Jennivee's Bakery & Cafe — Restaurant in Lake View Township

Food: cakes and cupcakes are generally good. A few notes - having been a customer for years, the quality varies quite a bit. Sometimes it is dry and sometimes it is perfect. I suspect it may be that some cakes and cupcakes if not sold through that day are kept around and end up drying out. The cakes and cupcakes are also quite pricey so you would generally expect the quality to be more consistent.

Service: At best, mediocre. At worst, terrible. An example - I preordered a cake for Thanksgiving through their online system. Since their cake quality degrades pretty quickly with time, I ordered it for the day closest to Thanksgiving. They actually let me order for the day of thanksgiving which I was a little surprised by. They then emailed me a week later saying that it was a mistake and they are closed thanksgiving and asked if I could come in the day before to pick it up. I said of course. The day before Thanksgiving, I got there at 11:50 and found their door wide open and walked in and said I was there to pick up a preordered cake. They said they open at noon (which I didn't realize). I looked at the clock and saw it was 11:50 and apologized saying I didn't realize they open at 12 and asked if I could just get the cake. They said no, they were very busy (4 workers). I walked out and didn't really have much choice but loiter around waiting the 10 minutes. I called my wife and told her I was running late because I showed up too early for the cake and they wouldn't give it to me and while I was talking, one of the workers came out and scolded me for talking on the phone loud enough that they could hear me and said clearly I was intentionally talking about them for them to hear. I was standing 20-30 feet from the door talking on the phone and they took the time to come out and scold me - that's how busy they were. At noon they called me in and grabbed the cake from the fridge and handed it over (took 30 seconds).

I understand the principle of not being open, but there is a lot to be desired about the customer service here.

UPDATE: I got home and cut into the cake to find out that it is the wrong cake - not what I ordered. I called them multiple times and they didn't answer (which is fairly typical for them) which meant I had to drive all the way back to talk to someone about this. At the end, they offered to refund the cake. Pretty much the only person who seemed remotely concerned about customer service was the manager. Everybody else treated customer service like they were paid by a competitor to sabotage...

I believe everyone needs to try Jennivee’s Bakery in Lakeview because I tried it for the first time 2 days ago and I am in awe!! I usually gets cake from Chinatown because a lot of bakeries are extremely sweet, to the point of I can’t enjoy the cake because the sugar is overpowering. But this place GOT IT DOWN! For reference, I got a Purple Velvet Cake Slice and a BitterSweet Kiss Cale Slice, the flavors were spot on!

Bittersweet Kiss, The chocolate cake slice: The cake itself was moist, not fluffy but I was looking for a nice moist cake since I was craving chocolate cake. The chocolate flavor was there and pretty strong which I liked. The light buttercream? Or frosting was not too sweet and complimented the cake itself very well. The chocolate shavings were perfect and delicious! Added extra crunchy and chocolatey goodness.

Purple Velvet Cake: I got it because it looked intriguing, the purple was so pretty, and it said UBE on the sign. The moment I tasted this one, it was like a match made in heaven. The Perfect way to execute an Asian flavor. Ube is hardly done well in many bakeries but props to Jennivee’s because the Ube flavor was perfect, the shavings inside the cake was brilliant! The flavor was there! And the right kind! The buttercream was light but had substance, not too sweet, but sweet enough to satisfy my sweet cravings.

I have not tried other flavors but 100% will be back. Price was about $20 for two cake slices. I believe around $9 per slice but the slice you get is pretty large. I finished both slices in a span of 3 days with the help of my partner. It was WORTH it! I didn’t get any cupcake because I like the layers of cake slices but I’ll be back to try them. I did include a video of their sparkly vanilla cupcakes because they were soooo pretty.

I had such a good experience trying their cakes, I’m gonna say they might have the best cake slices in Lakeview??? I’m new to Lakeview area but this spot is hard to beat. Employees were also helpful and nice. I walked to the bakery so I can’t speak on parking but there are street parking. Inside is very nicely decorated and good atmosphere. Enough space. Very large cake and pastry display. I saw that they make custom cakes so might have to order...

We ordered a cake for a joint birthday and housewarming celebration for 40-50 guests. We ordered the mango cream cake and our guests were wowed! The cake was a big hit. So, we were very pleased by the final outcome…but getting there was not easy. The ordering process for a custom cake was not easy. My husband visited the shop to buy some samples so we could best choose. Then we sent in our order 2 weeks in advance and never got any response. We called, we emailed again, and still no response. We finally went in person and were told that they didn’t respond because we hadn’t filled out the form with enough information. We thought the form would be the beginning of the conversation, but apparently not. The woman at the shop helped us get all the details and ordered the cake with it to be delivered on a Fri at 2PM. The day of the delivery, the driver called to ask if 3PM was ok, which it was. At 430 still no cake. I called an asked if they had the right address, and I was told they were running behind. I said as long as it was here by 6, would be fine. At 6, still no cake. I called and was told 15-20 min. Then I received a text saying “I can’t make it today what’s the best option for you it can be delivered on Sunday”. The cake was really for the second half of our party on Sat., but was floored by this response. I called to let them know this was unacceptable. The delivery guy didn’t seem to care and said I could speak with his manager. I got the info for Adam and called to explain the situation. Adam was very apologetic and said that he would personally make sure that we received the cake before the party on Sat and threw in half a dozen cupcakes too. On Sat everything arrived and the cake was a hit. I would order again because truly the cake was delicious, but I hope I would have a better customer experience. It is worth the patience and perseverance...