We’ve rounded up answers to our most frequently asked questions, but we know we might’ve missed a few. If there’s anything else you’re wondering, give us a call, shoot us an email, or send a messenger pigeon if that’s your style.
Your comfort and confidence mean everything to us.
Allergen Facts and Safety Protocols
Yes! Absolutely everything that we make is free of every one of the top 10 food allergens: gluten, soy, dairy, eggs, tree nuts, peanuts, fish, shellfish, mustard, and sesame. If you have any allergies or intolerance beyond what's listed please look over our ingredient list or call us at 619 328 0500. One of our team members would be happy to go through our ingredient list with you to ensure you make safe selections.
That's a fantastic question. One our biggest issues with allergen free kitchens today is that we don't believe they're really taking into account all the ways they could unknowingly be offering contaminated food. At Starry Lane every single ingredient we use is sourced from suppliers that can provide us with official allergen statements that meet our stringent safety protocols. In the case of peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, rye, and barley, if any of those ingredients are present anywhere in the facility where our ingredient is being processed/packaged, we won't use it.
If you'd like more information about the brands we use (you can never be too careful), we're happy to supply the name and contact number of our suppliers. Please email us at help@starrylanebakery.com.
Starry Lane is a dedicated top 10 allergen free facility, and we take your safety very seriously. The signs that we've placed on our door and around our shop asking guests to leave all food and drink outside are there to ensure everyone's safety.
We know it's inconvenient. We're all used to being able to bring our latte` with us as we run our errands. Or finish up the last of our sandwich as we pick up dessert. Our policy can seem intrusive. It can seem excessive. We've absolutely had guests turn around and walk out after hearing it. Most of our negative online reviews are from people complaining about this policy. We've been yelled at, scolded, and insulted for asking guests to leave their food and drink outside.
We're okay with that.
We can't over state this. Your safety is our number one priority, and we'll do anything in our power to ensure it. The truth is that 95% of the guests who walk through our doors would never know if the guest before them spilled almond milk laced coffee on their table. They would have zero problems with wheat crumbs dropped on the floor, or peanut oil fried potato chip grease smeared on our chairs. For most food establishments that's enough. Their concern is the comfort of that 95%. Our concern is the lives of the other 5%.
The 3 year old with a peanut allergy who doesn't know not to put his hands in his mouth after touching things like that oil smeared chair. The 10 year old who put his cookie down on that almond milk splattered table before eating it. Those children are our concern.
Everyone with a food allergy has at least one horrible story about eating at a restaurant. It's a risk, we all know it. Living life with food allergies can make even the simplest things terrifying. If we can take away some of that terror. If we can make one place in this entire city safe for you and your children. If we can give you 5 minutes of feeling like everyone else instead of "that person with allergies". If we can do any of that, then it's all worth it.
You're worth it.
Maybe. Unless we know exactly what foods you’re avoiding we won’t know which items are safe for you and which aren’t. Please review the ingredient list located on the menu page of our website, or the ingredient lists available in our shop. For extra safety please consider calling us at (619) 328-0500 or stopping in so that one of our team members can review the ingredient list with you.
We understand how dangerous cross contamination can be, and we make every effort to avoid contamination between ingredients in our kitchen, however as long as an ingredient is present there is always a small chance of cross contamination. If you are severely allergic to any of the ingredients we use in the bakery we cannot guarantee that any of our products will be safe for you to eat.
Certification is a process where a company pays a certification agency (these are independent businesses and not government run) to come and make sure that there hasn’t been any cross contamination in their facility, and that they meet the FDA standards for being free of whatever allergen is being tested for. It’s a very good idea for any company who runs the risk of cross contamination to get themselves certified, but please be aware that just because a company is certified doesn’t mean that you’re not at risk.
Different certification agencies have different sets of policies and testing limits. Some of them consider a product gluten free if it has less than 20ppm of gluten, others 15ppm, and some even go as low as 10ppm. Unfortunately many people with gluten allergies or Celiac disease can have severe reactions to that amount of gluten in their food.
Until the certification process is standardized, and the FDA regulations regarding allergen contamination are improved so that they keep individuals with severe food allergies safe, we prefer to stick to our own incredibly strict allergen protocols instead of offering the false sense of security that a certification can provide.
1. Absolutely no outside food or drink is permitted inside Starry Lane at any time, by either employees or guests. There is zero chance that stray crumbs or drips from a person’s lunch or snack will contaminate our products.
2. All of our cleaning and maintenance supplies are checked to ensure that they do not contain any of the top ten food allergens. Many cleaners contain soy protein and nut oils that we don’t allow inside our facility.
3. All of our ingredients come from suppliers who have provided us with official detailed allergen statements. We won’t use any ingredient where there is even a small chance of cross contamination.
4. We have the most sensitive protein testing kits available on hand so that we can do on the spot allergen testing if we have even the slightest chance that something may have gone wrong
Ingredient Information
At Starry Lane Bakery, guest safety always comes first. Our in-store baked goods are made using refined C&H cane sugar, which is not organic. We've spent years searching for a safe, allergen-free organic sugar that meets our strict standards, and we're excited to share that we're in the process of sourcing a small-batch organic option for our upcoming cake mixes!
We take cross-contamination risk seriously. Many organic sugars are co-packed in shared facilities with top allergens, which is a dealbreaker for us. Until we find an organic supplier we fully trust, we'll continue using ingredients we know are safe.
Fun fact: Our baking mixes (like our brownies and cookies) are made without any added sugar so that you can choose your sweetener at home, or none at all!
We're committed to transparency, and we'll update our community as soon as we make the switch to an approved organic sugar source.
Whenever possible we do try to purchase GMO free and organic ingredients. However your safety is our number one priority. Often the choice comes down to an organic or GMO free version of an ingredient that has been subject to cross contamination during processing or packaging, and a non-organic, or GMO version that has not. In that instance we always go with the version of the ingredient that has not been subject to cross contamination. For this reason we cannot guarantee that all of our ingredients are organic or GMO free.
All of our baked goods are entirely plant-based. That means we don't use any dairy, eggs, gelatin, honey, or other animal-derived ingredients in anything we make.
We do use refined, processed sugar (not certified organic), which some people who follow a vegan lifestyle choose to avoid. If you include processed sugar in your vegan diet, our baked goods may be a perfect fit for you.
At Starry Lane, we believe in 100% transparency so you can make choices that align with your values. We're always happy to answer questions about our ingredients. Just reach out!
That’s a very good question, and one that we get a lot. We actually don’t use any commercial egg replacers at Starry Lane. Egg replacers work well if you have other classic baking ingredients to hold up the rest of your recipe, but with the ingredients we use (and don’t use), they just fall flat. Instead we analyze what exactly the eggs would be doing in a specific recipe (and that can be anywhere from one to six different things), and then we design the recipe using alternate ingredients tailored to that recipe. What works for cupcakes for example, would never work for our brownies. Every time we develop a new recipe we’re essentially starting from scratch.
Even though artificial food dyes are not considered one of the top food allergens, a lot of our guests are choosing not to eat them. That’s why at Starry Lane we use only all natural vegetable food dyes, and ingredients that are made with all natural vegetable food dyes. Our sprinkles for example come from a company that doesn’t process any of the top 10 food allergens, use gelatin, or artificial food dyes in their sprinkles. You never have to worry that any Starry Lane Bakery ingredient or product contains artificial chemical dyes.
If you’re allergic to any fruits or vegetables we have a list of which ones are used to make our food dyes. Check out our ingredient list.
General Information
Open for Treat Seekers:
Wednesday - Sunday
9:00 AM to 6:00 PM
Sorry No Cravings:
Monday & Tuesday
CLOSED
Our hours do change around the Holidays, please check our homepage for holiday hours.
We don’t have a private parking lot, but there’s plenty of street parking available near the bakery. There are also several public lots within walking distance; however, we do not validate parking for any of them.
A little pro tip for your visit:
All meters are free on Sundays
Metered parking begins at 10:00 AM on other days
We recommend giving yourself a few extra minutes to find a spot (especially during peak hours) so your visit stays sweet and stress-free!
Without a designated curbside parking spot, we are unable to provide curbside pickup. 4th avenue is a busy street, and it simply isn't safe for our team members to walk into the street to approach cars that are double parked, or to walk out of site of the bakery security cameras to deliver orders to cars parked farther up or down the street.
We take the safety of our team members just as seriously as we take the safety of our guests. With that in mind, we are unfortunately unable to bring orders out to our guest's cars at this time. We're very sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.
We do not offer delivery.
This is actually a bit of a sore subject with us, because we'd love to be able to offer delivery. Unfortunately, delivering orders ourselves in San Diego simply isn't feasible.
We understand that many other restaurants use delivery apps such as Uber Eats, Grub Hub, Postmates, and Door Dash. We don't use any 3rd party delivery programs, and the reason is very simple. They aren't safe. We take extreme precautions to ensure that every baked good you buy at Starry Lane is 100% free of any contamination for all of the top ten food allergens. If our products pass into the hands of an unknown 3rd party, the chances of cross contamination are incredibly high. For the most part, none of the delivery drivers have food handlers cards or any training in safely transporting food. They eat and drink in their cars, as well as transport other food from other restuarants that may be in contact with your food.
While it is your right to take any risks you feel comfortable with, we've built our reputation on providing safe food for our guests, and it's not a risk we're willing to take.
We do!
Nationwide Shipping:
Our allergen-free Baking Mixes ship anywhere in the U.S. so that you can recreate Starry Lane favorites in your own kitchen! Choose from fudge brownies, chocolate chip cookies, sugar cookies, white bread, dinner rolls, and our new, easy-to-bake cake mix. Each mix includes our custom flour blend, step-by-step instructions, and a how-to video so you can bake with confidence.
Regional Bread Delivery:
We also ship a selection of our fresh-baked breads to guests in California, Nevada, and Arizona. That means soft Submarine Rolls and our fan-favorite Pretzel Rolls, delivered safely and allergen-free to your doorstep.
Get in Contact With Us
Bakery Location
3925 4th Ave.
San Diego, CA 92103
Open for Treat Seekers:
Wednesday - Sunday
9:00 AM to 6:00 PM
Sorry No Cravings:
Monday & Tuesday
CLOSED
Contact Us
Tel: 619.328.0500
Email: info@starrylanebakery.com
Our Mission
Starry Lane Bakery is the living dream of sisters Jaime and Jennifer Schwartz. The bakery's unique name was contributed by their mother Barbara who thought a touch of nostalgia was called for, and suggested naming the business after the street they grew up on in the Pennsylvania Mountains.