Essence Bakery Cafe

Fairly simple order of chocolate croissant at $ 3.75 here in this new bakery. I knew these were good since I have had them in Tempe. This location is alot nicer and roomier and the food is exactly the same. It is an unusual version of a croissant as there are two «bars» of chocolate inside on both sides, but not up the middle. Still very flaky as evidenced by crumbs in my car. Not the greatest ever due to the style, but worthy of a treat every so often and the ones with powdered sugar looked even better.

We had the most amazing breakfast at Essence! The owners are wonderful. They take time to come and chat to you. The sweets are to die for! We couldn’t eat everything we wanted so we bought some extra home for dessert later today

The croissants are like true french croissants, each layer filled with buttery goodness. Sooo amazing like being in France. And the Chocolate croissant was heaven, the chocolate was warm and softened. The pecan sandies are delicious. The décor is cool with wisks used as light fixtures.

Pretty exceptional quiche. My boyfriend picked it up to go so I didn’t get to see the inside of this place but the food was very yummy. Got a perfectly sized quiche with super flaky delicious crust. Maybe slightly too oniony for me but I would definitely eat it again. It also comes with the best fruit cup I’ve ever gotten. Ate the whole thing. Can’t wait to try more things on their menu.

Whats not to love about Essence Bakery?
It has such a great atmosphere when you walk in all you smell is this amazing bread and pastries. The best part is that the pastries taste even more amazing than they smell! I tried their French Napoleon it was absolutely fabulous one of the best desserts I’ve had in a long time… And I’m kind of a pastry snob so thats saying a lot.
I picked up a fresh baguette to take home but had to munch on some in the car, it was divine!
I’ll be back as soon as possible!

Food was delicious. Hamburger was cooked perfectly. Topped with spinach and a roll with pumpkin seeds in it. Tasty potato salad on the side. Companion had one of the best grilled cheese sandwiches he’d ever had. Dubliner cheddar with bacon and apple jelly on it. Came with a side of lentil soup. Fabulous lunch! Topped it off with chocolate croissants. A perfect lunch!

I love this place. I met a buddy of mine T for breakfast during the week and seriously fell in love with Essence. The lovely young lady behind the counter was very nice. We placed our order at the counter after some playful banter with our host and sat down to catch up on our going on’s and wait for our breakfast.
I ordered the Classic Egg Sandwich which included organic eggs, Dubliner Cheese, a beautiful slice of Tomato plus ham and Avocado on a Brioche bun ($ 7.35). The sandwich itself was a bit small even though the bun gives it a lot of height. And that makes it a bit hard to eat. However, everything tasted great and for $ 7.35 it’s a decent deal. (Not as good as Morning Squeezes’ Build Your own however).
T ordered a French Butter Croissant ($ 2.55) which we both enjoyed. This was a great Croissant. T and I discussed how difficult it can be to create a great Croissant and it seems that Essence has got it down.
T also ordered The Big Breakfast ($ 9.75). This comes with 2 Organic Eggs served with Mashed Potato Cake, Breakfast Sausage, Sautéed Mushrooms and Toast with Jam. T said his breakfast was very good and he thought the price was fair.
Once we were finished with our breakfast I picked up a Neapolitan to take home to K. She took it to work and made everyone jealous. She said it was phenomenal. Awesome. It seems that a lot of people like the Macarons and they were definitely available in a lot of flavors. But, both T and I agreed they looked a bit, how should I say, not the best. So we passed.
Great space, great staff, good food, great Neapolitan, great available pastries, fair prices. 4 Stars.

The food is fantastic. The service is horrific. Got there early to beat the lunchtime rush. They offered a special that included soup. The dish arrived. No soup. ‘No worries… Can you please bring it anyway. I will be paying for it’. 15 mins later, it still wasn’t delivered. I got in line and paid for it, leaving my lunch on the table. 15 mins later, it still hadn’t been delivered. I flagged two staff members. «Would it be possible to bring my soup?» They blew me off. I asked to speak with the owner. Sacre Bleu… zut alors. She blew me off. I left having paid for my soup and declared that I would never go back. If you want great food with obnoxious French attitude, Essence is all that. But in a town where there are other fantastic bakers with equal flare, but without high prices and lackluster service, why bother.

If you’re trying to think of a unique treat to give your clients or colleagues {…or anyone, really!}, the AMAZING macarons from Essence are always a hit! They’re so colorful and delicious. I usually have to order a mini one for myself as well. Shhh, don’t tell!

Best breakfast ever! I got the French toast with fresh fruit and it so light and delicious. The chocolate croissant is also so good. Service is pretty fast and everyone is nice and it’s so clean inside. Whenever I travel to Arizona I love coming here. If I lived here, I’d be going every week! Also, the vanilla macaroon is the best macaroon I have ever had!

If I could give this place 10 stars, I would. I am ALWAYS blown away by my meals there. The owner is a fantastic lady that loves what she does for a living, and it shows in both her personality and her food. I’ve been several times for either breakfast or lunch and have never once left unsatisfied!

This place is fantastic — great vibe, great staff and sinfully good looking case of sweets! We came in for breakfast on the weekend and ordered some egg dishes… they were just ok, but I know I will be back for the sweets in the case. That is clearly where the goodness lies.

Had a cappuccino. just awful., I couldnt figure out why, I even added sugar, which I never do, still couldnt drink it, finally said something to the waittress, she responds oh, we use 2 shots of espresso, REALLLY? WISH SOMEONE HAD TOLD ME PRIOR.
The wait for the $ 12.95 egg breakfast was 45 mins… ridickoulous.
Then the «owner» stands nx the the table next to us, with his ass in my face, chatting for 30mins, very uncomfortable…
will NOT return…

Managed to pop in a couple minutes before they closed and didn’t get any attitude from the cashier, which was appreciated. That said, 3pm is an awfully early closing time.
I bought a large mint chocolate macaron ($ 3.42 after tax before tip). It had a lovely moist texture inside. The outer crème center was crusted with solid chocolate chips but I feel like a chocolate dip/​shell/​coat on the bottom half would have made for a better flavor. My complaint is that it didn’t really taste like mint. The dominant flavors were vanilla and chocolate. The very dark green dyed color has me wondering how much food coloring they use, and if it’s natural or not. Still, the gooey center was fantastic.
The pricing here is quite high, though the quality seems good. I probably won’t be back often as it’s not very convenient for me compared to bakeries like Urban Cookies or AJ’s/Whole Foods, and the fact that I really don’t like driving down Indian School Road (the traffic situation on the street with so many street lights is awful, the right lane of the two lane side of the road is always stopping due to heavy pedestrian traffic and people pulling into the businesses that don’t have turn lanes). They’re also closing the bakery for two weeks of the summer.
I do appreciate the bakery not imposing a minimum or fee on credit card purchases, as that’s a major pet peeve of mine that has me avoid places.
Overall, my mint chocolate macaron wasn’t minty, so I cannot give more than 3 stars. It was a delightful dessert, but it was not what was promised.

I’ve been wanting to try Essence Bakery and finally, I came with a friend of mine. After a tough spinning class, we felt like we deserved «bad, but delicious» food… I know, stupid — The best way to blow a workout!
Anyway, there’s plenty of parking in the back and when we walked in, the café is pretty roomy. We scrutinized the menu a little bit and I finally decided on an iced vanilla latte with non-​fat milk. They didn’t offer coconut or almond milk, which is a bummer. The flavor wasn’t bad, but not the best.
I also ordered the Lorraine quiche. It came with a side of fruit and the fruit was fresh and tasty. The quiche was ok. I’ve had better quiches.
I also decided to order a dozen mini macaroons to take home and indulge in later. Every time I start feeling sorry for myself, I’ll just pop a macaroon in my mouth to make myself feel better (that’s the plan). I just had two — the raspberry one and the espresso one. They were pretty damn good and yes, I already felt sorry for myself twice since I left the café!
Don’t judge!!!

I’ve been here a few times now. I love the ambiance and music when I walk in. The food is amazing as well as their notorious macaroons… come to mama. The macaroons are so decadent and naughty but worth every morsel. The cappuccino is gorgeous upon arrival and delicious to the last drop.
Only negative– No wifi. What the heck? It’s 2015… get wifi already :)

Beautiful, fresh food with great preparation and friendly service in cute décor — pricey for the portion size, though.
My favorite breakfast buddy and I really enjoyed the wonderful food, beverages and atmosphere at Essence Bakery. You order at the counter and then sit down with a number and await your food/​drinks.
The huevos Frenchos are really creamy and tasty, the salsa adds tangy flavor and the avocado is fresh. And my friend’s breakfast sandwich was delicious, too! The only drawback is that the portions are really small, but the prices aren’t proportionate.
We’ll probably be back — we love to sit and chat (and not having a server makes it easier to hang out guilt-​free). Plus, the food is nice, and we haven’t tried the pastries, yet.

NOT IMPRESSED! We came to have a pastry with a coffee. I picked the pecan sticky bun, I said yes to have it warmed up.
We sat down and my friend are his strawberry croissant and I was still waiting 5 mins later for my sticky bun. Latte still MIA! I finally asked at the counter and the girl had to check on it. I went to wash my hands (sticky bun) and came back and coffee still wasn’t at the table. Finally the guy came and said he had many orders… OKAY…so 20 mins waiting for a latte! What makes it worse we drove awhile to get here cause of reviews! NOT A GOOD EXPERIENCE… they totally blew the pastry with coffee experience I was looking forward to and never get to do! Pastries not good enough to get me back! WILL NOT BE GOING BACK!

Whenever I go here, I can’t leave without buying a french macaron. This place has a myriad of flavors, my favorite is raspberry. Then there are their buttery chocolate croissants, which are the best I’ve ever had. I believe these get sold out daily as I don’t always see them on the counter, so come early if you want one. I normally go to the Tempe location, but finally got a chance to visit their Arcadia location, I have to admit I like this location more because its seems to be bigger and more open, but parking can be an issue since the place gets extremely busy during lunch.

I was so amazed when I discovered the one in Tempe and then went into utter bliss when they decided to open this one in Arcadia. I adore that there is finally more breakfast options for Arcadia, naturally after I move out that zip code.
I’m not very good at waiting for food, I like to start with the pain au chocolate or the chocolate almond croissant with my coffee. You will not be disappointed by the quiche or the big breakfast, that jam is the star of the plate. However my ultimate fave is the huevos frenchos. Avocado, enough said. As if it is any mystery, I could never leave this place without a dozen of their macarons. I have a weakness for the french chocolate, hazelnut, raspberry rose, and key lime flavors. I can’t describe enough how this little piece of patisserie can ensure happiness inhabits my every molecule.
You may find yourself darting from the yogis of OM to park here but it is worth it. Until my next return, you can leave your imprint on me any time my little café!