Hollin Hall Pastry Shop

What Ilove about this place is they always remember my drink. They are also a kid friendly place. I dont have to worry about bringing my twin 7year olds with me.

Despite the good cake and easy parking, it is expensive and the service is going down h*ll. Has been there for the past 3 years. Seriously need customer service improvement.

Each year my birthday cake comes from Hollin Hall Pastry Shop, no other will do. It’s a moist yellow cake frosted with slightly sweetened real whipped cream, then covered with coconut. It’s light and oh so good. I also love the fresh fruit tart. At Christmastime, their stollen, sans marzipan, is simply the best I’ve ever had.

I was looking for very good and delightful pastry near by my area. I have eaten cakes from here many time in different parties, but never new this pastry shop was right close to the corner. My family and I have been to this pastry shop for coffee and cakes. It was yummmmmy. Love all different kind of pastry.

To her great credit, Nadia the pastry chef reached out directly after realizing what happened and really stepped up to make things right. She committed to making the cake and offered a discount, and went the extra mile to make it look fantastic. It was the hit of the party (well, close second behind an adorable baby).
I’d still say they could put some effort into tightening up the custom order process/​communications with Nadia and making sure all employees are trained up well, but they turned around an unfortunate situation in solid form. Thank you!

Delicious coffee, decadent house-​made pastries, free wifi and 7 tables for two. Friendly staff who seem to have established great relationships with their regulars, but still treat the new guy with politeness and professionalism. A bit expensive compared to your local chain coffee place, but ambiance and quality trump quantity.

Their pastries are delicious. My favorites are the lemon filled cuisants and their cheese danishes. Their cakes and pies are pretty good too. Overall this is a pretty good pastry bakery.

On my way to work today.
Customer service alone this morning deserves 5 stars. They were courteous, timely, and proactive and answered all of my annoying questions. It bumps up the rating overall.
I was in the mood to try something different. So, the cream cheese-​raspberry croissant & lemon danish were on my radar, instead of my usual almond croissant order. They were quite good. Fresh, not overly sweet.

Hollin Hall Pastry Shop has been a Fort Hunt local favorite, as they’ve been around for about 14 years. The pastry chef, Mel Meadows, has baked up goods for the higher-​ups like President Reagan, Bush, Prince Charles, and the Kennedys. I’ve tried them several times, with the most recent being their Irish Soda Bread for St. Patty’s; as I was visiting a dear friend in the area and this happened to be her favorite bakery, I decided to pick up some mini desserts: a chocolate covered crème brûlée cake, a black & white mousse cake, a strawberry tart, and a chocolate cake with fresh raspberry filling. The black & white mousse cake was very light, and I was surprised at how not overly sweet it was; it was very fluffy, airy, and very mousse-​like — decadent, without being overwhelming. It even had large shavings of white chocolate all around, which added a nice crunchy aspect to it. My friend commented on how super delicious the chocolate covered crème brûlée cake was, as the exterior had a nice coating of the dark chocolate powder, with it’s creamy crème brûlée custard inside. With a Unilocal check-​in, I was able to get a free cup of coffee (you can choose between dark or medium roast)! Service was friendly, and you can tell that many regulars come in here. They have a couple of tables, but it is more for a call-​in and carry-​out.
+free coffee with a Unilocal check-​in!
+not-​too-​sweet cakes (mini/​individual-​sizes available)
+owned by pastry chef Mel Meadows
+located in the Fort Hunt neighborhood (behind the Automative)
+customizable cakes, French pastries, and truffles

Not bad. The pastries are pretty good but the coffee is nothing to write home about (not that many people write home about coffee!). Heavy on sweet, not much in the way of savory. Friendly service.

Wanted to update my review since it’s been a while. We had our wedding back in April and got our cake from Hollin Hall. They just blew away our expectations. Our cake was not only beautiful, but everyone raved about the taste. We didn’t have much in the way of leftovers, people liked it that much. The staff is great, delivery was on time, and I’m just so pleased with the choice for our wedding cake.

Made another trip out to this small local patisserie and found the service to be much improved — an excellent experience– and the atmosphere much more inviting (more tables and truly an old style ‘coffee/​cake’ shop vibe). They had a nice display of Valentine pastries/​treats. My friend and I tried a couple of different pastries which were moist and good for the price. Having lived in Germany and France for years, I did find the flavors here either a bit too rich/​sweet or somewhat bland but that may just be my own biases. Would recommend you try it for yourselves.

First, they miscounted the cookies… which is pretty difficult to do when I only ordered 3. This is quite problematic when you present the box to 3 children and only 2 cookies are contained within. Second, it was between $ 5-​$ 6, which I thought was alright, a little high, for 3 sugar cookies. But for 2 sugar cookies??? Are you kidding me? They’re cute and seasonally decorated but they’re average size and about average delicious-​ness. Almost $ 3 for a cookie??? I’m still confused, this can’t be considered reasonable.
I will point out Buzz bakery, which is located more downtown Arlington, DC, and Old Town, has little gift wrapped bags of seasonally decorated sugar cookies and at $ 6 for 7 – 8 cookies it’s just as delicious and totally reasonable.

One thing I love about Alexandria (and any place really), is finding hidden gems. Hollin Hall Pastry Shop is less than 10 minutes from the school where I work, but I would have never found it without my friend taking me there.
Hollin Hall is small, cozy, local coffee shop. When I walked in, I got the feeling that it was a neighborhood place; the atmosphere was warm and inviting. They serve a variety of specialty coffee drinks, teas, and pastries. I ordered a hot chocolate and cookies. I was indulging my inner child and it was worth is. The hot chocolate (freshly made not from a packet) was goodness in a cup. The cookies were the surprise. I ordered a chocolate chip and a cranberry chocolate chip. The cookies were soft, flavorful, and dare I say, moist! Yes moist! Just trust me the cookies were good.
The staff was friendly and the prices are reasonable. Great little find in my new work neighborhood.

Friendly staff and warm and cozy shop. The pastries are to die for! I recommend the fruit tart paired with yummy flavored coffee you’ll want to sit and chat all day. And I love that not only can I have a cute holiday cookie this time of year but I can also order a custom delicious cake or pie! Amazing shop!

I come all he way from Maryland for these cakes! Just had the chocolate raspberry marquis and my son loved it so much he rolled his eyes in the back of his head!!!

I recently used this pastry shop for my wedding cake. My husband and I scheduled a cake tasting but didn’t really have a clue as to what we wanted. The staff there were so friendly and kind and were able to guide us through the whole design and flavor of the cake we wanted and made it really easy for us. And for someone who doesn’t really care for sweets, the cake they made was phenomenal. Everyone at the wedding raved about how delicious the cake was. It turned non-​cake eaters into believers. :) I would recommend them for anyone inquiring about a bakery, as my experience with them was truly amazing! (Not to mention, all of their treats they have in the shop are drool worthy).

i love this place. Now, granted this statement in it of itself is subjective so i say this based off of the consistent experience i have when i come to the shop.
I frequent here a lot for the coffee and the raspberry croissants. I’m not into pastries that much but when i do i’ve yet to have a terrible one here. the Pumpkin tea bread is delightful (when it is available), the Black and White cake is fantastic as well as the chocolate cupcakes, which are moist and delicious. i’ve yet to try the vanilla cup cakes but im sure they are as enjoyable as the rest of the deserts here.
another great thing about the Pastry Shop is the customer service. Of course I can only speak for myself, but from what i have observed, the service is warm and accommodating. which surprises the hell out of me when i read that employees were ever rude to anyone. Again, i can only speak about my experiences.
if i were to have one negative thing to say, and this has more to do with me being too polite and not wanting to feel like im being a nuisance and asking what each individual item is, is that none of the pastries are labeled. Since i have been coming here a lot, i know that they constantly add knew treats which explains why most of them wouldn’t be labeled.
over all, i would highly recommend this place. Not everyone will be satisfied, that’s anywhere you go. so when reading reviews, including my own, take it with a grain of salt and just experience it for yourself.
one more thing, and i feel like i have to add my 2 cents since i was there to witness the situation first hand. even if this is in pore taste, i feel i need to comment.
there was a costumer (Mrs. Becky C) that came in to the shop (10/​11/​2014). she left a review that was highly conflicting on the accounts that transpired. Now, i NEVER comment on or feel i need to say anything when i see negative reviews anywhere but i felt i had an obligation because this is the first time i’ve witnessed for myself a situation that a reviewer is criticizing.
overall this customer was highly irritable and unfriendly to the staff. It made everyone who was there, other costumers and staff alike, very uncomfortable. there were a couple of customers at the counter, one at the cashier and another looking at the display case, when Mrs. Becky C expedited herself to the front of the counter making her presence known that she needed service and needed it then and there.
she proceeded by being snarky to the employee and appeared to get more and more irritable when she had to keep asking what each individual item was. which, Wendy (Pastry Shop employee) was more than obliged to assist.
so, with that said, not to discredit Mrs. Becky C, but i wouldn’t use her review as an example of the service at the Pastry Shop. there are regular customers, like myself, that come here either everyday or almost everyday and it’s obviously for a reason.
but like i said, take all these reviews with a grain of salt and come in and experience it for yourself.

Cupcake as a whole was okay, the icing and topping was good, however the cake was very dry and very similar to cornbread thick and dry.

Good local bakery. Not too unique or spectacular with their cupcakes or cookies, but the cakes are quite good. Almost all of them are mousse cakes, and all are the same size (to feed 10 – 12) unless you order in advance. Something a little different and well done, albeit a bit pricey.
Coffee is good as well, service isn’t bad. If you live in the area, definitely the place to come over the grocery store, but I wouldn’t venture too far for it.