International Bakery — Restaurant in Atlanta

I had a bad first experience here. I called two days in advance to order a cake. The lady asked me how many people am I expecting, what kind of cake, what should they write on it , etc. I told her I needed a fruit cake enough for 15 people ("one-five" I told her) She never asked me cake sizes (small, medium, large-I'll explain) so I assumed she knew I wanted a small/medium cake size. She gave me my total and we went on from there.

Fast forward to the day I pick up, I was super excited about getting the cake and seeing the bakery's amazing pastries. I noticed the older man behind the counter was not very inviting and did not want to make eye contact with any of the customers he was assisting. So instead I was assisted by a sweet woman who helped grab me my cake and extra pastries that I decided to order at last minute. As she went to the back to grab my cake, I noticed that they decided to write on it before giving it to me to take a look at & see if its the correct size & all.

I proceeded to make my purchase with the older man behind the counter and noticed that the cake was way too big to feed 15 people as soon as I carried it out to my car (stupid me yes, I highly agree on that part). So I stopped and went back in and told the man that I cannot take the cake because it looks like it was meant to feed 50 people, not 15. (I understand they worked hard on this cake and I felt so bad I had to bring it back.)

Instead of telling me "I'm sorry, let me see what I can do." He literally yelled at me in front of the whole store saying "You cannot return food like this! Its already written on! It's a waste! You should have known to choose SMALL MEDIUM OR LARGE! Why would you buy a large cake and return for a small?!" (pretty much telling me I'm stupid at this point for not saying anything before they wrote on it when I didn't even get to see it until after I purchased)

Well first of all mister! The person who picked up the phone did not hear me clearly when I said I needed a cake enough for 15 (one-five) people! Secondly, they wrote on the cake without showing me if its the correct cake! Thirdly, I didn't know you sold cakes in sizes small medium or large! If I had known we wouldn't have had this situation!

However he was nice enough to get me another cake in the correct size. I told him to keep what I paid them & I would pay extra for the second cake & that I sincerely apologize. Instead, he didn't wanna listen to a word I was saying. He shushed me while calculating my refund I never asked for. As soon as he took out the change, he gave me the box & threw the money on top. I kept insisting he keep it because all I wanted was the cake. He shouted angrily "GOODBYE! See you next week!!" (I'm guessing his way of saying GTFO)

I left the store feeling completely ashamed & embarassed in front of everyone! I didn't even want to look up and show my face!

The cake was good all right (which is why rating is 2*). However, I will not be a returning customer from getting yelled at for something that was not my fault entirely on top of that leaving their bakery feeling ashamed and embarassed in front of a packed bakery! This is very humiliating...

I read all the bad reviews and I take it that the "Americans" don't understand how difficult it is for this old man to navigate his world. It's a very busy store. He's probably been robbed more than once. He's trying to check people out and make sure everything is okay and he's old and grumpy like many old people are. Not very customer service oriented but he has a really good variety of Greek foods. He has the best price of feta cheese and he carries olive oil from Crete which is really good olive oil. I am Greek and having been to Greece and gone in small stores, his misdemeanor is not much different. I think many Greek store owners are rude, especially in Greece. Perhaps if he was approached with a little kindness.

When I go in there I try to smile and ask him how he is. He doesn't know me. I've been there three, four times and I'm going again soon but he doesn't know me. Hundreds of people go through there.

I personally make it my business to be extra kind because you don't know what the other person is going through in their life. It's easy to say that he's rude but it's harder to go out of your way and be kind.

Any number of these people who gave him a one-star review, if they were just kind and went out of their way to do so, he would show some kindness as well.

And I'm sure he doesn't bake most of the things that are in his store. Most of these stores purchase from Greek vendor/bakers. So when he gives you a blank stare because you ask him what's in the cake, he doesn't know what's in the cake, probably. Perhaps he should know, but he doesn't know everything. He does not make all those baked goods.

When stores buy wholesale to resell, most of those goods come from a bake shop in Florida TARPON SPRINGS. That's where the best Greek pastry shop is and probably where his goods come from.

I think he's just lost in this world and he's doing the best he can. I'm looking forward to shopping there again soon!!! Wish I lived closer, I would go more often. I pass through several times a year.

Remember, it's harder to be kind and easy to judge. And we're all going to get old...

I found this place from reviews. It doesn't look like much from the pictures but people give it really high reviews so I wanted to give them a try.

I believe the owner is an old couple. First visit had an older woman as the cashier that grabbed my items and rung me up. The second visit was an older man running the venue. They probably own the place.

This place is in the middle of a small strip mall. The store is packed with pastries, cooking additives, and cakes.

I tried all 3 pies: cheese, mushroom, and spinach. All 3 pastries are extremely flaky and good. The pies are bigger than you would expect. Best to warm up the pieces before eating. The cheese is pretty basic. The mushroom takes like a protein and is very filling. The spinach is flavorful.

I tried the black forest cake (white top and black top) and the fruit cake. All three tasted pretty similar and pretty good.

I also tried the cookie, almond crescent, and brownie. The cookie is hard as a brick. I should have sprayed the cookie with water and microwaved it to bring softness back. The almond crescent and brownie are amazing. The almond crescent has the perfect balance of sweetness and savory. The brownie is soft and chocolatey. Their is a smoothness in the brownies that...