Chez Grand Pére

Google map tells me I visited this place 8 years ago. While I didn't have much recollection of the pastries, I remembered the dim light, the cozy seating, and the unassuming store front. Something tells me that on a dreary January Saturday morning, it's better to revisit this down-to-earth bakery than to stand in line for 30+ min for some fancy pastry in that airy chic patisserie closer to home. To our delight, there were still plenty of croissants and Tasse de creme left when we got there around 11:30. We got a couple of each plus blueberry danish. My judgement on pastry is highly dependent on the role of sugar. If something feels like flour drenched in syrup it will never get a second look. Happily this pastry shop is not one of those. The taste and texture were all about the cream and butter and chocolate. Even with the caramel base in tasse de creme, sugar remains on backstage. Our favorite French bakery is in an Oregon town where we spent countless weekend mornings. We may not ever find anything better, but the experience at Chez Grand Pere comes very close and we will be back.

"Quality" is the keyword at this French pastry shop, and "variety" is next. This is a small but exclusive pastry and coffee shop... and they mean PASTRIES (not donuts). From chocolate Éclairs to honey almond croissants, to cinnamon... hazelnut... lemon... everything... you name it! This is the top-line in French pastries. But you have to get there early because they sell out most everything by early afternoon. All pastries are boxed, not bagged... and pricing is very fair....plenty of off-street parking... seating for 2-3 per table. Very nice ... very clean!

Have been going here for years and service has always been wonderful. Croissants are flaky and delicious. The toasted almonds on the croissants have a special flavor I have not experienced anywhere else.

We usually love this little bakery. We've been supporting them for years and all through the pandemic. We've lived in Mountlake Terrace for over 16 years. We always go in for the twice baked almond croissants. By far the best almond croissants ever. They also have a great iced chai. However today we went in and I had my husband pick up the usual four almond croissants, and I know they're twice baked but these were exceptionally dark and really hard today. And normally there's a very generous amount of the almond pastry filling that's inside and today there's literally nothing. After four bites I opened it up and you can see in the picture below there's literally nothing. Usually it is very generously filled which makes them so delicious. So when I called back and tried to ask for a manager or the owner I was given quite the runaround. I had them on speakerphone and even my husband said they seem to be very passive. It was frustrating because every time I would ask a question it would be very sidestepped and skirted. I'll just chalk that up to maybe a great training opportunity and to help the staff be a little bit more trained in Customer service. But the end result I wanted to speak to the owner or a manager because they're expensive and we would like better croissants that have more filling. And with gas prices we don't have time on the one Sunday a month we get to spend together to be running back-and-forth through town. I was not allowed to be told when the manager or owner would be in, I just wanted to have the opportunity to speak with someone that would genuinely care about the situation but they said they have my phone number and will contact me, but still did not advise me when. Then the only other option I was offered was that I could bring back all my croissant's to him now. Which would seem to be not the best thing in our given pandemic and with the WISHA guidelines since I let them know we were already home and trying to enjoy one. My recommendation would be double check your order, make sure you're happy with what you're getting and definitely ask for a receipt even if you're paying cash. This way you could have proof that you were there and you made a purchase if you need to follow up with the manager/owner. We will try again on another Sunday. Fingers crossed.

Based on the excellent reviews, I decided to stop in at around 12:30 to see if they had any macarons. If not, I thought, I'll pick up some other treat, as it was my son's birthday.I walked up and saw the board outside said that they now were serving sandwiches. Cool, I thought! Maybe I'll grab one as well. I saw someone else park, walk in, and almost immediately come back out again. "That's odd," I thought. But now I know why.I walked in the door and was immediately confronted by the nearly-empty case and shelves. The case held one or two croissants, but nothing else. I was looking around to see if I was missing another case, or if maybe there was a menu or something of the sandwiches they had, when a woman who was sweeping nearby looked up, saw me, and practically yelled, "whatever we have is in the case. We don't have anything else but coffee and tea."Um, hello to you, too? Also, it was 12:30. Smack in the middle of lunchtime, and they literally had nothing, and apparently weren't making the sandwiches advertised on their board outside.I responded with, "oh! Um, OK! I was just looking for some macarons, thank you!" And I turned to leave.At this she scoffed. "Yeah we don't even sell those anyway." Ooooooh... kaaaay?I was already halfway out the door when she yelled that at me, at which point she said, "uh... have a nice day?!" She was so snotty and rude, it was honestly shocking. She literally could not have been more dismissive or more irritated that these pesky customers kept coming into her shop at lunchtime expecting the pastries, cookies, and sandwiches they advertised. How rude of us!No matter how legit their croissants might be -- and I would have bought one if the first words out of her mouth weren't so condescending -- I'll never make the mistake of attempting to go to this place again.

Heard a neighbor mentioned about this place and decided to give it a try. Their Tasse de Creme was a pleasant surprise. A must try from this place. The Almond Croissant was okay. It's too sweet, and mushy, definitely not as good as Le Panier. Their Almond stick is much better.Their chocolate chip is too sweet and feel like eating butter..Over all, their pastries looks not as delicate as some other French bakeries. Wish they are not sold out of things so early. If you want to have the verity choices, you have to go there early.

Absolutely delicious croissants. We needed to order 35 last minute croissants the day before our friends wedding and these amazing humans were so kind! The croissants were a show stopper! They were so amazing! Top shelf customer service too! They really saved our brunch!!! Couldn't be happier! So delicious!

Very impressed with their "Tasse de crème", the employee explained that it's like a Danish pastry, but the filling tastes quite a bit like crème brûlée. I arrived at around 2:30pm on a Sunday afternoon and they were sold out of most items - but they still had croissants, chocolate croissants, double chocolate croissants, and blueberry danishes. I am hesitant to give them a five star review because I only tried one pastry, but it does not feel fair to give them before star dish when I enjoyed the pastry so much. I will have to come back and try other pastries!I found that service was pretty average, but the ambience was somewhere between suburban strip and rundown mobile home - I would not recommend this bakery for the vibes.

This tiny neighborhood bakery with friendly staff makes truly the best chocolate croissants and almond croissants around. Their chocolate croissant has a good amount of chocolate inside. The almond croissant comes crusted in almonds and sugar. The only trouble with this spot is that they sell out quickly if some of the good stuff each morning, but they do accept orders in advance! A real MLT gem!!

I freakin love their Almond Croissants god bless you Chez Grand Pére. What what I do without you?