. Please hire a manager to set some quality standards regarding the staff.

Beautiful place, yummy donuts and decent coffee. I haven’t tried any of the lunch menus items yet. I feel they are a bit pricy and service is very slow. I think this place has potential to be much better. Needs a manager on duty to see things run more efficiently.

I love College Inn, so I had to check the «Bake Shoppe» out, unfortunately it is not up to the high standards of the restaurant next door. First I must say the coffee here is HORRIBLE. Some of the worst coffee I’ve ever had. Some people would consider me a «coffee snob» as I am an ex-​barista and generally tend to avoid the big chains (s-​bucks and pjs), but I would much prefer to go to either of those places than get my coffee here. My cappuccino tasted like dirt even with sugar added, and the drip coffee, while better than the espresso, is still just barely passable with milk and sugar, even though I normally drink my coffee black. The real kicker here is that the coffee is actually more expensive here than at the finer coffee establishments in this city (velvet espresso, district donuts etc). In fact, most things here seem over priced…
The food is better than the coffee, but not exceptional. The cookies are in a refrigerated display case, which I thought was odd (who wants a cold cookie?). The blueberry muffin I had was pretty good, but unexceptional. The chicken salad sandwiches in the cooler looked old, and I found the idea of a bagel and lox sandwich sitting in there quite gross. (And at 12.50 I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t sell any of them). Overall, I was very disappointed in my experience. It seems like it would be a good place to sit and study for a while during the day, or just go to grab a quick bite before or after my morning classes, but I would rather go somewhere with at least decent coffee. If I were to find out they upgraded the quality of their coffee, I would probably be here frequently, but until then I probably won’t be back.

The pastries here were pretty good, especially the chocolate iced donut which was delicious! The service was friendly, and the décor was tasteful. The hours leave a bit to be desired as they serve breakfast but are not open on Sundays which is a huge pet peeve to me. The main reason I only gave it two stars is that I would have liked to have tried their lunch menu as well, but everything is «pre-​packaged» and sitting in a cold display case. It doesn’t look fresh at all, and if I wanted microwaved leftovers, I would just eat out of my own fridge. You can claim to use fresh ingredients from the farm next door, etc., but when you don’t make the food fresh in the moment, it kind of loses that farm to table appeal. Step it up, Ye Olde Bake Shoppe!

I wanted to try this place out, I really did. But what brought me in was their Facebook page, and a photo of a bagel-​wich with lox, cream cheese, red onion and capers. One of my favorite things in the world (as attested to by review of Hot Bagel Shop in Houston… they do it right). So I stopped in for lunch one Friday after getting off work at noon, and to my dismay, there was one cold bagel-​wich with lox in a plastic box in a refrigerator case. With a $ 12.95 price tag no less! Aghast, I asked the guy at the counter if he could make me a fresh one, and add the cream cheese, lox, etc when the bagel was fresh out of the toaster. He looked at me as if a restaurant that makes food and serves it fresh were a foreign concept, so I thanked him anyway and left. Strangely enough, when I left Ye Olde Bake Shoppe, I drove over to Ba Chi Canteen (amazing) for lunch there instead, and while there read a review of Ye Old Bake Shoppe in the Gambit. The reviewer wrote, and I quote: «a bagel stuffed with cream cheese and lox, topped with the traditional red onions and capers, was a soggy disappointment; it was pre-​prepared and sat too long in the display case.» Sorry, Ye Olde Bake Shoppe, but you’re doing it wrong.
The place was cutely decorated though, and maybe their donuts and coffee are worth a try. Who knows. Hence…2 stars.

I ordered a couple of cream cheese filled king cakes from here, and they were delicious. Brought one to work, and everyone loved it. The white icing was not too heavy, and I liked that the cake was not too sweet. I also liked the size – very reasonable for a group of 10 – 12 people. Definitely one of the best king cakes I’ve had in New Orleans in a long time. The shoppe itself is really pretty, and they have some outdoor seating too.

Wow! This is a GORGEOUS space. The renovation of this old warehouse is amazing. Love that you can watch the bakers work through the window in the shop (or shoppe). There is another set of windows on Earhart so you might catch a glimpse if you’re at the stop light.
Lots of donuts and cupcakes and croissants and muffins when I was there yesterday morning AND, of course, King Cakes (which could be filled while you waited by one of the bakers). The King Cake was light and yummy with a bit too much icing for me, but my cousin’s kids seemed to love that part.
They advertise that they serve both breakfast and lunch but I didn’t see a full menu. It looks like mostly pastries and a few sandwiches and that’s about it.
Park in the lot for Ye Old College Inn (hmmm see the connection there) and Rock n Bowl.