This review deals mainly with the deli side of "Svitoch" which also features a newly renovated coffee and pastry side to its personality. The first thing that hits you is just how many different types of European candy there is, candy in bags, in boxes, in bins, they have candy everywhere in the deli side of this store. Lots and lots of candy, I really can't emphasize that enough. It is, of course, also a deli of the European variety, think lots and lots of cured meats and meat by-products. The deli side is about the size of a standard 7-11 and features a main walkway in front of the deli counter running the length of the store. There are a few small aisles and some refrigerator display cases. Don't come here for your regular grocery shopping, the fruits and veggies are sadly lacking here, but like I said before, this shop is all about the sweets and the meats. I cannot vouch for all the candies here, but some of them are great and most of them cannot be bought in many other places. The same goes for their bread, some really great bread here. The staff, mostly women, all speak with Eastern Euro accents making the whole place that much more authentic. This is the kind of store you come to for that 'special' item you just can't get anywhere else. But you would be doing yourself a disservice if you didn't take a walk over to the newly finished coffee side of Svitoch. I'm not sure which side is called Svitoch and which one goes by Sweet Touch, the important part here is their sweets, and the coffee side has Euro pastries in spades. The long L-shaped glass display cases are filled with all sorts of wonderfully colourful pastries and sweet treats and the coffee workers are more like the baristas you find in any modern coffee shop. If you're looking for some weird Euro import meats or candies galore that you're not going to find anyplace else nearby, this is the place for you. read more

See all

Location wise it's small but I understand why because it's a market/bakery so the space is halfed. Also the bakery side is nice it's a cafe too if you want to have some ceffeine. We had originally come here for the baked goods. And it was superb and yummy, but side note we bought a cake and it was sooo $$ expensive. It was $50 plus tax. And it was only 6inches. Now I can buy a sheet of cake from Cosco for half that price. The cakes all had different designs but the filling was all the same and the cake batter was either chocolate or vanilla. Overall I would just come here for the little baked goods and bread. Maybe not cake, it's just my preference. read more

See all

Love this place sweetest ladies working, really good coffee and obviously great sweets, but I think my favorite part is the salty food the sausage in a blanket, there cheese pastry's, piroshki are so yummy. Definitely a go to Russian store/coffee shop! read more

If you've never had Russian pastries before then this bakery is a must try! I've been coming up from Portland and buying slices of traditional Russian cakes from Svitoch for a few weeks now and bringing them to my friends and family for all of us to sample and each treat has been superb! Their cakes aren't terribly sweet and are so moist! The list has included; Bird's Cake, Golden Dom, Honey Cake, Pavlova, Peach shaped pastry, Spartak, Kolokola, and my very favorite Kutuzov!! They're just right and perfectly compliments the delicious lattes they serve! They also serve beautiful Piroshki with cabbage and have a crêperie! I just adore the baristas and the atmosphere! Heaven! read more

See all

From Russia with love ... and sugar. The Cold War ended decades ago, but the Yum War between your diet and tummy will hit Defcon 5 when you enter Svitoch European Bakery just across the street from the Vancouver Mall. It's a true Russian bakery and deli filled with Pastries, Deli items, warm ready-to-eat Food, European Candies, and aisles full of more. There's lots to love at Svitoch in the pastry display case full of Russian beauties, cakes, macarons, and desserts. Fresh Bread is on the other side of the store and my advice is to go when the bread is fresh. Of course, get one slice of Chocolate Cake or Cranberry Meringue as a treat for yourself and a box of colorful Macarons to share with the one you love. Speaking Russian appears to be the preference of the ladies behind the counter. They definitely seemed hesitant to speak, but eager to serve as I spied each dessert one by one. No worries though because Svitoch speaks the language of love ... sweet sugary love ... in the form of pastries, cookies, cakes, and other Russian beauties. read more

See all

They have nice Bakery, but grocery store has a lot of expired products. Purchased candy with WORMS yesterday. Asked to talk to customer service but was only offered moneyback. If you love european food just choose another store, this comment about grocery store, NOT BAKERY . read more

Svitoch - Candy with a WORM inside and silk lines outside - Grocery Near Me - Vancouver, Washington

Also commonly known as Sweet Touch, it is a popular commodity indeed, among Vancouver's Russian community. With modern style decor, great home-type atmosphere, and all the European desserts you can ever imagine, it has become my go-to place for keeping myself hopped up on sugar and caffeine whilst completing my homework. Also great for meeting up with friends or relaxing and reading. Try their honey lavender latte, their fresh baked cakes, or Russian piroshki, you just can't go wrong. Also shares an entrance to their store, so you can take ingredients home if you're a DIY individual. Their cafe area has limited seating, and is often filled up by 5pm, so consider yourself warned if you were hoping to find good seating. Also, they are a little pricey, but money spent on sweets that are total perfection doesn't count, right?.... read more

TERRIBLE customer service. Don't waste your time coming to the store!!!! You come in nobody acknowledges you, when you ask for help they ignore you or if they end up helping you it's with this annoying rolling eyes kind of look. You can stand in line for 20 minutes in an empty store and nobody will help. Go spend your money somewhere where they want your business because these people don't. read more

Wow! Svitoch is an absolutely awesome place! Be prepared to spend a lot of time and a lot of money there. Need candy? Come here. Need amazing smoked salmon? Come here. Need some lovely authentic pastries? Come here. Need some amazing sausages, cheeses, and other Russian meats? Come here. Not only is the selection huge and the quality of the baked goods amazing, the people who run the shop are the most amazingly friendly and helpful people you could ever hope to encounter. I've been here twice, and each time we've picked a price point for their bulk candies (they range from $3.99 to $7.99 per pound), and purchased approximately five pounds (we still have several more price points to try). The variety is so large that this works out to about 4 pieces of each variety, and we still hadn't picked many types by the time the very large bag was full. Be careful of allergies, though. Some contain nuts, and us not speaking or reading Russian, we cannot tell what the actual ingredients are. On the last occasion, the incredibly nice employee (she was probably the owner) who was bagging up our groceries and pastries after she rang us up grabbed a loaf of fresh-baked raisin bread from the rack behind the counter, put if in my bag, smiled, and said, "A gift". WOW! How incredibly nice and thoughtful! I mean seriously, when was the last time you ever heard of that kind of caring for one's customers and kindness in this day and age? The bread was absolutely delicious, and didn't last more than a few days before the kids had eaten all of it (it was a BIG loaf, too). Svitoch has us as lifelong customers. The store itself is awesome, the quality of the goods they sell is outstanding, and above all, the kindness, generosity, and caring for their customers demonstrated by the owners and employees is unparalleled. Come here, you won't be disappointed. read more

It's really a 3.5 but I'll go 4 since they are a local business and I'm a huge fan of supporting local! As advertised, they are a European bakery and they have excellent espresso. The espresso got me in the door but the macaroons keep me coming back. I say 3.5 because I always feel like an outsider when I go in. The atmosphere is nice but isn't very inviting for a coffee shop vibe. Where to order and how to get what you want is somewhat confusing and honestly, I don't believe they have a system because it's been different on all 3 occasions that I have been in. I haven't even begun to sample all the beautiful pastries that are in the case but the cakes I have tried all tasted the same?? The location is unfortunate, I do hope this spot does well and figures out how to make it more inviting for someone who isn't "European" read more

I LOVE this store and every time we drive near we stop by! The store is 4 hrs from home but thankfully we have family and friends in Portland. The bakery section is beautiful and plenty of good selections, not all are tasty tho. Their bread, cheese and meats are fresh and delicious. They have the best mushroom/nut dip that is to die for, truly, I'm craving it all the time since I ever had it. Yes, all the reviews about customer service is true but I don't expect any different, it's a Slavic operation. I haven't been treated kindly by any of the slavic stores but this is our culture. The staff in the bakery section is a lot more pleasant and helpful, I think most of us are referring to the general section staff. Some of us our Americanized and expect kindness, but I accept that won't happen here. As long as they serve me tasty, fresh food, I'll accept the flat affect and annoyed service. read more

If i could i would give this bakery no stores. My daughter loves their macaroons but of course after today... I WILL NEVER EVER SHOP HERE AGAIN! Today was the worst customer service ever! I was ignored at the bakery maybe because im hispanic.. this had never happened to me before when there's 2 teenagers working the bakery.Today was 2 older ladies and they were awful worst customer service. Specially when being ignored i basically had to tell them heyy im next... because of their ugly attitude and worst customer service i will never come here again! Please fix your customer service & attitude! read more

Doesn't worth the hype ! Customer service is so slow and unprofessional! Piroshki and cakes taste old and non fresh at all !

I had a hankering for some macaroons and I spent $15 on them. Only 2 of them were even edible. The salted caramel and raspberry. The rest were hard as a rock and you could barely even bite through it. The birthday cake I clinked on a plate and it crumbled into smithereens. (Was probably 3 weeks old) ughhh read more

Unfriendly staff. No one was around when we entered the store and when we finally found an employee they didn't say anything to us and just stared. Didn't leave a good impression. Will not be returning. read more

Delicious pastries and breads. Try the peach shaped cake, it has this creamy filling. Lilly helped me, she was really nice! Worth a drive....they also have a nice wine store next door called "Total Wine". read more

My favorite bakery in all of Vancouver. Employees are very friendly, able to try all of the goods in the shop, it's delightful. Everything from here that I have tried has been amazing. 10/10 I recommend everyone comes here read more

We have been to this beautiful little European bakery several times now because it's only a few miles from home. The café is beautiful, The staff friendly and professional, and the desert cases are gorgeous with decadent looking sweets! With a few exceptions however, most of their specialty cakes have tasted quite bland unfortunately. The honey cake, the Napoleon, and a couple of their chocolate cakes are some examples. Too mild flavor and the chocolate cakes were especially dry. The chocolate rum balls were too boosey and sharp, which I'm almost embarrassed to admit. Some of the Philo-based desserts are often dry and hard to bite through as well. My overall impression is that the quality of the bake changes depending on who's working that day. We really have wanted this café to work and have tried several times because it's so close to home, and it makes me sad that I can't give a better review. Everything always looks amazing but doesn't taste like it. Their meringues with the caramel walnut fillings are really delicious and beautifully textured. That seems to be a consistently safe and yummy choice.The coffee is good and hot chocolate is extremely sweet but also tasty. read more

Their macaroons are AMAZING ! The staff is very friendly. Love coming here. Good food. read more

Svitoch - Raspberry - Grocery Near Me - Vancouver, Washington

We drove from San Francisco for Svitoch. Came in late in the day for a birthday cake, the staff was able to find a delicious cake in the refrigerator - exactly what we wanted. They spent time decorating the cake and made sure it met our expectations. Big hit with the family. Will return. read more

This place will not serve you if you're gay ... I walked in two women at counter not doing anything, look at each other and turn their backs to me .. I yelled excuse me three times finally on lady turned around and just looked at me .. If you come to this country understand that here we can love whoever we want . read more

I love this little spot, they have lots of interesting things in the Delhi and breads that you won't find anywhere else. The bakery has a ton of beautiful pastry options both sweet and savory which it is wonderful of period the staff is friendly and helpful. read more

Love this place. Love the russian market attached. Lots of good baked good. Service could be more friendly and latte was luke warm/cold but otherwise good read more

Wonderful! I had heard such great things about this bakery, so we decided to stop in! Omgosh, the desserts are heavenly!! It's a beautiful atmosphere, the service was quick and wonderful! There was a young man working the counter and there was definitely a small language barrier but he did his best to describe each Dessert to me and made sure to point out the favorites. He took his time to ensure that I knew what each flavor and type of dessert I was inquiring about. I was very impressed! His customer service was wonderful! The atmosphere was beautiful and impeccably clean! And the desserts! Ohhhhhh the desserts! We were sampling for our wedding so we bought a few different ones (most of which I'm unsure about the names due to the language barrier) but them were ALL amazing!! I bought 10 different desserts and only spent $38!! The cost was more than fair for the beautiful desserts we had! And we were able to experience delicatessens from Eastern European culture and they were absolutely devine! This is a MUST try place!! read more

Svitoch - Grocery Near Me - Vancouver, Washington

Stopped by after a book club lunch at Hudsons. Only had enough cash to spend $4 so decided on a cannoli. They looked good - but I was deceived. Cannoli filling is supposed to flow through the entire cannoli. These had a dollop at each end and nothing in the middle. The pastry was also soggy. Very disappointing. Everything in the bakery is so beautiful I thought the quality would match. I will give them the benefit of the doubt and try something else and maybe change my mind. read more

I want to give this place 5 stars. Their pastries deserve 5 stars if not more. However, I have given them two stars and should be reporting them as this establishment does not support Covid safe practices. I come here often and on this particular day a couple stood at the counter viewing pastries maskless. I waited to see if the very busy 3 blonde ladies at the counter would ask them to please put on their masks when not sitting at a table but when I observed the ladies, all three of them had their masks dropped to their chins not cover their noses nor mouths. And this behavior as Oregon just shut down numerous counties due to Covid hospitalizations rising. I want to support this business but it is imperative that this business support its clientele by requiring safety while shopping there. Highly irresponsible and disrespectful. read more

Walking into this Russian/Ukrainian deli, you will first notice an assortment of European-style rye and french breads - which the pleasant shopkeeper is more than happy to tell you are freshly baked and probably still warm. A sprawling display of cured meats, pork and sausages are presented in a refrigerated display case that wraps around half of the store. A few exotic cheeses and salted fish can also be found here. Svitoch has over a dozen different varieties of handmade pelmeni (a Russian national dish) and Vareniki (Ukrainian stuffed dumplings) available in the freezer section. Most interestingly, an ample selection of Russian chocolates and candies bound in sparkling wrappers are presented to entice your Eurasian sweet tooth. read more

As other reviewers have already noted, this bakery and coffee shop has beautiful offerings. This is the second time I've come in at night; both times the same staff has been somewhat rude to us. When I came in about six months ago I definitely felt that we were not welcome to linger which was interesting because we came in significantly before closing time. This time was the worst... the same young woman was in there- and from the first interaction we had with her to the last interaction she was doing her best to get us out the door... with a fake customer service smile but a firm, unnecessary tone. We arrived at 9:03 p.m. and the restaurant did not close until 10 p.m. She would not give us our tea in ceramic mugs, because she said some people wanted to sit and talk, and they were going to close "soon." 57 minutes later. throughout the course of the 40 minutes that we sat at a table, we heard her start to move chairs around loudly scraping them on the floor intentionally, very aggressively sweeping under tables and cleaning table tops that were already cleaned. She bussed dishes loudly and came over to take our water cups around 9:45 pm. After that interaction she loudly said "have a good night" as she was walking away, but we were still drinking our tea and chatting and it's not like we weren't going to see her again in 30 seconds standing behind the bar. We're two almost-middle-aged moms, we're not going to shut the place down honey. In my opinion the most offensive thing they did was start turning the music up quite loudly around 9:30, so we could not hear each other speak. Next they dimmed the lights around 9:35. What the hell? read more

Best European coffee shop in town. That is what if you truly like coffee and if not you will certainly be amazed by the large variety of in-house made bakery sweets, cakes, crepes,etc read more

Will wait in line for 15 minutes but will serve the Russian speaking customers before you because "they were in line before you" - I just saw her walk in those doors! No one welcomes you and service is awful if you aren't Russian, Ukrainian or Moldavian. 2 stars because the sweets are delicious. read more

I love this place!! Family is loving and hard working:) I'd say try there treats if you're new. And stop by for coffee... Very very good coffee! And for deli! Lots of delicious candy and meats read more

I will never come back to this establishment! Given the current pandemic I was surprised that there was an actual staff member not taking the proper precautions and wore the mask in their pocket instead of on their face!! How sad is our county right now! I do not care if you vote Republican or Democrat show some compassion & consideration for other people. And shame on the owners or management for not enforcing face mask for employees and customers. read more

I took my grandmother here when she came to visit. She was very skeptical at first, being from the east coast where their ethnic food is far superior. However it was a very delightful experience and I would recommend it to anyone. Their verity is outstanding, their pastries are fresh and fairly priced for the amount of time and effort required to make them. Svitoch should be a destination for anyone to swing by if they are looking for great service and great products. read more

Great place to lounge for a coffee date! Lots of varieties and great selection of pastries, I would definitely recommend this place!

OMG best desserts!!!! They were all soooooo yummy very rich but worth it. Priced right. But beware their card readers cannot run your payment If you have the new "chip" none of my cards worked and I had to go get cash! But I will be back!!! Their deli looks really yummy too! The smell in there OMG just so delicious. read more

Svitoch - Chocolate/rasberry/mousse/crisp cake. Meringue topped with whipped topping and fruit. "Peach" cookie ( not peach flavor) - Grocery Near Me - Vancouver, Washington

This store is the worst ever. They don't even know the definition for customer service. They are rude. Food is mostly expired. Not worth the time and money going there. . . . ! . . read more

Rude, Rude, Rude. I don't care how good the desserts are... if they are. I will never be back to this place again. This is the first time in my entire life that I've left no tip, and at a time of find myself over tipping as an attempt to spread some love. This lady at the counter could not have been more disgustingly rude. NEVER GOING BACK. read more

I absolutely love this place. I have never been to a Russian bakery before and after stopping by this place, i am hooked. Their pastries are of the hinges mane. I mean they are of very good quality, multi layered, multi textured. Their Paroshki's are good and the cheese pastry is a must. They sell so many different chocolates and candies from Russia, all of which I have never had in my life before. These people can make good wafer brule. I wish I had something like this near my home. Candies and chocolates as well as hot foods sold by the pound. Ie., premium "ferrer" type of chocolates are 5.99/lb, standard jolly rancher type of candies are 1.99/lb. They have a wide selection of Russian soft drinks and teas, and they have a small area to enjoy your goodies. A solid 5 star performer read more

See all

What can I even say! Except that I feel so lucky to live by this bakery! It is absolutely amazing! Family recipes that are absolutely perfect! Baked with love, I wouldn't change one thing about anything I have tried! Can't wait to go back, also when my family come up to visit it will be the first place I take them for coffee and crepes and then to fill up on the pastries!!!!! read more

Svitoch - Grocery Near Me - Vancouver, Washington

Nooooooo. I agree with all the naysayers on here. The food is disgusting and the "customer service" is non-existent. I guess that's what you can expect from owners who adhere to a DIFFERENT standard not from here. read more