Golden flakes shatter with a buttery sigh, A pastry warm as…read morethe morning sky. Each crisp layer melts, then drifts away, Leaving sweet comfort to start the day. Beside it waits an iced latte, bold and smooth, Cream swirling through with a silky groove. Strong coffee sings beneath clouds of cream, Cool and rich as a midsummer dream. Together they turn an ordinary hour Into a little feast of flavor and power.

My wife and I made it out to Uppercrust in between lunch and a trip to La Chua Trail in Paynes…read morePrairie Preserve State Park. My wife has been eager to try out their pastries for a while. Upon entering, we saw a variety of mouth watering options. My wife ordered a peanut butter crinkle cookie ($3.00), a vanilla bean scone ($4.75) and I chose a guava caisson ($4.95). We ordered our pastries to go and the woman behind the counter placed all three pastries in a box. The peanut butter crinkle cookie never made it out of the parking lot as my wife devoured it...I may have had a small piece to taste it. Not a fan of peanut butter but that cookie was legit. We brought the scone and chausson home to savor with some hot tea. My wife liked her scone but when we unearthed the chausson, it was flattened by the heavy scone placed on top of it by the lady who boxed it up. Instead of airy, flaky goodness, the chausson was disappointingly chewy and hard! Did I say disappointing?

And here we have another gem to add to Ocala's increasingly cool selection of places to eat…read more Located in the heart of downtown Ocala, Soleil Bakery is a gluten-free bakery offering locals and visitors alike a delicious selection of pastries both savory and sweet without the traditional gluten filled ingredients. The perfect place for a book club meet-up, or catch up with friends at any time of day, the cafe is sweetly decorated and uber cozy. I was so glad to see they were open as the few times I had visited before they were closed. With that said, I recommend to call beforehand as my understanding is that the bakery has odd hours sometimes. The staff was friendly and helped me choose a selection of goods to take home with me. I ended up with their very last snickerdoodle cookie, two spinach quiches, and their peanut butter chocolate cheesecake with an Oreo crust. Yum, yum, and yum! All of it. The quiche was particularly good and heated up well the next day keeping the center moist and fluffy while still being loaded with spinach. Sorry to say my review won't come with photos of the treats I picked up as I ran out quickly to get home in the rain. But...I guess you'll just have to go see yourself! Soleil Bakery & Social House is a must try!

After residing in Ocala for 9 months, we finally made it here. To be honest, this business was not…read moreon my list of bookmarks, nor had I even checked it out. We finally explored the square due to one of the art walk events. Since it we visited twice here on Friday evenings, we decided to have espresso. During the events in the square, the businesses usually stay open later than usual. This also means they are busy. I have yet to visit during normal business hours so I am not sure how the traffic is usually. Our first visit was just to check it out and get whatever on a spontaneous decision. I did not know they serve beer and wine so I opted for wine our first time. I picked out some French white wine, which wound up being over $20 for a tiny bottle! The staff member warned me she was unsure of the price and we were both shocked when she scanned it lol. I then switched it for a sparkling wine, which was half the price. The espresso hubs and I split was as good as it gets. We love our espressos and coffee bold and strong so we were happy. The staff member also gave me a teacher's discount, which I appreciate so much because therapists don't usually get discounts! The next time we visited, we ordered another espresso, as well as a cinnamon bun and an Andes cake. OMFG how orgasmic!! I love mint chocolate anything so I was sooooo excited! We saved it for later and it was just amazing! Hubs loves cinnamon buns and he approved as well. Both times we sat for a while, sipped our coffee, and talked. I am definitely interested in checking Soleil out when it is less busy to soak it in. The place was clean and the staff were personable and friendly. They serve a lot of vegan products and honestly, they are so good, you probably could not tell the difference which is vegan or not. They have comfy seating and it does feel very cozy in there.

One of my favorite places in town for boba! My mom was stopping into pick me up boba drinks for my…read moredad and I. I always get a taro boba tea but today I was feeling something refreshing. I got a passionate mango tea with mango boba pearls. The service is always fast, efficient, and pleasant. This passionate mango tea was very light but sweet. It tasted like a mix of passionfruit and mango and the mango popping pearls were the perfect touch. This place has such amazing variety of drinks that every visit could be something new. Definitely stop in for a delicious treat yourself!

The main draw of this spot is the huge variety of flavors and customizations- mote than any other…read moretea spot I've visited so far in Gainesville. However, many of the teas- such as the earl grey and cherry- have a strong perfumy-lychee notes that can be off putting. Also I feel that there is some real nickel and dime-ing going on as you need to pay extra to change the ice content and to have boba in both sides of the dual flavor cup. However, I do wanna mention here that I love the general execution of the double flavor cup other than that small detail. Lastly, this was likely a fluke, but the cold foam on one of my visits was very chunky- straight cream cheese- which was an off putting quality control error. But overall, its not a bad spot, just not the best in town. Good if you want a really specific flavor though.

The food here is very consistent! I usually get the sausage egg and cheese biscuit sandwich but one…read morethey run out of the biscuits they use English muffins which are definitely not my favorite so be aware of that. The biscuits that they make are amazing and as far as every pastry I've tried so far I have thoroughly enjoyed every single one of them including the raspberry almond croissant and I don't even like raspberries so that says a lot! The service is great in the mornings but the last time I went in the afternoon I wasn't a fan of the attitude some of the workers had so I'm definitely sticking to mornings. (I chose not to tip because of how they greeted me and unfortunately this was the time the food was bad so I was very upset) Over all I love this place. I am all about an honest review. I love the decor and over all vibe of the place. I hope that one day they're able to expand a bit and have comfier seating so that people could stay longer and enjoy the atmosphere as well as continue to purchase more of their products!

I have actually stopped by twice since my last visit! For being 100% vegan and organic, the treats…read morehere are impressive. On my most recent visits, I've tried a Hummingbird Cake, S'mores Bar, and their ice cream. The service is attentive here and everyone is extremely friendly. I love the atmosphere and it is a perfect spot for studying too. Another thing I am impressed with besides the quality of the food, is the variety. Each time I go in there, they have new, unique items in their bakery case. The flavor combinations are unique and executed well too. It is honestly hard to just choose one item! The Hummingbird Cake was good, a little dry, but it had good flavor. A traditional hummingbird cake has more of a citrus and pineapple element to it--which this particular cake was missing. I would call this more of a nut or walnut spice cake. The s'mores also had good flavor, but the consistency wasn't my favorite. The base/brownie and marshmallows were very dry. Combined with graham crackers, it was lacking a lot of moisture. I tried the ice cream for the first time as well and thought this was great! The texture of the ice cream is different from full-dairy ice cream for sure. But I was very impressed with the flavor selection and overall taste. I tried the raspberry-chip which had a very natural, organic raspberry taste and wasn't artificial at all. I also tried a magic bar flavor which included cookies, nuts, and coconut. I liked this as well, the cookies again were kinda dry and I feel like there could have been less toppings inside the ice cream. Overall, I am still shocked that everything from here is vegan because I would have never expected vegan baked goods to taste this good. While the textures of things are definitely different--the overall flavor is pretty good. The prices are higher compared to other bakeries, but that should be expected as they serve items catered towards certain dietary restrictions. Their ice cream is worth a try and I will most likely return for that.

My family and I have been ordering Flavorbomb Macarons for years! Erin (the owner) has a true knack…read morefor designing flavors and then decorating the macarons to the theme, creating a beautiful product. The quality of the shells and the flavored fillings are always a delight! In addition to ordering several of Erin's curated boxes, we have ordered several dozen custom macarons. Our favorites include: Booberry (a Halloween treat!), Chocolate Eggnog and then a Chocolate Marshmallow that was divine!! Erin's decorating of the macarons is always thoughtful and clever. The packaging for the macarons is beautiful and high-end, making it easy to give these macarons as a gift. My entire family (and extended family!) absolutely LOVES Flavorbomb Macarons and we are already planning our next order! Highly recommend.

Flavorbomb owner Erin puts together incredible themed boxes of her delicious macarons for every…read moreholiday. She did a popup on Valentine's Day, so I had to stop by to get a box of her candy heart macarons. The flavors for this box were Cappuccino, Marshmallow, Peanut Butter, Strawberry, Thin Mint, & Toasted Coconut. I loved each flavor, especially Thin Mint!

I'm a sucker for any Thai deserts or Thai tea flavored stuff and this place didn't disappoint. Came…read morehere on a weekday and it wasn't too busy. All proper covid precautions were followed and the kind staff can help you build your cup if you're unsure. They have a wide array of flavors and toppings, unmatched to some places i've seen nearby. I got the Bangkok summer with boba, mochi, and oreo crumbs and absolutely loved it. The thai tea flavor was great and delicious like most others i've tried. The toppings were all as you expect. It's rolled ice cream so it's fun to watch them make your ice cream and roll it up! Overall liked this place a lot and a cute spot to get ice cream with anyone, and try their Bangkok summer!!!!

Our family was visiting Gainesville for the weekend, and stopped by here for dessert for the first…read moretime. We were all disappointed with everything. This was our first time having rolled ice cream, and it unfortunately didn't meet our expectations. Rather than being rolled and packed nicely in a cup, our ice cream was loosely rolled and smooshed into a cup. Their new steamed buns on their menu were overcooked and dried out. We really wanted to like this spot, but this visit was an unfortunately a big miss for us.

I have dreams of this croissant sandwich all the time. The fig jam. The bleu cheese. The flakiest…read morebuttery croissant. Any time I can make it to any of the locations I am thrilled to get this. And an iced latte with rose flavor... and rose petals?! Pretty AND delicious. Really one of my favorites spots for a latte. The service is always excellent and it's such a nice spot to just sit and sip. Inside or outside. Plenty of seating both places.

Love their pastries, baguette sandwiches and coffee! Beautiful interior and great customer service…read more My favorite is Le Germain. It has prosciutto ham, mozzarella, green pesto, shaved Parmesan and arugula! Their baguette is perfectly crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, making every bite delicious! They also have a wide selections of coffee drinks at prices they are very reasonable compared to other coffee shops around. And of course, they offer some of the best quality pastries in Jacksonville! Definitely a must visit local business!

A friend was visiting and wanted ice cream or gelato. We were in the area so stopped in here…read more What an adorable little shop with a case full of top notch pastries, colorful macarons and sculptural, luscious, extremely artistic looking chocolates. We were just in the market for the gelato that day and were pleased to find about 8 selections in the front cooler. After sampling the violet I chose it- slightly sweet, floral but fruitier than I imagined. It was remarkable. My friend got chocolate and we enjoyed a nice walk down to the river while eating our treats. The cafe did have a handful of tables in and outdoors in case you prefer to stay there. I definitely need a special occasion so I can go back for some of those exquisite chocolates.

This place is so adorable if you are in the mood for some good macarons . They make everything…read morefresh and they had a ton of different flavors. The inside had a few seating options which was nice. It is a little pricey for macarons but I loved how much variety they offered. They also had Gelato options as well. If you are looking for a sweet treat and are in the area, its worth a try

After a recent lunch near the town center, we were looking for a good dessert spot. We basically…read moretried Light On The Sugar Bakery Cafe because of how close it was to where we were. What a lucky course of events! There is seating both inside and outside. The interior clean, bright, elegant and simple. The staff were friendly and we were served very quickly. The only wait was for the coffees ordered at my table. They were fantastic as well. I ordered the Tiramisu pie. Amazing texture, velvety layers, perfect flavor blend, bold, just the right amount of sweet...delicious. We'll be back to try more and if you haven't visited Light on The Sugar Bakery Cafe, I highly suggest you do.

Really Cute and Cozy Dessert and Drink spot in the heart of the St. John's Town Center…read more The Service was quick and efficient. I had my drink within 2 minutes of ordering. My Key Lime Pie Puff was great although I would've loved a slightly more baked graham cracker crust. I also had a try of the Tiramisu cake slice and that could've been a bit HEAVIER on the sugar, if you know what I mean. Overall, I would absolutely pop in again.