Lovin Oven Cakery — Restaurant in Round Lake Beach

Update 2024: Called both locations and it goes to a voicemail. I placed an order online instead but the prices of even simple cakes with a "Happy Birthday " and filling are $55+. We needed a yule log for Christmas and unfortunately the smallest sized log was $45 and tasted kinda blah, no one finished it as they did in years past. Also when my husband was ordering in person that day he again noted how rude several counter people are, like you're bothering them. When I last ordered for my husband's birthday in October that was $95 for a 9 inch. I feel like they need to reevaluate their prices. I think after today we'll be finding another bakery. I give them credit for having the convenient online option (since the phones are down) as other smaller bakeries don't have that but the prices I'm seeing are ridiculous now. Update June 2022: Giving LO another try, we ordered for my daughter's birthday a half sheet birthday cake with half yellow half chocolate cake and strawberry preserves inside. They created a gorgeous birthday cake! Service was great and I will absolutely go back for our next birthday cake order. They desperately need to improve their customer service. The woman first taking my order today sounded like she was going to have a nervous breakdown. First insisting I need to send the image for my cake order while on the phone with her because their policy changed as of November and I must stay on the phone while sending the image so the order is paid in full - then moments later telling me she has other things she must do and we can hang up and they'll call back to confirm if the selected cake image is okay. During the conversation she sounded increasingly stressed and annoyed with voice shaking and all. I'm glad another woman took over for her and the transaction was perfect after that, as it goes any other time I've ordered cakes from them, but I sincerely hope things are okay with the first employee, she sounded like a ball of nerves who certainly couldn't keep track of what she was insisting from one moment to another. Prior to this, when we last came in person to pick up a cake the day before Christmas Eve, the woman taking care of us had this unsettling flat affect with no "thank you" afterwards, nothing. After asking what we'd like, she never asked if there was anything else we wanted which is typically what they ask at any bakery I've ever been to. We were going to order other cupcakes but obviously she wanted to get done with the order - what sat with me is telling the person "have a nice day" with no response from her at all. Maybe this is just how people are now, either totally emotionally blank or the opposite, stressed and on edge, but at the very least, gather some patience for customers and a simple "thank you" or "have a nice day" leaves the customer thinking this business somewhat cares that they come back again. After working in retail, the food industry and medical, I can truthfully say you have to pretend to be okay even when you're not-you leave your problems at the door when you come into work, but lately with places like this it seems people cannot and customers get the brunt of their feelings. Customer service aside, this bakery has amazing cakes, the buttercream is awesome and the cake is moist (especially compared to other local bakeries we've tried) and we've never been disappointed in the three years we've ordered from here for birthdays and holidays combined. I hope their employee to customer interactions can...

I want to rate this place 5 star. This is a tough review to write. Lovin Oven is my favorite cake shop. And not just MY favorite- a long time family favorite, too. When I was in high school, a coworker of my mom's brought a box of assorted cake slices to the office as a treat. My mom loved them so much, she brought a few slices home for the family. After that, everyone was hooked. Seriously the cakes are amazing! This location is an hour & ten minutes from where we live, in Milwaukee. We made the drive, sometimes weekly, just for a slice of cake! My graduation cake & 18th birthday cake came from Lovin Oven. I still dream about the heath bar, mint, and Bailey's Irish cream slices. To. Die. For!!!!

However...one really horrible experience at this location has persuaded me to never return. I came in with a friend, we bought $60 worth of cakes. Sat down inside to eat a slice. Mine was some sort of wonderful raspberry cream cheese princess cake. As soon as we sat down, we were swarmed by wasps. Yes- sitting inside! How?! I can understand that sometimes a couple bugs sneak in. But this was 5-10 or more wasps. And they were gutsy- Landing on our cakes, on my face, neck, hands, and clothes, crawling on my chair and the table. Employees did nothing. I mentioned the wasp issue to a worker, a young girl maybe 18 with dark hair, and she said "oh yeah, a few flies got in, just ignore them". What?! My friend had a serious allergy to wasp stings. This information didn't phase said employee. It's not like we could have just drove home- again we live an hour away and made the drive special! The cake slices are served in little red baskets. I took the slice I was eating out of the basket and set it in the box of other slices, so I could shoo away the wasps with the red basket. Said employee sneaks up behind me, THROWS AWAY OUR $60 BOX OF CAKES WITHOUT A WORD ...and then GRABS THE BASKET OUT OF MY HAND!!! Literally, fights it away from me like I am a toddler picking up something I shouldn't be! I was so shocked I couldn't even react. Then she said, "Seriously, don't use the baskets for that. Seriously." ...and proceeds to throw away both of our baskets as well. That's right, straight into the trash, everything we just bought, after spending an hour in the car. Our. Jaws. Dropped. I stood there in shock. And then, we left (actually, more like RAN AWAY!), empty handed and terrified. Not sure who that teenager was, but holy cow! Scary girl! I am hoping she has moved on and no longer works in customer service!

I have not come back. I will not come back. Every now and then, I relive the wasp ordeal in my nightmares. But if I'm being honest, the teenage employee who threw out my entire box of cakes was way more terrifying than being stung by ten wasps. As long as she still works there you could not pay me to step foot inside this cake shop! I hope nobody else had the truly awful experience we had ):

Lovin Oven- please ask your staff to refrain from throwing customer purchases in the trash, and also remind them that some people are seriously allergic to wasp stings. I am glad that my friend did not need to go to the hospital, we were able to leave before she was stung. We saw other customers leaving to avoid the wasps, and two other ladies mentioned their wasp allergies to the same staff member, who again did...

I have always had wonderful experiences with this bakery. However when I went two months ago to place an order for my daughters birthday cake I had an experience that almost deterred me for good. I asked the woman if they could make a particular cake for me and how much it would cost. She said I don’t know call the Antioch location. I said okay, how long before the party do I need to order it. She said I don’t know, call the Antioch location. I then decided I was wasting my time and asked about how much for a dozen donuts and she said idk it’s 1.47 a donuts so do the math. Whilst I was completely turned off from this experience my about to be two year old still wanted to get a donut before we left. When I asked for it she made a comment of “will she even like it” as if I don’t know what my kid will like. She then proceeded to make a comment on how she will hate her curls as she gets older. The entire experience left a horrible taste in my mouth. I tried everywhere else to order a cake and was running out of time, so I finally decided to go back to this location. Everyone I spoke to this second time around was so knowledgeable and kind. Shirley did a fantastic job and went above and beyond by not only calling another location for me to find out if I could order special donuts. When my picture for the cake wouldn’t send through she went and found one on her own. She was so wonderful. The cake and donuts turned out amazing and was fantastic! I was so very happy with the work she did and my daughter loved it all. Thank you Shirley so much for your kindness and the effort on your part to make my little girls day special ❤️ I...