I love Russell's. It made moving into the neighborhood such a smooth transition -- it's important to have a bakery & coffee shop nearby. I go by at least once a week. The cinnamon rolls are awesome -- what's even better is when you get them day old for a really great deal & then warm them up. I like most of their pastries -- the muffins are great -- very sweet, but I like that. My kids adore the pumpkin muffins. The apple thingy is also very good. I do not like the danish -- it seems too squishy and is TERRIBLE day old. Russells has good coffee & you can drink it out of an actual cup. The atmosphere is relaxing & I have not been bothered by people talking too loud or doing obvious business deals on their cell phones. That could be luck... not sure. I enjoy chilling out and reading a book there. That said, it could be a more comfy, more Austin-y atmosphere, and that's why I give it 4 stars and not 5. read more

This is a great place to pickup pastry for home or the office. The Schnecken is a very large sweet roll with nuts, raisins and icing. The cinnamon bun/roll is very good with lots of cinnamon and very flaky crumb kind of like a giant spiral danish with sugar and cinnamon. Both the Schnecken and cinnamon roll are large enough to share. They also have a salad trio of pimento cheese, tuna and chicken salad that is boxed and ready to go. Coffee is acceptable and they also sell Anderson's whole bean by the pound. They are open in the evenings and I suspect this would be a good place to meet friends for conversation or games. read more

Great place for coffee or lunch! They serve Andersons' coffee, one of Austin's favorites; what more can I say. Healthy salads, hearty soup or sandwich to decadent desserts..... read more

Had them bake a cake for a babyshow on the fly and they did a fantastic job! Everyone couldn't stop complimenting the cake and how rich and thick it was. Defiantly going back there to order cakes and stop in for a coffee. Friendly service, great lunch and willing to work with you! The cakes are pretty reasonable too, about $30. read more

I love, love, love Russell's. These folks are wonderful people and their pastries are incredible. They truly epitomize everything that is great about local businesses run by people who care about their customers. Going there just makes you feel good. And they know what they're doing. I cannot recommend them highly enough - for anything from a pastry and cup of coffee to an elaborate custom cake or catering order, you will not find anyone better. PS - Amen to everyone who has mentioned the amazingness of their cinnamon roles! I relocated from Austin to LA, and I can testify that the relocated Austinites around here miss them like they miss Barton Springs! read more

Love this place!! They are always wonderful but this year they saved me at Thanksgiving! I had ordered two pies and then forgot to pick them up on Wednesday. One of the employees stayed late the night before Thanksgiving so I could come get them. So awesome!! read more

Really nice staff, yummy pastries and a great stop for a coffee break. Lovely location. My fave pastries were the bacon cheddar scones and the lemon poppyseed muffins. :) read more

Love love this place! Any time I'm looking to catch up with someone I suggest Russell's. Its calm, quiet and the windows and spaced seating are great. The service is always so friendly! Sorry I do not know your name but to the lady who has straight across bangs, works the register and has been there for a while, you are so sweet, helpful and always make eating here pleasant! Not to mention the food is delicious! Coffee good, sandwiches incredibly filling, cupcakes and cookies are perfect, oh man and their cinnamon buns?!? Y'all are so great! Will be back again and again. read more

Today, I went into your store. I waited in line like a respectable customer. When it came to my turn to place my order I point to the top shelf to exactly what I wanted and said "I would like two of these to go". Your servicer gave me a blank share and said what do you want? Again, with my finger pointing directly to what I wanted I repeated myself. Your servicer continued to act like she could not understand me. Then the customer (gentlemen) behind me said "let me help you". Your servicer won't help me because I could not read or pronounce "Schnecken". Ordering for two pieces of pastries on the top row of a display should not be a humiliating ordeal. read more

I ordered a custom cake from Russell's Bakery on a friend's recommendation. After choosing the flavor and a generic "present" look with a few other color and event-related details, I left the baker with explicit instructions to do whatever they thought best and to make it pretty. The bakery far exceeded my expectations. What I ended up with was a beautiful cake that was so much prettier than I could have ever imagined and it was tasty too. Everyone at the baby shower was completely impressed and the cake was definitely the focal point of the food spread. I'm totally impressed, would recommend to anyone, and will go back for all cake-ordering events in the future. Also - reasonably priced. read more

Awesome Boston Red Sox Cake! I ordered a little over a week in advance and the cake turned out GREAT! It was chocolate/ raspberry filling and it was very good and moist! =) Very pleased with Russell's Bakery on Hancock Dr. will be ordering from here again! read more

I walked in & saw maybe 10 people sitting at tables. I stood at the counter for a few minutes while the clerk continued his discussion on the phone. He even looked me straight in the eye. But he never came to counter to take my order. I'll never walk in there again read more

It's a great place to bring friends. My only complaint is it's really, really slow. Don't go hungry, you'll chew your arm off!! The atmosphere is worth the wait. read more

Had been looking for a Coconut Cake, just like my Mom used to make... Well, Russell did it ... It was so Good!!!!

The store hours make no sense. I just live down the street, but never know if they're opened or closed. The cakes, although aesthetically beautiful, are over-priced and always taste old (like ancient-old) and dry. The pastries are OK but kind of all taste the same, and they are increasingly becoming smaller in size as the price is increasing. The soup is alright, but no variety, so one grows tired of it quickly. The sandwiches are adequate. The clientele is obnoxious and snobby. The workers are pretty friendly though. I'd recommend driving a few extra blocks to Upper Crust on Burnett/45th. Food and baked goods are DELICIOUS, and workers are always accommodating and friendly. read more

We got our wedding cake from here on a recommendation from a family member and boy are we happy we found this place. Not only was the cake price not that bad, but it was AMAZING! (Cut to a year later) I went into the bakery to order a small cake for my wife and I to have to celebrate our one year. Just one problem, I don't remember what kind of frosting we had! The person taking my order was amazingly helpful and after looking at pictures of our cake and bringing out the different kinds of frosting we figured it out! This place not only has great products, but great service as well. read more

Love love love this place! Cinnamon roll is delicious and the German chocolate cake is subtle (not overly sweet) and amazing. Really pleased with my choices and glad I stopped by. read more

Our office is in the neighborhood of Russell's Bakery on Kerbey Lane. We recently ordered lunch from them and were VERY IMPRESSED. The salads and sandwiches were delicious and very, very fresh. Since then we have ordered two more times and have been equally pleased with the quality and taste of their food. Their pastries and cakes are the best in Austin. Try a slice of their Tres Leches cake, you will want to buy the whole cake and eat it all! It is the best Tres Leches cake I have ever had. Even with all the other choices in this neighborhood, this restaurant is our favorite!! The staff at Russell's are very friendly and always have our order ready and exactly as it was called in. Russell is very personable and conscientious and cares about your experience there. The restaurant is beautifully designed! They have rotating artwork - check out the current exhibit of Norman Garrett Photography - beautiful photographs from around the world, framed and unframed for very reasonable prices. Oh and I have to add, I have been to several weddings where the wedding cake was from Russell's and they were always beautifully decorated and DELICIOUS! read more

i'm kind of embarrassed to admit i don't come here for the fresh baked goods. i come here for the best sandwich in the neighborhood. it's called the hot croissant special....a combination of ham, black olives, cheddar, provolone and more. hot damn i'm drooling just thinking about it. i like the chips and salsa instead of potato chips or fries. and they stock the onion newspaper. sounds like the makings of an excellent lunch break. read more

I'm giving five stars for four reasons: 1) Russell's has a fabulous brunch that beats waiting an hour+ for Kerbey Lane nextdoor, any day. 2) I've always had great customer service there. 3) I'm grateful to them for keeping reasonable prices, quality ingredients and veggie options. 4) I read Amber J's ridiculous review of one star just because they ran out of her favorite chocolate croissants one day even though she "almost bought a house across the street" for them. What a fragile princess. Russell's is a great local business and I'm always pleased to eat there. read more

My fiancée and I went in for lunch today. I was slightly disappointed with their vegetarian selection but decided to give it a go anyhow. After waiting a very long time with very few customers our food comes out, my fiancées BLT was fine. My veggie sandwich on the other hand was made with absolutely no love, mayo/mustard on half of the bread, old cukes, avocado with a few large chunks of the rind mixed in and last but not least tunafish spread over some of the avocado. I returned it and asked for a grilled cheese instead. The chef on duty was sipping his coffee so one would think that because they were slow it wouldn't be long. After waiting for over 25 mins I went over for a refund. The gentleman at the front was very apologetic and returned my money without a problem. He is the only reason for two stars and not one. read more

Russell's Bakery is a great place to come if you want to relax and read a book. The owners are nice, however they treat staff very poorly. They yell and scream at employee's in front of other staff and customers, instead of having enough sense to take it out back or in the office for privacy. There is no chain of command, no management to this buisness. The hot croissants that are there are in health code violation, they sit under a heat lamp for 12-14 hours a day, there are nats in most of the baked goods, no one wears gloves or keeps their hair up. read more

great place for small group meetings. good coffee great desserts...love the cinnamon rolls. lunch is nice and light. Great place to hang and read or work. often swing by when guests are coming for an array of desserts. highly recommend read more

Really friendly and efficient staff. Good coffee...The selection of baked goods alone is more than enough to make me a regular. There is a lovely variety indeed, and most of them are amazing. The palmiers were a bit waxy for my taste, but the cheddar and black pepper scones blew my socks off! read more

All I can say for anyone whom has a gluten allergy or nut DONT EAT THIER PRODUCTS! A while back I got a gluten free poppyseed bread and it had a few pieces of walnuts in it and I went into anaphylaxis reaction! Called and talked to some "manager". No one ever called me back! Then I found out they do NOT have a gluten free kitchen so they should not say they are gluten free! Mine is a true allergy! read more

russell's is a great spot to grab a coffee and spend time with a book. it is out of the way of sorts, so it does not attract a huge crowd. you can definitely tell regulars flow in and out with just enough space to accomodate. they have a good selection of sandwiches and their bakery goods are extremely tasty. holding back my #5 star was the fact that it was always overly warm when our spanish class met there. pienso que no es un problema grande. read more

Very good food, some of it is a bit pricey but you can find a few tastey and affordable things here. Their coffee is very good and they have a nice atmosphere inside. The staff is friendly and there are lots of fun and yummy little treats inside. read more

Russell's Bakery did both the bride's and groom's cakes for my weddng 3 years ago. To this day, guests at our wedding tell us how delicious and beautiful both cakes were! Recently, we used Russell's again for a baby shower. The cake was AMAZING!!!!!!!!!! It was a bbq themed baby shower and the detail on the cake was exactly like our invitation (as we has asked for). And the cake was one of the BEST tasting cakes I have ever had!! In addition, they created beautiful decorated cookies to arrange our our cake that, again, went with the theme. It was just fantastic!!! I HIGHLY recommend using Russell's for any and ALL events. Ask to work with Jenny, she is just wonderful.. so responsive, efficient, and above all pleasant to work with! Oh Russell's, you make all our events so great!!!!! read more

Good neighborhood coffee shop. Croissants are great -- coffee is good. Plenty of area to sit and relax.

I had an extremely disappointing customer service experience at Russell's today. Yesterday, I called to preorder cookies for pickup today. The friendly gentleman called the owner and confirmed I could pickup the cookies at 10 am. The baker he said arrives at 5 and that would not be a problem. I arrived at 10:05 to pick up the cookies and the guy went in the back and it took a while but came back and said they didn't have the cookies and they would need to be made. He said they only take about 15 min. He came back out and said it would be THREE hours-about the time all my guests would be showing up! He was not customer focused or trained to make things right for the customer. He did not show empathy or concern at all! Just too bad. A " I am so sorry this happened"and offering an alternative dessert for my guests would have gone a long way! Instead he said well is there anything else I can help you with. So annoying. Empathy and understanding that they dropped the ball on my planned dessert would have helped! Lost customer!! read more

The pastries are about the best in town (along with Upper Crust)....since I've bought boxes full early in the morning for co-workers and tried every bakery in town open about 630am, I've compared. These 2 bakeries are the best. Others have too dry pastries, not enough flavor , etc read more

Great neighborhood spot. Bkfst croissant's are awesome...baked apple fritter-brilliant. Truly never had a baked sweet, or one of their sandwiches that I didn't think was great. Old Austin vibe too. read more

I really like this place. The drinks are amazing. The people who work there are sometimes nice, sometimes snobby. The food is pretty good. Their sweets are amazing and gorgeous. I think it's a decent value. Parking situation is a little weird. Last time I was there, the wifi was wonky. read more

Great place to get a sandwich. Also, their breakfast/brunch menu is fantastic. Check it out for a change of pace.

Just not good. The quality of their pastries and cakes are average at best, but most are pretty bad. They cut too many corners, and it's sad that this is what passes as a good bakery in Austin. read more

I like this place, I especially like any coffee house that isn't Starbucks. They were busy in the morning, but it wasn't overly crowded or noisy. Latte was good and the cranberry muffin I had was delicious, moist and flavorful. read more

Harvest bread is a favorite in our house. Cinnamon rolls and filled croissants delightful too. Office is always happy when I bring morning treats from Russells. They make a mean birthday cake (Italian cream is my favorite, but many to choose from), and delightful seasonal decorated cookies, too. A favorite place to meet for coffee. Rotating art gallery to enjoy. Comfortable, friendly neighborhood hangout that welcomes all people. Someone in my house is there weekly, on average. Never gets old. read more

Best coconut cake in Austin and the chocolate espresso cake was fabulous. Both cakes were a huge hit. Very friendly and helpful staff. I won't go anywhere else for cakes. read more

I found this place because someone brought key lime pie cupcakes (or mini tart-lets, I'm not sure which) to a dinner party and they were amazing! I was ordering a cake for my boss's birthday last minute and they were able to have our order ready in time. They were extremely nice, and the cakes were amazing! This is definitely my go to from here on out! read more

Been twice. First time was nice. 2nd was very disappointing. I was sold a decorative holiday themed cupcake (for a child). It looked great but it was really stale. The cupcake was discounted (while it was being rung up I found out it was 1/2 price). But I thought this was because it was just after the holidays, not because it was more or less inedible. Coffee was nice. But please don't sell rock hard cupcakes to little kids. Not cool. If the inventory is inedible just throw it out and don't sell it to people. If I want the funky Austin bakery experience I will probably go to Quacks. read more