I like this place but was put off by seeing the employees in the back smoking. The back door was propped open and it wasn't a big deal but I did see the dumpsters lining the alley and saw a critter as I was looking for parking. read more

Wow! A destination for sure. Delicious fruit tarts, great cookie boxes that include a Viking cookie! They have a Princess cake that I need to go back for.... read more

I think this place is pretty good, but not super outstanding. I'd rate this a high three. The pastries are very sweet and buttery... Like their croissant is a butter sponge. But they're also very flakey which I like. The pastries with fruits are generally really good (mm Apple Danish) but I find the sweetness overbearing as I pass the halfway point. The coffee is pretty good. Not the best but not bad at all. The service has gotten better over time! Very impressed with that. And it's cute and clean inside, a great place to do homework. Last year I had a turkey croissant sandwich and it was soooooooooo good but I can't seem to find their soup +sammy lunch deal! I haven't asked, but you should! I don't mind coming here. It's close and convenient to my school, and the location is peaceful. There's no parking lot so good luck (unless you choose to park at the 7/11 next door) with street parking! read more

I was pleasantly surprised when I popped in here on a random weekday. My knowledge of Scandinavian treats is sadly, very limited. Swedish fish probably do not count. Anyway, we tried a little of everything and it was delicious! From the Kringle to cookies to Challah, everything was super fresh! I have no idea what I was eating, but it was all extremely tasty! There was so much variety also. I was wondering how they keep their unending case of goods so fresh, but it seems they have a pretty steady following. This is place was packed at 5pm on a Tuesday night! This place is dangerous, and I will definitely be back! read more

I love this bakery so much it's my family's go to for coffee and a quick bite. Would absolutely recommend!

Just tried the Byen Bakeri for the first time and I now have a new favorite. Unlike Larsen's and some of the other Seattle favorites, Byen's has the flaky pastry that I usually only find in Europe. The also are set apart from every other I have tried in the Pacific Northwest and that is they do not over sugar their pastries. This lets the buttery flavor of the pastry come through. In addition to the huge selection of pastries, they also have a wonder selection of fresh baked breads, cakes and savory offerings. They also serve coffee and tea and offer boxed lunches. This will definitely be a regular stop. read more

Don't go here for coffee- you're better off going down the street to Tully's. I ordered a soy cappuccino and I got burnt shots with a dollop of foam. Other than their sub-par drinks, their pastries are delicious and totally worth going for! read more

Let me start by saying that by my standards, the mark of a successful pastry is based on the amount of almond paste or marzipan in it. So you can imagine my delight when I was shown pastry after pastry containing marzipan in the cases of this charming bakery. Of course, they do have non marzipan pastries, which I probably won't ever taste as I've already found my favorite thing here: Royal Croissant! I got the last one today but it won't be my last mwahaha! And the staff? Almost as sweet as the pastries, no pretentious bakery snobs working here! read more

Byen Bakeri - Royal Croissant, lives up to its name fosho! - Bakeries Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Loved this place! Met a couple of clients here for lunch, but I actually got there early because I wanted to try one of their amazing looking pastries. I ordered a latte and a cherry/cheese danish (which was huge by the way) and both were perfect. The latte was rich and creamy - definitely hit the spot. And the danish was flaky, and had just the right amount of both cherries and cheese filling. Service was incredibly friendly and it's just a nice space overall. It's not very big, but I thought there was a decent amount of seating for the space. Everything in their case looked amazing, so it was definitely hard to chose. It just means I'll have to go back the next time I'm in town! Can't wait to go back! read more

I work in the food industry and don't often take the recommendations of my customers when it comes to food (I've been burned many times before), but when the guy wearing a shirt that said "Swede" gleefully told me that Byen is amazing (and better than Larsen's), I listened. Oh. My. Word. Byen IS amazing. I love marzipan, and I LOVE European pastries, and it's so hard to keep myself from getting one of everything. It helps to go with at least one buddy so you can share and try more. Maple Butterhorn, almond coffee cake...just to start. :) Plus good coffee. Heaven. (But hey, Byen, if you're reading this, can I make one small suggestion? You do such an AMAZING job with pastries and displaying them, and your espresso is great, but perhaps you'd consider investing in some good cups for your espresso that aren't paper?) read more

One the best cappuccino's I've ever had, great customer service, all around really nice bakery.

Amazing! Everytime! Highly recommend. The pastries are delicious and the sandwiches are mouth watering

I've liked this bakery-cafe since I dropped in on a lazy Sunday afternoon in the summer. There is something rather understated, relaxed, soothing about it, largely without a clientele who blather on about some unadulterated trivia, e.g., "I mean it was...like...it was so GOOD, I mean it was AWESOME!!!" When I've dropped in, the counter staff has been East African, which may account for the soft-spoken grace here. And something of the Old World, as well a "neighborhood feel." No one to impress. Thankfully, there hasn't been a crowd of few college students, either. One of the nice things about getting old(er) is that one does not feel as much the need to join a herd of other people at a bar or other venue. Instead, one enjoys--and truly appreciates--the company of a few friends. (This remark will undoubtedly pass over the heads of elite Yelpers, for whom the possibility of 5,000+ "friends" here or on Facebook is the alpha and omega. Being in Paris recently I realized how things are savored more there than here, and how the middle-aged and elderly are less "invisible" than here in Seattle, where the noisy throngs of mindlessly conformist, cheer-leading Yelp-ers as well as young wannabees tend to drown out everyone else. I don't know if we're to thank Amazon for that). So... my point is that you can have a very decent sandwich custom-made (the combo includes a drink and a small bag of chips) and sit outside, although Nickerson, of course, is rather noisy. One can feel pleasantly cool wafts from, I imagine, Salmon Bay and the Canal, the latter just a block away...and then enjoy the view, drift into a reverie, or read a good book, unless one is snapped back into mundane reality by a coarse conversation. (The large array of Scandinavian-inspired baked goods was not really "my cup of tea," being, so it seemed, rather too soft and doughy. Pricey, too). The Ballard I remember of the 70's retained the non-pretentious heritage of its Scandinavian origins). You will probably not have a gaggle of shrill young people who believe that loudly declaiming "that's SO 'effing awesome" is being sophisticated. (I think we have The Stranger to thank for that one). As to how long places like Byen can resist being overrun by the 'effin' Huns of our time is anyone's guess. This is real Seattle--and I have compunctions about using the largely overused word, even though it has indeed become part of the local (and global) lexicon--cool. read more

I've been going to byen bakeri quite often as it recently became the closest bakery from my place. I liked them at first try. Enough to go back. However, after frequent visits, and trying out different pastries, I must say they are not my favorite. Their pastries tend to be extremely sweet and buttery. Try them out if you like strong flavored pastries. Their hazelnut coffee pastry was one of the sweetest, and heaviest pastry i have ever tasted. It is overloaded with creme and sugar. It has reasonable seatings and friendly crews, but not the best pasties in my opinion. if you still want to give them a go, I recommend almond croissant, kringles and their lunch sandwiches. read more

They have amazing sandwiches and delicious croissants and pastries. Always a treat! Their half sandwiches normally make for a good lunch. The caprese is really good, and their rosemary sea salt baguette is phenomenal. read more

I ran across this place entirely by accident on my way to work one day. Being Norwegian and having a decent grasp of the language, I was instantly attracted to the flag and the name. The selection was very wide and so many things looked delicious. I really had just wanted to check it out and have some iced tea. I asked if they served iced tea, and was told it they could do that for me. It was a little confusing as to who I was supposed to deal with/pay, and one person (who was standing by the register and I thought I should be paying) ignored me and wasn't very friendly. The other two people behind the counter made up for it, being super friendly and helpful. Pricing for drinks and pastries seemed really steep. Definitely more than I was anticipating. It was also a little confusing as to how ordering went. I saw some confusion happening with customers waiting to get pastries and coffee. 2 stars for the unhelpful clerk, 2-3 stars for pricing and clarity in ordering, 5 stars for the two helpful clerks, and 4-5 stars for them going out of the box to give the customer (me) what she wanted (iced tea). read more

This was exactly what I needed to start my morning, very welcoming and kind workers. The pastries are amazing, the cinnamon roll was perfect to enjoy on the river front read more

Serves coffee but doesn't offer a punch card? Charges the customer for using their credit card? The coffeehouse around the corner is their distinct opposite. I've taken my business there. read more

Went to this bakery because reviews said it's the best Almond Croissant in Seattle. Although they are very pricy, it is definitely worth the $6.00 I had tried several other bakeries that were alittle more affordable but with little or no almond paste. I agree it's the best out there! Every bit gives you almond! YUMMY read more

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Cakes were a bit sweeter than I'd like. Everything else was pretty good, including service. Wide selection. They were out of lettuce for a sandwich one time though, that was weird. Get the breakfast items. read more

Love the ambiance, though highly don't recommend the pumpkin spice latte. Tastes nothing like pumpkin. Not the vibe. The monte Cristo sandwich is FIRE though. read more

Everything is freakin 2x sugar here so if you like extreme sweet, this is the right place. The chai latte is plain. It needs more flavor. I think they made it from the chai pocket bag thingy... Also it should have been in a nice cup not the paper type. Anyways, 3 star for the nice and great service! read more

Byen Bakeri - Bakeries Near Me - Seattle, Washington

I don't write many reviews but I was so impressed that I have to share. This is a hidden gem! This is the best bakery/ coffee shop in Seattle! The flavors and smell are to die for. After driving past this bakery many times I finally decided to stop in. At first I was over whelmed at the selection! I wanted to buy everything and try everything. I bought the ham and cheese croissant and my wife had another pastry. I was in food heaven. The cakes look delicious and we will order one for our sons first birthday in November. I am excited to visit the bakery again and bring some friends to share the experience. Thank you for the wonderful experience! read more

Very tasty, if expensive, sweet and savory baked goods. The only issue can be the staff, who have at times been less than pleasant/helpful.

If you want quality pastries this is the place. Good selection and very fresh. I was little sad they were out of semla. By far my favorite cake is princess torta and they make it very tasty. This place has fair prices. There is a small area to even eat your treats. read more

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Amazing food and amazing people. I came in with an odd request, Byen came through. Friendly staff and I can't believe how patient and helpful they are. read more

Yes, the pastries are wonderful, but their rye bread, my oh my ! Close your eyes and dream of Norway

I thought the French made the best pastries, until I moved around the corner from Byen Bakeri and discovered the Nordic ways. Now I am obsessed with Scandinavian bakeries and seek them out wherever I go. Byen helped me discover the life-changing magic of perfect almond paste. Normally a chocolate person, they were out of chocolate croissants one weekend afternoon so I went for the Royal Croissant, which had chocolate and almond paste. It was much took sweet for me, but I fell in love with the almond paste and by the end of my patronage was buying 2-3 pastries a week, usually the Tebirkes (which are like almond croissant with poppy seeds). I've tried countless other tebirkes, croissants, etc, and none has come close to the texture of Byen's almond paste, which is smooth and delicate inside a pastry, and delightfully candy-like at the points it oozes out of the pastry and hardens on the item's cooking surface. Its hard to describe. The coffee is just okay, as is the staff. I categorize the two together because the coffee is largely dependent on the employee who happens to be working. I'd always bought a quad americano and was charged 4 different prices at different points in time and had it served in various cup sizes. I have to stress that living around the corner, I visited several times a week with the same coffee order, yet the girls working would bristle every time I requested it. On a few occasions, I came in at 3:45 on a Sunday or other weekdays between 5-20 minnutes before the store closed, and they refused to make it because "the espresso machine was already off." I know exactly what that means. It means someone wanted to get ahead on their closing duties and already cleaned the machine, and if they use the machine again it will need to be recleaned. I'm sorry, but that is idiotic. Its just bad business practice to turn away sales that way-- a restaurant doesn't turn away a dinner order because they already turned off the oven or cleaned the pan. But what is REALLY bad business practice is losing someone's credit card and doing absolutely nothing to make it right. I noticed the changed it after the incident I'm about to describe, but the Square credit card readers used to be mounted in an awkward spot by the register (like not at the gas station or pharmacy when its mounted right in front of you and you put your own card in) so you'd hand it to the cashier and it would remain in the card reader while you signed the screen, added tip, etc. One day, they forgot to hang it back to me. And in their defense, I forgot to ask for it back. My hands full of pastries and coffee, I took off without it and walked the 150 or so metres home. It wasn't until a couple hours later I realized I didn't have my card, so I walked back and let them know I'd left it earlier. The girl who was working told me the manager put it away for safekeeping and that she wasn't sure where it/she was. She told me to call or come back on Tuesday (this was Sunday and the place is closed on Monday) and ask for Michelle. So minor inconvenience, I don't have the card for a couple days but its not the end of the world. Well come Tuesday I go back to the store and meet Michelle. However great of a baker she is, this woman should NOT be running a business. I told her my name and she acknowledged having put aside my card and went back to get it. Less than a minute later she informs me that she has lost the card. She keeps going "oh my gosh, so weird, I just don't know what could have happened to it. I just put it right back there in the office. Oh my gosh, so crazy, so weird. Its probably just in the trash." Her evasiveness was bizarre and honestly made her look like an uncaring idiot, but what bothered me was her lack of remorse, no apology for turning a minor inconvenience into scary uncertainty for me.... am I going to be able to make it 5-10 business days to get a new card from the bank (I'm a student and don't have multiple cards like some people)? Is my identity/bank information compromised? How am I going to afford the late payment fees that I'll owe because I can't pay certain bills without this card? The way that she concluded it must have been accidentally thrown away and offered NO sympathy or solution is the worst example of customer service I have ever encountered firsthand. Didn't even TRY to make it right. She didn't say "It must have gotten thrown away, I am terribly sorry, please write your phone number so I can can follow up with you, and take mine if you have any concerns". Instead she just treated it like "well, that's that". The amazing pastries might compensate for the mediocre coffee service, but they can't make up for making customers unheard and unvalued. read more

I'm only docking a star because the coffee can't even be called sub-par. It's almost like gas-station coffee. That being said, the pastries are (1) enormous for the price, and (2) delicious and addictive as all hell. There is a huge selection of yummy goodies that it's hard to figure out where to start. I ordered some to split with friends: 1 rhubarb strudel (the rhubarb was so delicious and just the right mix of sweet with tart; 1 black and white cookie (a little stale and bland, wasn't a fan really); 1 blueberry cheesecake pastry (so, so delicious). It was fantastic. The girls behind the counter were really sweet and patient, and more than willing to help me find exactly the kind of pastries I was looking for. Honestly, I think it's a great place to catch up with a friend over delicious pastries -- or take some for Sunday morning breakfast. If you're on the fence, give it a go. The worst thing that might happen is that you'll fall in love with their pastries and never try any other bakery ;) read more

Byen Bakeri is my go-to neighborhood bakery! I've gotten pastries, sandwiches, and even special occasion cakes and have been impressed with everything i've ordered. The cinnamon rolls and royal scones (i think that's the name?) are my favorite. There's always a slightly different offering of treats, but they're consistently made fresh with a appealing presentation. On Friday's you can get fresh bread for $5, and there's an everyday lunch special for a sandwich box lunch. read more

Being Scandinavian heritage, it's great to have close by, a excellent Bakeri like Byen.

Underwhelming experience, though to be fair this place seems more like a cafe, the sandwiches I saw being ordered looked delightful and there were a fair amount of customers in there, I bought some lemon squares and a few donuts, I always get a danish, their danish was pretty close to spot on perfect, the crust was a bit overdone but cream cheese, frosting, texture of crust (that wasn't over done) was fantastic. The lemon bars were a mistake from the get go, the counter person weighted them out by ferrying them to the scale in piles of three, they toppled tossing their topping everywhere. The box they came in they were upside down and tossed in with no reguard, it was pretty sad, half of then were jelly balls by the time I got home. They also seem to have coconut, which isn't a big deal for my but my fiancee has a very mild alergy. Its mild enough that we don't really check for it, I don't know if it was marked or not I certainly didn't see a notice though. None of these things are big deals individually, the jelly balls were still lemony and her allergy isn't a big deal but collectively made my visit a bummer. I might give them another pass for a danish and a sandwich but I don't think I'll order to go or large order again. read more

Byen Bakeri is life. Their almond croissants are the best in the city -- and I've had my share. They run out on the weekends so don't expect to see any in the afternoon. Great baguettes and large assortment of baked goods. Nice larger cakes down to small bite size cookies. read more

The sandwiches are delicious and their baked goods are great as well. Many of their sweet pastries have marzipan flavoring which is not my favorite, but they have one of the best blueberry sour cream coffee cake I've ever had in my life. So. Good. read more

I've been disappointed by this bakery several times in a row. I'm not going to go into detail about each item I purchased, but I will say that the assorted cookie box and the cardamom rolls looked a lot better than they tasted. I did order a custom cake from them though and that's why I'm writing this review. The flavor was fine but the presentation was surprisingly disappointing. I ordered a princess cake and asked for piped text on the top. The piping was embarrassing and very poorly done so it was almost illegible and looked like a child had done it. The marzipan covering the cake also had a hole in it at the bottom and they'd tried to cover it up with some more piped icing. It looked very amateur. Furthermore, they'd added a separate layer of sponge to the whipping cream layer of the princess cake, presumably to help it keep its shape. That's very frustrating because that's simply not a princess cake and just tells me they don't know how to properly make one! If the cream is properly whipped and the cake is properly constructed then you shouldn't need more sponge to reinforce it. The added sponge meant it tasted way too cake-y and was NOT what we were expecting. What a disappointment and a waste of money. Do better for your next customer please. I won't be coming back. read more

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Delicious pastries and coffee. Glad we discovered this place. Walking distance to our home!!

What an amazing bakery! Unique in Seattle. Danish pastries are incomparable with anything else in Seattle. They bake the best rolls. I just go there to pick up the short rolls for $1 sometimes. It's hard to choose from all the Danish and pastries. They have oversized cookies with m&m which kids love. read more

Byen Bakeri - Bakeries Near Me - Seattle, Washington

I love coming in, we live right down the street and I'm always begging my boyfriend to stop in to grab me something sweet. The staff is always super nice and the pastries are huge!! Easily my favorite pastries in the city. read more

Y'know. I had to come through for the one time. Saw my boy go hard as hell AF no reason in the back washing dishes w/ his heart out. Mad shouts out to the staff. They good read more

This place is amazing. They have some of the best baked goods in town and also make delicious sandwiches with their delicious homemade bread. One of the best sandwiches in Queen Anne. read more