OSSORIO Bakery & Cafe — Restaurant in Cocoa

My family and I have been loyal customers of this business for years. It used to be one of our favorite places to visit whenever we were in Cocoa Village. What makes this even more heartbreaking is that my son, who is autistic, was their biggest fan — visiting multiple times a week and happily spending his own money on drinks and ice cream.

Unfortunately, after a recent incident, we will never return.

A few days ago, my son stopped in to use the restroom — just a few hours after making a purchase there. He was immediately yelled at by a female employee who told him the restroom was for "customers only." He explained that he had just bought something earlier that day and that he visits and spends money there multiple times a week. Her response? “Well, you're not a customer right now.”

My son, like many individuals with autism, has challenges with communication and social cues, and her aggressive response left him confused and upset. Despite explaining himself, she threatened to call the police on him for using the restroom — and then actually did.

He used the restroom because he physically couldn't hold it any longer. As he tried to leave, the employee continued yelling at him. Feeling targeted and unsafe, he started recording the incident. She tried multiple times to slap the phone out of his hand — something you can clearly see in the video. He recorded for his own protection and waited for the police because he knew he had done nothing wrong.

The police arrived and, thankfully, saw the situation for what it was. They politely asked him to leave — no arrest, no issue. But the damage was already done. My son was publicly humiliated and physically touched by an employee, all because he has a disability and wasn’t with someone who could immediately advocate for him.

To make things worse, I strongly believe he was targeted not only because of his autism, but also because he expresses himself differently — he dresses in traditionally female clothing, and may appear "out of place" to narrow-minded individuals.

This employee knows who he is. She has seen him multiple times a week, often with family. But the one time he came in alone, she chose to escalate rather than show any understanding, patience, or decency.

Unless serious disciplinary action is taken — preferably termination — we will continue to spread awareness of this incident. I’ve already filed a report and shared the video. We’ve also submitted a report to DCF and will pursue further steps to hold this business accountable for the mistreatment of a disabled young adult with the intellectual age of 14.

If you are a person with a disability, or someone in the LGBTQ+ community, I highly encourage you to take your business elsewhere. What happened to my son was unacceptable, and no one deserves to be treated this way — especially not in a place that claims to serve its community.

We’ve made many memories here over the years, but sadly,...

Generally, but not consistently, the food here is above average while management is frequently below average, they run the business like grifters. I've been in the establishment several times over the past 10+ years when I overheard customers complain and management basically said too bad by suggesting such an insignificant remedy it's an insult to the customer's intelligence. Well that happened to me on a to-go order. With covid-19 we've been doing all our orders to-go. Many of our orders at Ossorio's are for their salmon sandwich that, according to the menu, comes with goat cheese, lettuce, onion, and asparagus. Unfortunately they are not made consistently the same and sometimes with significant variations. When I was checking out today with two sandwiches and another item with a bill of $46 I mentioned to the clerk that the last time those sandwiches did not come with the goat cheese. Personally that makes the sandwich for me. The clerk said "well we've had a new cook", I asked her what she could do for me. She checked with the manager and returned stating that goat cheese is a $1 she can take a $1 off for each sandwich. That didn't even amount to the tax on the order, it was so insufficient considering that ingredient makes the sandwich for me and so insulting I had to ask to speak to the manager. I explained the situation to the manager and let her know that the goat cheese on the sandwich made the sandwich for me. She said if I didn't like it I should have brought it back. I explained it's a 10 mile trip, I was hungry, and that was a multiple order where we were eating together. She asked why did I come back (I guess for another order). She also explained to me that they were humans and make mistakes (implying the customers pay for their employees' mistakes). I told her that her response was a mistake and the way she handled the situation was small. I paid for the order and I asked how do I know they were made right this time. She said we know they were. Neither one of them was watching them being made as they were talking to me at the pick up window 20 ft or more away from where they were being made and had their back to the maker. When I made that point she told me I was rude and to take my order and go away and that I could look at the sandwiches on a sidewalk table. Had they offered something reasonable I likely would have just added it to the tip however I left without leaving any tip. Hint to Ossorio's management and staff: try to de-escalate the situation not escalate the situation. Incidentally today's sandwiches (not inspected on site) were eaten but way too much onion, one thin strand of asparagus and a very thin, narrow smear of something white that may or may not have been goat cheese. Extremely inconsistent. I've had enough of this place for a while. It's hit or miss.

Update: almost a year later and I still have a bad taste...

Mixed review here, but more good than bad. On the downside: 1) there is not a whole lot of seating here, and seating here, and because you order your food at the counter, even if you see an open spot when you come in it might not be there by the time you order. The restaurant was also kind of loud, and there was only one restroom. Whether you ordering a full meal, pastries, or just ice cream, you order and pay from the same place. make sure you look at everything and decide everything you want or you’re gonna have to stand back in line with everyone else if you decide you want to add on an extra pastry or dessert. our food took a really long time, even just to get the pastries. Our drinks which were just water we’re not that fast either and basically they were just yelling your name out to come to the counter and pick it up without explaining where it was on the counter, which was kind of confusing because there were several other peoples drinks out too. There are no numbers for the tables like they do in some restaurants so when the food is ready, they just go around yelling peoples name and looking for them, which did not help it being loud. On the bright side the pizza was very very good and so was the almond croissant. I would get either of them again.

Update: came back and had the same problems. The food took forever. Food was going to the wrong people because people have similar sounding names. They got our order wrong and they said it would take a long time to fix it so they just left us with the wrong order and said to make sure the cashier understood our order next time. The pizza this time was not flavorful and too greasy, and the almond croissants, which had been amazing last time were very soggy and doughy. I ended up just peeing the breading away from the croissant to get the almond paste because that was the only good part of it May not...