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The last day of business for the Woodside Bakery & Cafe will be Tuesday, March 15, according to Jan Sweyer, who co-owns the popular Woodside restaurant with her brother Mark Sweyer.
There will be a farewell party with a $20 buffet dinner on that evening at the restaurant at 3052 Woodside Road, Ms. Sweyer said.
In a clarification after this story went online, Ms. Sweyer said the buffet will be first-come, first-served, and that reservations will not be taken.
The property owner is the Roberts family, which owns the complex of shops and restaurants at the northwest corner of Woodside and Canada roads as well as the Roberts Market grocery stores in Woodside and Portola Valley.
The Sweyers were caught by surprise late last year when the property owner notified them that they had to close the restaurant and that another business was going to take over the space. The Roberts family initially set a deadline of Jan. 15 for the restaurant owners to leave, the Sweyers said, but later granted a two-month extension.
Asked for the name of the business moving into the restaurant’s spot, Christine Roberts said the lease had not yet been signed but that she was expecting that to happen later in the week.
“We’re almost there,” she said. The business model will be an echo of the current tenant: a bakery and cafe combination, Ms. Roberts has said.
The Woodside Bakery will be opening a wholesale operation on Constitution Drive in Menlo Park in three to four weeks, Ms. Sweyer said. Bianchini’s markets in Ladera and San Carlos will be selling the Woodside Bakery’s danishes, pies and bread, she said.
The closing of the restaurant means the layoff of 52 of the restaurant and bakery’s 65 employees, Ms. Sweyer said, adding that the remaining 13 will be taken on to operate the wholesale bakery.
Asked if she and her brother are going to be reopening the restaurant somewhere nearby, Ms. Sweyer replied: “We have no location yet.”
That cafe was attracting too much riff-raff like children and bicyclists. Woodside is an exclusive community for rich people.
‘resident’ wants it to be a soup kitchen so he can ‘stir the pot’ even more.
Glad to hear they have a commercial bakery site lined up and that we’ll be able to get pastries and focaccia at Bianchini’s. Good luck to all at the bakery, and thanks for good food and good memories over the years.
Since when are children and bicycles riffraff?
I’m sad to see our Woodside Bakery go. Mark and Jan have always made us feel at home whenever we went there for dinner. Best of luck to all the employees and with your new endeavors, Mark and Jan. You will both be missed. Sniff Sniff…
The first resident to call children riff raff is clearly a newbie in Woodside. It was once a traditional community, not cruel, nouveau riche.
‘Resident’ should also appreciate that since everyone in California is on some version of the Paleo Diet, Cyclists are essential for keeping bakeries open since they’re the only ones eating carbohydrate…..
Dittos to really? and Longtime resident above. I totally agree. Sad to see our town referred to as “an exclusive community for rich people.” We are, in fact, an inclusive community and rural in nature – horse and bicycle and kid friendly. That’s what makes it rich. Let’s keep it that way
Ummmmm…… to those of you upset with the “riff-raff” remark, I think (hope !!) it was made by “resident” facetiously……. (?)
it was our tradition to get the double mousse choc cake for every single
celebration of any kind. it’s not even possible to say how upset i am that they’re closing and how much i’ll miss the best cake in the world ! jan and mark are wonderful people as are their crew. I feel so very sad for them all …….
Do all of you people really think that the comment “resident” made was anything more than tonguein-cheek? It sounded more to me like a well deserved dig at the Roberts family.
The way this story was presented, I sounds like the Roberts family made a deal with another business without even giving the Sweyers an option. There must have been some acrimony that has not been revealed. Otherwise, why evict a well established, well liked, long time tennant, for another similar business. The Roberts family can do what they want with their own property, but those of us who do not like their tactics can go where we want with our business.
I grew up in Woodside, and a more beautiful and welcoming town I cannot imagine, and having been a Marine, I’ve seen more than a few, all over the world. I used to ride my bike to Woodisde Elementary and to Woodside High School, and the Cafe was a wonderful place to stop on the way home after school, meet with friends, grab a snack (you know boys 🙂 ), and especially a cool drink on a hot day.
After I had grown up and joined The Corps, I even brought my lovely and wonderful wife to the Cafe, and she fell in love with the sourdough grilled cheese sandwich.
All these wonderful memories, I guess, will now be nothing but that. No way to make fresh ones…
Pity.
Pat☺
With regard to ‘resident’ i’d love to know if she/he was being facetious. Doesn’t come through clearly and being a newbie she/he arouses my suspicions, but I’d love it if it was meant tongue in cheek. Not sure though
I hope it’s not another Middle East billionaire that is taking over the property, so many Iranians and Armenians are taking over the Bay Area. It’s only a matter of time before all of generations of Americans are forced to live in the Midwest. Just look what has been happening to the dealerships, restaurants, hotels and other companies in the area. If you still have a gift shop, hotel, restaurant, or tourism property, lawyer up because it may get hostile.
Almost all of the major Silicon Valley companies are either Asian or Middle Eastern owned. It’s only matter of years now until the once loved California, is the California of another era.
Woodside Bakery is (in its last days) a staple in Woodside. It’s like kicking out the owners of the horse stable companies to put in a gigantic apartment complex.
I will really miss their blueberry muffins-
I won’t be coming back to the new business- ever
Rumor has it that Mayfield Cafe / Bakery is going in. I personally am not a fan of that place. Sad to see something so successful as the Woodside Bakery being run out of town. Wish them great success in there new place.
If they run Bucks out then you really got a huge problem on your hands. Kids welcome and lets help with the scavenger hunt. So fun to see the kids looking for stuff on the walls, ceiling etc.
I am a long time Redwood City resident and have introduced many non-Woodside patrons to the wonderful Woodside Cafe and Bakery. Whether for a coffee, a pastry or a sit-down dinner, the food was always worth the wait, the staff, kind and efficient. I am sorry to hear that the Robert’s family has made this decision.
Love, love, love the WB&C. Does that mean Robert’s Deli will not longer be offering sandwiches on WB&C’s foccacia? Kathy
Robert’S family, you should be ashamed of yourselves!!!
The Woodside bakery has served the community well for many years.
I for one will influence my neighbors and friends to boycott your new occupant.
I’ve had many great meals at the Bakery, and I’ll miss Mark’s charm when he saddles up to the counter and tells me some good local gossip. I’ll also miss the Bakery’s great kitchen and wait staff, who have always been very good to me. Tim Stannard runs a good operation too, and I’m sure that there are some good meals ahead, but it will be different from what Mark and Jan have brought us these past few years. Cheers to all.
we grew up going to the bakery….long time fans. However, stopped going a few years ago. the quality and service has dipped drastically. me and my family are greatfull that Roberts stepped in. we are looking forward to having Mayfield Bakery (if the rumors are true) in our neighborhood.
I would have thought readers of The Almanac would have been a bit more well read. Resident’s comment was clearly a shot at the new money and McMansion exclusion that has overtaken a once wonderful horse town.
MRM……….if you want to boycott somebody, boycott Roberts. That’s what I’ll do. Unless you think the new bakery did something underhanded, it was the Roberts family who made the backroom deal, without even giving Woodside Bakery a chance.
Lot’s of memories here, alas nostalgia isn’t what it used to be.
This is a local fixture and I thank the Sweyers for creating such a marvelous destination. Mom & Pop businesses like yours are hugely more appealing than national names and I wish Roberts wasn’t so insistent on driving you out. I IMPLORE you to find another location and this community will follow you there!!
That’s too bad. Now I will have to go to the Pope Street Bakery for my Brownie sugar fix.
I’ll eat hair before I eat anything from Mayfield bakery again…oh wait, that’s why I don’t eat there. I hope the residents send a clear message with their pocketbooks. I won’t line the pockets of anyone involved with this backroom secret deal. Sad to have lost this place. It cannot and will not be replaced.
According to the SJ Mercury, they plan to reopen by mid May in the Belle Haven area of Menlo Park. 104 Constitution Drive, which is about where Marsh rd ends at Bayfront rd.
@New Location – is that new location a restaurant/cafe like the old location? Or just a commercial bakery with no retail?
The Sweyers told the Almanac that they are establishing a wholesale bakery on Constitution Drive in Menlo Park. A cafe is not in the plans for that location, they said.