| rev:text
| - I'd love to tell you that this is the best around. I don't agree with the gushing reviews over how wonderful this place is. I lived right down the street for many years and came here often. I think BreadWorks and Mancini's has much better bread, and Moio's has far better pastries.
I get that locals wouldn't volunteer to drive to the North Side, or to Monroeville or McKees Rocks for their baked goods. I grew up on the other side of town and had a soft spot for certain things. Jenny Lee was the place for cookies and cakes, and Mancini's was the place for bread. Turtle soup on Fridays at the Forest Inn, Ricci's was where you got your Italian sausage and if you wanted the best lunch meats, you got Silver Star from Ohio Valley Provisions.
Everybody knew your name, the service was outstanding, and they listened to their customers. I made a comment once on social media about the service here, and they replied by telling me that I was wrong. This just wasn't the response I was expecting.
They have a high turnover of young people working the counters. No matter where I entered, it seemed I had to walk all the way to the opposite end of the store to make a purchase. Each clerk is assigned a register. You may be waited on at one end of the store and be forced to walk to the other end to get to their register.
They do not offer to take your money and return with your purchase and change. They tell you, (not ask you), to follow them to the other end of the store. When I mentioned this in a review, I was rebuffed when they told me that there is a clearly marked section where you can be waited on. I haven't seen it, even though I looked for it on a few return visits. I noted that they don't really care about their customers, since I watched this same procedure with people that were obviously elderly and walking with canes.
I was again rebuffed that their service is paramount. Well, I haven't seen that. When you get so big and busy and your wonderful reviews go to your head, it is ease to slip. Fast service becomes the standard when the place is crowded, with teens running back and forth. They often don't have the customer service skills to maintain high standards.
One thing that stands out in my mind is that they have little to no competition. That, combined with extensive advertising can make any place appear better than it actually is. As someone that is a little older, and being in sales and marketing, I tend to look at things as they are, devoid of all of the hype. I understand that the days of seeing customer service where they offered customers a chair and served them while they rested are far behind me. There are, however, standards of service today that this business doesn't meet.
I have also done a few tests. Like the shell game, I've put out different goods from different places. Oakmont Bakery, without labeling and hype, does not come in first. Try it yourself. Get a cupcake from Giant Eagle, one from another bakery and one from Oakmont Bakery and try them side by side. Without knowing which came from where, you will find that Oakmont Bakery does not necessarily come in first.
I will admit that there are some good items there. I've had a good mix over the years. There are some things, in fact, that I think are very good. They have a great selection of cupcakes, many of which you won't find elsewhere. I have had some great tastes from that case. On the other hand, I think the bread is bland, and many of the full size cakes and pies suffer.
I have gotten things I considered far too sweet, both in pies and cake frosting, and others that I have felt were bland. The price plays into this, since if I pay a higher price, as I always do at Oakmont Bakery, I'm expecting a higher quality, that extra something that makes me pause and take notice. There may have been a time when this was the case. In my opinion though, when you start believing your own reviews, standards can slip across the board.
There are many better options, if you're willing to drive a bit. I have found better quality at lower prices in many places. Then again, I drive all over the area, so I get to try a lot of different places. If you are in Jeanette on Route 30 for example, stop at DeLallo's and try their bread. Their pastry case isn't as large at Oakmont Bakery, but they sell out of baked goods often. Sometimes offering fewer options and maintaining a higher standard is a better thing.
It is possible to get too big to pay close attention to the details.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)