Sweet Mandy B's Bakery — Restaurant in Chicago

Sweet Mandy B's is a marvelous bakery, and I have been patronizing their Lincoln Park location for decades. Today, I thought I'd give their new Streeterville location a try, so I ordered a cookie for pickup.

I arrived at the scheduled time, and noticed a line of perhaps a dozen people in the walk-in line. But happily, I was the only person in the pickup line. So, following the instructions on the sign, I proceeded to the head of the pickup line (just a few feet in front of the register) and waited.

And waited.

And waited and waited and waited.

Simply put, one does not expect to wait ten minutes to be handed a cookie that has already been ordered, prepped, and paid for. But it wasn't the waiting so much as the fact that the staff seemed totally disinterested in helping me. There was no acknowledgement, no greeting, no, "We'll be with you in a moment," as though I were a new piece of rather dull and unengaging furniture.

After seeing all but two of the walk-ins served ahead of me—again, the only person in the pickup line—I asked a passing employee if I was in the right place, and she pointedly ignored me. (So pointedly that other guests noticed and even gawked a bit.)

When I asked a second time as she walked back, she was audibly irritated and gave a short and dismissive answer. The manager behind the register overhead the exchange, and was kind enough to assist me. Within eight seconds, I had my cookie and was out the door. Almost as if I had ordered it ahead and it was waiting for me, ready to go... or something.

I know from long personal experience how stressful it can be to work behind a counter downtown slinging coffee and treats, and perhaps the employee was having a bad day. That is, however, no excuse for being deliberately unhelpful and borderline rude to a customer. And if that's the attitude waiting for me while I wait an overlong time for my ready to go order, I think I shall avoid Sweet Mandy B's...

Just walked across the street from my hotel to this nice looking bakery to purchase something to go. I was greeted and once I ordered, the lady informed me of the pet policy. I had my (6 pound)ESA inside a carrier on my shoulder and I asked her if I'm just ordering to-go is that ok. She kept saying she was just wanting to inform me of the policy (saying she just wanted me to know). There was never an answer to my question so I just said ok that's fine, I'll go.

Chicago's cold-hearted "customer service" has gotten worse and worse by the year. I am a native now living in the state of Georgia for over 20 years and each time I return, I cannot wait to get back to happy, southern people with Southern hospitality.

Response to owner: There was no willingness from your employee to help me. I asked if I could just purchase a muffin to go and the employee repeatedly recited the pet policy to me. I had zero intentions in sitting in your establishment because I had my ESA in her carrier. It is understandable that if a pet is not in a carrier and a customer wants service, they should be denied service. I was indirectly denied service because your employee would not answer my question nor would she sell me the item I ordered. Thank you for...

My family is extremely critical of cakes and never hold back on their opinion! My sister mentioned that she would like to taste a cake from here so I decided to surprise her for her birthday, and I was so nervous that she and everyone else would end up hating the cake. I ordered one of their cute adult cake designs with yellow cake, strawberry buttercream ice cream between the layers, with a chocolate ganache on top. When I surprised her with the cake she was very happy with the design and even more excited when I told her it was from Mandy B's - showtime! We went in for a slice and... Decimated! The 9" birthday cake, which is a very respectable size, did not survive 24 hours between just three people LOL! Unfortunately, no one else was able to make it in time to taste it, but hey, as long as the birthday girl was one of the three, that's all that matters right? I cannot punctuate enough how impressed I am with the lack of artificial taste that you normally get from store bought cakes. Really great, and I hope that this high quality is maintained consistently. My sister was their customer (for the cupcakes I hear), but they've just gained a new customer in me. The customer experience was also nice, friendly and...