Palace Bakery (now known as Palace Coffee Roasters) is has been around Eugene for decades, but I've…read morenever actually been here until recently. When I was growing up we didn't really visit bakeries, I don't drink coffee, and my mom was a black coffee only sort of person, so not really much need.
Whilst visiting Saturday Market I stopped in with my tired, grumpy toddler to get her a hot chocolate. I got myself one too, and it was excellent. The whipped cream especially was nice; I am positive it's made from heavy whipping cream and it was so yummy I just wanted to eat some whipped cream. I know my kiddo enjoyed hers, especially if the state of her face and clothes was any indication. I've had a lot of hot chocolate, including from Mindy's in Chicago which many like to claim as the best (it's good, but honestly a bit too thick for me), but I think Palace may have the best. The secret is that they use ganache for their hot chocolate. It's the ganache that they sell in the shop, so it's easy to acquire. The staff member mentioned that she likes to dip strawberries in it, and she said they keep it in the fridge and it stays good for a while. I'm not sure I'll pick some up this time since we're heading into the warm weather months, but we'll be getting some (or having my sister send some) as we move into autumn for sure. I will say that if you get hot chocolate you will need to check work--TWICE I asked for whipped cream, at two different visits, and they didn't put any on (though they left space for it, so either fill it with chocolate or add the cream please).
I was planning to get a maple bar here, but when I saw them changed my mind--they didn't look particularly appetizing. They had several other pastries though so it was an easy swap out for a kouign amann, my favorite pastry, and a marionberry strudel. Both were great. The marionberry strudel was particularly special since marionberries are more tart blackberry variant native to Marion County, Oregon; marionberries are rarely found outside Oregon, and if so not much beyond the border states. It was overflowing with marionberry and hit the spot, and my little one was a fan too.
There was a good amount of seating, too, spread across two rooms. There's an entrance both from the Park Street side and Pearl; on the west side you'll get to see the bakers hard at work. They had some huge breakfast burritos that looked really good, but since I wasn't heading home immediately we took a pass on them--this time.
Parking is street only, though it's not unlikely that you'll find parking on Pearl, Broadway, Oak, or Park.
