Gail’s Bakery - is it really all that?

To be fair to Gail’s, you can’t blame Gail’s for there being rats outside! Indoors, absolutely. Outdoors in a garden, unfortunately animals will go wherever they want.

Gails are stingy with their ice, but the pastries are nice enough. I prefer Joe and The Juice sandwiches , but not letting a habit form as they are also stupidly expensive and also stingy with ice. Fortunately we have neither locally.

Cherry and chocolate scone is divine!

An independent artisan bakery will usually be better (and a similar price, around here). If you don’t have one of those locally, Gail’s is much better than Starbucks or Costa.

It is expensive and not spectacular, but is reliable. The coffee is fine. The savoury things (salads, sandwiches, soups) are generally better than the pastries, but the scones are indeed amazing (the chocolate and sour cherry ones, and the maple pecan ones). They also just have a very large selection of things - our local bakeries generally only have 6-10 types of cake for sale at any one time, Gail’s has easily 20 different options, and usually more interesting things than the standard carrot cake, brownies, etc.

Oh this was about Betty’s not Gail’s! I remember the queues for Da Michele in Napoli and I thought meh it’s probably overhyped- it was and we found a much better one round the corner the next day! So you know, usually huge queues mean it isn’t amazing ime. Having said that, I really love italiamo in Oxford and that’s always busy so.. not always the case. This thread is making me hungry!

The cinnamon buns are nice. My SIL often pops into the one near her office (Farringdon) for a coffee and cake on a Friday afternoon.

I don't really like the chain, not fond of the coffee and everything tastes dry/sandwiches not nice. Guess we all like different things.

Having said that, the cappuccinos I had at another cafe last week were nicer than the Gail’s one.

Overpriced and, in Newbury at least, nowhere near as good as half-a-dozen non-chain cafes and bakeries in town.

Very much a "second division" place, IMO.

Independent doesn’t always equal good value. If the independent place costs more to eat in than Gail’s and the food is on the sane level or a bit worse, I’m heading to Gail’s, or even Caffè Nero. I don’t have the inclination to worry about the decline of independent cafe’s and the like - my bank balance is more important.

We have a lot of good cafes in our area (Crystal Palace) but Gail’s always seems busy. My NDN likes it as I think you can get dairy free pastries there or something like that.

No, very average coffee and ridiculously overpriced. Just good marketing that's all (& some questionable leadership to boot!) So I no longer go there. Give me Pret or M&S food any day!!!

I used to go a bit as it was my DB’s local cafe in Hackney. He saw a rat outside in their garden there, ewww. Then I went to one in Blackheath and was staggered at the price for hot drinks, pastries and orange juice. I did go to one local to me with a friend on Saturday and the tea and cappuccino and cake were very nice.

They opened a cafe near me (the bakery is up the posh end of town, known as ‘the village’, we are down near the tube /train station and bigger shops). So as I’ve never been met a friend there and yea, decent enough but nothing special. Much prefer the independent cafe/bakery a few blocks down - their cinnamon rolls are to die for, plus the owner runs it, not some uninterested young person just churning out endless lattes and pre made pastries.

There is a local bakery not far from me that makes absolutely delicious food and it is really reasonably priced (actually fairly cheap even). They have queues that go down the street and round the corner, but you can call ahead and order what you want to be made for a certain day so you just queue and collect your order. It is worth it, in their case.

Our Gail’s does not ever have a queue and is fairly quiet inside 😂

Yes I remember this too!
”oooh they’ve got a costa”

im the same, we’ve recently moved and have stayed in the same area for practicalities (Costa and kebab shops). But I do have regrets over not moving to the places with independents

First I’ve ever heard of a Gail’s bakery. I prefer independent businesses to chains though. My favourite bakeries are one in Kirby Lonsdale and a Chinese bakery in Liverpool china town. Well worth a visit.

It's a chain. It's like Leon or Honest Burger - basically 'Jamie's Bakery'.

Near me in E London there are about 5 independent 'artisan' bakeries (shoot me) which as much as I roll my eyes could eat the local Gail's for breakfast in terms of the interestingness and quality of the food.

But all the 'creative industries' ie marketing executive millennials who now live here prefer to take their babies to throw croissants on the floor at Gail's.

Nice Gail's near where i do my shopping - i like their proper pots of tea, the coffee is ok, but overall it is very expensive. However, they have nice outdoor seating plus a decent usually clean toilet, so i do use it occasionally. I would use Greggs more often as their coffee is ok for the price, i love the vegan rolls and lemon muffins, very affordable but they don't have outdoor seating which puts me off. Indoor seating is also very cramped and not always very clean. The Gails is always clean and tidy so i guess they have higher staffing costs.

I do like a few things in Gails. For me, I like that their sweet things aren't overly sweet. Their blueberry muffins are lovely as they've got a slight sourness. Their dark hot chocolate (and milk) is very delicious. My husband loves their cinnamon buns and he usually hates pastries! I've always found their staff lovely too.

You feel that strongly about people buying coffee?

FWIW our local high street has never been able to sustain an independent coffee shop. Lots have tried but they’ve been cafes that serve coffee rather than coffee-led third wave places so people give up once they’ve had too many inconsistently made coffees. There is absolutely no shortage of leisure spend either.

The next town over sustains a beloved third wave coffee shop AND a Gail’s because the independent’s coffee is good.

Gail’s has done well because people simply want their coffee to taste the same every time they buy it. It’s not my first choice but it’s reliable.

Oh the Cow and Calf pub is lovely if you’re ever up there again!

I know what you mean! Walked past the York one a few times with the huge queue snaking around the corner. It wasn't too bad when we went in - it was the reason we went because it was the only time we saw it fairly clear, to try the famous Bettys in York. Was a horrific weather day though and both times it out of tourist season (we lived in Leeds). Such a disappointment, but not for the pigeon I threw my food to!

The Ilkley one was fine when popped in, not even that busy. We'd been for a walk up the cow and calf, was proper hungry and I gave that food to the pigeons too. 😁

When they first started opening (about a decade ago?) there were only a few of them and their pastries and bread were really good. I remember getting one of those custard blueberry brioche things and it was a thing of beauty. Now they are a bit average - but that’s pretty much what happens with every restaurant and cafe that expands this much - it all becomes mass produced and cheaper ingredients and processes get used.

they reach their peak, make lots of money and then start scaling back or going bust completely.

Remember Carluccios? It was great for a while. 20 years ago it was in a high. Then the food got worse and worse - sloppy, not fresh, not keeping up with competition.

I hate Gail's with a passion. I cannot believe they opened one in Herne Hill, where they have so many great local cafes. Buy independent!