J.J. Bakery

I am really, really disappointed in JJ Bakery.
I live within a mile of JJ Bakery and I’ve been a regular here ever since I moved to Irvine. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen that girl cashier behind the counter at least 5 times.
Today, I was starving and borderline hangry already when I walked in. Maybe it was the low blood glucose that impaired my ability to think clearly, but I chose a rice dish off the menu like I always do. Usually I stick with sausage or chicken leg rice but today I decided I was craving pork chop. I ordered a fried pork chop rice. All of the pictures have the pork on the rice, and chinese sides like cabbage or vegetables. I got home, ready to chomp into my chinese pork chop rice, and I open the box to find a weird looking pork chop with POTATO SALAD AND A SOGGY SALAD! Potato salad at a chinese restuarant? That is definitely ODD.
I called JJ and asked them why I had potato salad and a soggy salad instead of the regular chinese vegetable sides. The person who answered the phone said that the teriyaki chicken and «fried?» pork chop comes with these weird sides but ALL of the other rice dishes come with the regular chinese sides. I guess there is a «salted fried pork chop» that is the chinese version of this dish. WTF. She was very rude, very unhelpful, and offered no alternative or decision. I asked her that since the menu didn’t specify this difference between fried and salted, if I could bring in my food at least for a side exchange. She said no!
If the JJ Bakery manager out there is ready this…
Please state on your menu that certain dishes on your menu come with americanized sides instead of the regular stuff you would expect from a chinese restaurant.
Also, teach your staff some customer service.

Beware when ordering birthday cakes. We ordered birthday cake to pick up an hour before a birthday. First they couldn’t «find» the cake. Then it was somewhere «in the back». When brought out the frosting was wrong and the fruit on top was wrong. Was not at all ready and didn’t have any writing on it. They pulled a stock cake out of the back and tried to play it off as the cake we ordered. RUINED my son’s birthday cake. He refused to eat it. Made us late to the birthday party because took 20 minutes to deal with this mess and finally had to take the cake so there would be something for the children. LAST time we will be going there. Previous experience had been very good, but nobody taking account and just an «oh well, sorry» attitude. Look somewhere else for a birthday cake.

I guess like many bakeries, it’s best to go right when they open. Their cakes average around $ 25-​$ 30, but they are pretty dang delicious. Their pastries are great when they come out fresh. They have a good variety of sweet and savory too.

I think this 2^nd location on Jeffrey is different from the Culver one that I checked into. The sign on the outside of the Jeffrey location says J Sweet bakery but then inside it is all JJ Bakery. A little confusing.
Anyways, I enjoyed the savory items here like the chicken pie and the curry beef pastries. They also have cold puddings/​cakes and some sweet pastries. I haven’t tried my custard one yet, but the items look good and are fairly priced.
It hasn’t been too crowded whenever I’ve come here and I like the balance of sweet and savory items.
Decent Asian bakery and less crowded than some of the other popular ones in Irvine.

Google & Unilocal wrote its opening hour 8am to 9 pm. We were here at 9:10 am, but breakfast is still in preparation! I would give it 0!!! Wast of my time!

Getting very disappointed with JJ.
Food is ok but the girl behind the counter… I can’t help but became religious for the moment. OMG~~~ I really tried to be understanding but she has managed to screw up my order in 3 separate occasions. How difficult is it to punch in the food on the screen when I actually pointed the item number for you. As much as she doesn’t understand the menu, numbering should be pretty universal regardless the language issue.
And yes, the greasy hair… Not exactly good image for food related service.

I’ve been getting cakes from JJ for years. They are absolutely wonderful. Not too sweet. Moist. A variety of flavors. Very affordable. They’ve not ever let me down. I love JJs!

Have been going here for years. Nice family-​owned place. Staff is very friendly.
My favorite item is the white cake with strawberries. It has been made the same way since the first time I got it. The quality has never diminished, making the price worth it.

When we’re in the area to see a movie, my boyfriend and I have an almost routine of coming here to get dessert. We have never had the food — simply because we usually eat elsewhere, see a movie and then swing by here. Each time the desserts have been fresh even at 8:30 at night! The girls behind the counter rarely speak, but we’re used to it now.

Black forest cake was so bomb, and so was the crème brûlée. The vanilla cake left something to be desired… but for only about $ 3 a slice, I’m not complaining. I love that you can get a variety of desserts without feeling like you are draining your wallet!

The service here is horrible. The girls behind the counter looked like they wished to be somewhere else. I had to asked to be helped. And afterwards they overcharged me. When I caught the mistake they looked at me like it was my fault THEY had messed up.
The baked goods are ok… But not great! Ordered a green tea tiramisu that was extra dry and tasted very little like green tea. Also had the lemon chocolate bun that tasted more like lemon soap than chocolate– stay away from it if you can!
The one redeeming thing about this place is the café next door to the bakery. The coffee and boba was good.

hairs, hairs, and more hairs !!!
i have been a customer for several years, my favorite bread WAS cheese toast till i found a lot of short hairs on it.
NEVER going back there again. .piece of advice check your bread before you eat it

I was looking for a small birthday cake for my boyfriend and after a few trips to other bakery shops, I finally ended at JJ Bakery and found the cake I wanted. They have quite a good selection of sizes and prices. So that was very nice. The decorations are nice and delicious looking. On top of that, they also have other pastries that would make one drool with just the visual appeals and scents.
Lastly, I appreciate the owner for giving me such sweet service. She gave me the «happy birthday» sign, wrapped the cake in a very cute box in addition to the bag. I plan on coming back here more often in the future.

I have to give it up to my home slices at JJ Bakery. They were helpful in finding yet another birthday cake for a birthday and patient enough to deal with me snapping pictures to send to make a decision.
What I especially appreciate is that they gave me candles and other items without even asking me. They simply took what they overheard from the conversation I was having and made sure to accommodate and assist me. I really appreciate that and thus, I will conclude if you’re looking for tasty, well made cakes with fresh fruits and from people who are friendly and helpful, the staff at JJ Bakery in Irvine are the people you need to see. :)
Btw, that cake was very tasty, and I saw they had some new pretty looking cakes. I’ll have to stop in again and try them out.

How sad, no one seems to like J.J. Bakery. Well, let me tell you why. Because you’re going to the restaurant… This place is called a Bakery, so but the bread because they are delicious!
If you have lived in Irvine since you’re a fetus, you will know that J.J. Bakery is the place to buy traditional Asian bread. A lot of their buns taste very similar to the buns that you will find in Taiwan! There is a reason that J.J. has expanded from one store in the last 25 years to so many branches: the bread is good.
The cake here is alright. You have to be very strategic about picking the cake here. The good ol’ fashion fruit cake is a no-​no, but the cheesecake is a big yes! The tirimisu is very inconsistent, one year it was very light and another year it was very rich. Just get the cheesecake.
My favorites are the red bean bun, the milk cream bun, and the taro bun. But honestly, I like most things that offer… I’ve basically tried all their bread and tasted the evolution of them since birth.
To sum it up: eat the bread, not the food!
If you’re reading this and thinking, «I like 85C better,» let me tell you why 85C isn’t better. 85C was about to go bankrupt in Taiwan when it was first introduced in the U.S. It was failing in Taiwan because it opened way too many restaurant believing that their food, beverages, and dessert were exceptional… well, when walking past any of the stores, they were empty, because the food did not cater to many Taiwanese people’s taste. I’m not sure how it became a huge hit in the U. S… probably great marketing that gets people all hypes up about the alright food (like Sprinkles, Champagne, etc.). But I’m just letting you know, J.J. is the place to go for the real deal. Put the brand judgment aside and really try the food.

LOVE the egg tarts, they are $ 1.50 each.
J.J. Bakery is next to Ranch 99, I believe they deliver their baked goods to a nearby restaurant in the shopping center. The cashier is bilingual (English-​Mandarin). They have a fairly good variety and great quality desserts and baked goods.
Note that purchases under $ 5 must be in cash.

I hadn’t been here in so long to buy any of their bread/​baked goods. Now that I’ve revisited… simple reason: the bread is pretty basic, some looking to be pretty plain or tasting bland. I picked up a Whole Wheat with Cranberries Bread, which is rather dry and crumbly. They also skimp out on the ingredients too as there isn’t a lot of cranberries and it’s scattered really unevenly…
But the pros? It’s priced pretty cheap and doesn’t have crowds like 85C Bakery. They also have actual food-​food in the connecting café.

We ordered a half sheet of the mix cake by phone on Thursday for pick up on Saturday morning. When Saturday morning came and went to pick up the cake, they said they didn’t have any order for a half sheet. They told us if we had ordered from the right places. After calling the other JJ Bakery, we confirmed the order was indeed placed at the Culver location and the order was taken by Mr. E. So we went back again, talked to the cashier, and told them again that there should be a half sheet cake for pick up at 9:30am under my brother’s name and it was a phone order taken by Mr. E on Thursday.
The cashier looked though the phone orders and couldn’t find anything, so she suggested getting like a quarter sheet. We needed our cake at 12:00 — 12:30pm, but she said the earliest she can have that was 3:00pm.
Out of options, we decided to get 2 of the display cakes. The cashier apologized for the inconvenience, but did not give us any discount or special service for the cakes we were buying.
The customer service here is appalling and horrible, and reflects poor management, and a lack of communication and proper training.
Anytime people buy a cake, it is usually for a special occasion or milestone in life. So when they mess up an order like this, it ruins that special moment.
It is imperative for a leader and management to communicate with their workers why you do things, and how these things are important to the customer.
There is a clear lack of leadership, lack of vision, and a shameful attempt at customer service.
Then they call me today, and say there is a half sheet of cake unaccounted for and want us to pay. They blame us for their mistakes. They eventually gave a half hearted apology, but I don’t think they don’t know what they are sorry for.
In a bad situation like this, a person with good customer service would apologize for misplacing the order AND for ruining a special milestone in life.
If they aren’t capable of putting themselves in the shoes of others maybe they shouldn’t be in this industry.
The cake itself is pretty good and I have no qualms over it, but the customer service is ruining this bakery.
This is a bad review, but I am pointing things out that clearly are a problem with the hopes that things will improve.

After 4 years of frequenting this shop, we won’t be going back. Their level of customer service is none existent toward the customer.
The wife had ordered a curry dish that resulted in it being to spicy/​peppery to her palate. She inquired for a substitute menu item that wasn’t spicy. The counter gal said let me check with my manager/​owner. The manager/​owner when asked about replacing the dish stated «Couldn’t do that, it would be to hard» and would fix the dish so that it wasn’t spicy.
The attitude to put herself above the customer was shocking. Dining establishments we visit the staff has been able to accommodate and switch the dish out. This shop showed how penny pinching is more important than to maintain a customer long term.
Instead the owner goes back into the kitchen to «fix» the meal and returns in about 3 minutes. The curry dish was now a runny soup base with more potatoes. (Meaning instead of making a fresh dish she added water and potatoes.) It was still spicy/​peppery for her to eat. We relayed to the counter gal and she apologized. We get stuck with an inedible meal while the owner/​manager disappears rather than inquire if the meal was satisfactory. This manager/​owner was the same crusty lady who would haphazardly smash the baked goods into the box rather than neatly place them in in an organized manner on past visits.
In the years we’d been coming in we’ve seen the changes and yet it was a tolerable place to get simple eats. My sausage fired rice usually had more veggies in the mix. This time there was a small sprinkling of carrots, peas and onions. Far from what most fried rice dishes combine as ingredients. (Can we say more penny pinching measures.)
To receive this level of service was obvious how they viewed us as customers. With the increased prices and poor customer service, we will pursue other shops that treat their customers properly. The shop may have a cumulative $ 30 this time and it was the last from our wallets.
Goodbye!

This review is for their meal only.
Come to try their meal and kind of disappointed. Although my friend highly recommends some dishes, I wouldn’t come back to give them another try, at least in weeks.
I ordered fried pork chop rice, coming with free iced black tea. First of all, the portion is small comparing to Kingchop, one of my favorite Taiwanese restaurant. The taste is just fine. With $ 8.95, based on the portion and taste, it’s not really worth it. Now, I know why the reviews here are mostly for bakery items.
I will be back for their breads, but not their meals definitely.