Crushcakes and Cafe — Restaurant in Goleta

I hate to leave a 1 star review, but here we go.

Before I continue this review, I have to give them credit for backing their staff. After working in multiple industries where clients are involved with great feedback as well as complaints, they truly will back their staff and see what went wrong instead of taking my word and reprimanding them. My situation on how things were handled and the quality of a product I got was not up to par for what I know these guys can do. I’ve been into CrushCakes Goleta before and ordered food and cupcakes and EVERYTHING WAS AMAZING, but that doesn’t change the recent experience.

I recently got married and ordered a DAIRY FREE (not vegan. Not GF. And for clarification DF needs to be lactose free and can have eggs where vegan cake cannot) 2 tiered cake. We took the cake out 1 hr prior before cutting and serving per guidance of the staff. As soon as my husband and I went to go cut into the cake, it was hard as a brick and already starting to fall apart. The cake was inedible, and everyone probably took 1-2 bites before putting it down and not continuing to eat. We didn’t even cut into the bottom tier and it was thrown away. I couldn’t even save a piece to save for our 1 year anniversary. There is $500+ down the toilet.

We reached out to Goleta store prior to posting this review in hopes to resolve this situation, but not really. No apology. They kept reiterating that they were a small business and that this is never happened before. They were going to meet with baking staff earlier this week, I requested the outcome, and no response. I understand that they are a small business and for a fact that I personally have worked for small businesses before and that stuff happens. They have reviews with similar stories to mine where cakes or cupcakes were dry and/or inedible. We wanted to make them aware of the situation so this doesn’t happen again to anyone in the future. We did not receive exactly what I ordered and only received a $100 refund. I asked for ingredient list which was sent over and following in the email was “For Clarity this is what we follow when someone mentions they are Vegan / No Dairy.” So they make the same cake regardless if you’re vegan or DF. Technically since the cake was vegan, there was no dairy in it at all, BUT since I stated while ordering DF, we were expecting to have eggs in the ingredient list, which there wasn’t. Being DF and vegan are similar but totally different. Just because someone is dairy free, does not mean they are vegan and gluten free, and same goes for across the board. We weren’t told by time of placing the order that the cake would be made vegan and GF.

In my personal opinion, they should be able to adjust their recipes accordingly to what people as for. I’ve stated multiple times on how upsetting it was for the outcome of said cake.

Hot take: I should’ve been refunded MINIMUM 50% of what the cake cost, not $100. I did not receive the cake I asked for. I understand food costs and cost of labor, but come on. Do better to make this right. I want to keep supporting, but after all of this, I won’t be returning.

Photos taken are from an iPhone and from a distance, but figure they capture what I’m...

Disappointed with Crushcakes. Thought I'd try them again. Sadly, all depends on what you order. Tried a toasted bagel but the tomato slices were mushy, the onion just tasted weird, the lettuce and sprouts were tolerable, the avo not great from a resturant. The bagel itself was like a cheap knockoff, it was thin and mushy. I had something like it once from a very cheap package of bagles from a discount grocery.

I could not eat it although it looked pretty. So another waste of my money. Sad, Why??? If I wanted cheap sloppy food I'd go to a fast food shop, not a place that claims everything made from scratch.

Really disappointed. I've had items that were delicious. Guess it's all in the right pick or they are still going downhill. Their breakfast sandwiches have been good in the past and their woke turkey burger but haven't tried them lately.

Too much a guessing game to see if you get something yummy, just tolerable or inedible. Really sad about this shop.

..................... Prior reviews

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Has much improved here! Stop here a lot more often.

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Today my oat cap is a throw away. Not only bitter, hard on stonach with no foam and not creamyl i taste like regular brewed coffee with some oat milk thrown it with bubbles so is only a half a small cup or bad tasting coffee. Why??? What's so hard about making a coffee?

Had an avo toast with a little goat cheese. They forgot to toast the bread, making it hard to manage. Bread is too soft to pick it up without everything falling off. Avocado was sliced on top if the bread. Tasted nice, fresh, tasty, but I really could not understand the presentation.

Avo toast and oat cap were both throwaways!throwaway! Going somewhere else. Was served wilted greens with partially rotten avo, no flavor other than spoiled. Oat cap was a dense heavy tasteless soup.

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Has much improved here, food and coffee is good. Stoping here a lot more often.

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Today my oat cap is a throw away. Not only bitter, hard on stonach with no foam and not creamyl i taste like regular brewed coffee with some oat milk thrown it with bubbles so is only a half a small cup or bad tasting coffee. Why??? What's so hard about making a coffee?

Had an avo toast with a little goat cheese. They forgot to toast the bread, making it hard to manage. Bread is too soft to pick it up without everything falling off. Avocado was sliced on top if the bread. Tasted nice, fresh, tasty, but I really could not understand the presentation.

...,............ It all depends on what you order and when you arrive. Some items are kinda dry and boring (just not for me.) If you hit the wrong time its impossible to park and if there are a lot of take out orders it means a longer wait for walk in orders. I stop in occasionally for a bit of lunch or breakfast and an oat latte. I don't find enough on the menu that I really enjoy to go more often but gave 4 stars because the food is good, the coffee is decent and service is pleasant and friendly. They are often out of bakery items. Cupcakes are okay, not my favorite so I don't tend...

Worst cafe and bakery in town!! The only good thing about them is the honesty of their employees being able to admit that they have communication problems.

Story goes: we have a surprise birthday party happening this evening and the celebrant is a Vegan. As we all know, the search for vegan pastries is a hassle alone. We discovered that this establishment sells vegan cupcakes. My daughter called on Thursday to place an order for vegan cupcakes to pick up on Saturday. She was told to call the morning of. I asked my daughter if she was certain because I didn’t believe the information to be accurate. She replied that it was. On Friday, I asked my daughter to call again and confirm. She returned my call shortly after contacting these folks and re-confirmed with me. We knew that they opened at 8am on Saturdays and I allowed time for them to open their doors and get settled with possible early-bird risers. I called at 8:10am to order 24 vegan cupcakes. The incompetent girl who answered the phone this morning had the audacity to tell me that we should’ve called 48 hours before. I immediately and abruptly halted her incompetence and told her that my daughter called on Thursday and Friday and both times, she was told that she was to call the morning of. The nerve of this girl to tell me otherwise. I told that girl that because their people are incompetent, I wanted 24 vegan cupcakes and I could give two **its what it would cost me because it is for a surprise birthday party and I wanted it this afternoon. The girl got my name and number and stated that she would call me back to let me know if it could be done. I received no courtesy of a return call. I got to my gym studio and had one of my girls at the studio call for me for a follow-up while I burned off my frustration with this place and my girl was told that they weren’t going to be able to satisfy the order and the girl admitted that they have communication problems at this place. Thankfully, indeed I am thankful for the universe, my girl Raven (she proving the definition of her name), and Lilac Patisserie, we secured an order of 24 vegan cupcakes. You all are my saviors. Screw Crushcakes!!

Take your business directly to Lilac Patisserie if you’re seeking vegan pastries and stay away from the incompetence of Crushcakes, the establishment and its employee. Yes, they are bound to crush your...