Baker's Sweets Bistro & Bakery — Restaurant in Sumter

While I love the cake and treats here, I find them to be very weird when it comes to service. I've always bought their gift cards for my child's teachers; we dine here occasionally, and my daughter loves it. I come here only because of her. The dining area is usually majority white folks, and the last time I was here, I felt like they were seating white folks who came in after me before I got seated. I didn't say anything, because I wasn't sure if these people had a reservation. I waited at least 30 minutes to be seated. We ate. My daughter was satisfied, so I was satisfied. We were celebrating my daughter's birthday and her request was to have breakfast at Baker's Sweets, Alice Drive. We arrived. I approached the young lady at the hostess stand, we greeted each other and I told her there were 3 of us to dine. She asked us to wait. We sat and we waited. A couple came in after us they were seated immediately...I must say I was surprised that we were even asked to wait, as the restaurant was looking quite scanty with lots of empty tables. We waited patiently, and we watched another couple walk in and were immediately seated. So at this point, I'm here wondering if my money wasn't good enough for this place. The first time this happened I gave them the benefit of the doubt that the people who got seated before us had a reservation...now I'm not sure what it is, but I was extremely offended that they overlooked me and my daughter on yet another visit. "Once bitten twice shy" I will never ever spend my money here again and I would advise all PEOPLE of COLOR to not ignore any signs of discrimination from this restaurant. If it feels like discrimination it probably is. I spoke with the head chef and they seemed nice and was willing to seat me immediately, but based on how I felt, I didn't even want them to handle the food I was about to eat. We left. Sad place to be in 2025. We went to Eggs Up Grill and we had the sweetest friendliest service and way better food. Bigger space too, with nice covered...

On July 12, 2025, I had one of the most disappointing and disrespectful customer service experiences I’ve ever encountered.

I stopped by to purchase a birthday dessert for my mother, only to realize after parking that I had left my wallet at home. I walked into the bakery at 6:07 PM and explained my situation to the staff. I told them I lived 15 minutes away, and even asked specifically if they'd still be open since they closed at 6:30 PM. I was reassured it was “no problem” — that they’d wait for me.

I hurried home, grabbed my wallet, and returned at 6:34 PM, just four minutes past closing — exactly as expected — only to find the doors locked. Not only that, but the same staff who told me they would wait deliberately avoided eye contact, and the person at the register had the audacity to look me in the face and simply wave his index finger left to right, dismissing me like I was an inconvenience.

I stood outside patiently for another 10 minutes, hoping someone would acknowledge me or at the very least explain what had changed. No one came out. No apology. No explanation. Nothing. Just silence and avoidance. Absolutely disgusting behavior for any business, especially one that prides itself on community and hospitality.

If the staff weren’t willing—or able—to honor their word, the bare minimum they could’ve done was come outside and say so. I wouldn’t be leaving this review if they had simply treated me with a modicum of respect.

To management: You need to seriously address how your employees treat customers. Not only did they break a promise, they did it cowardly and silently, hiding behind locked doors and pretending I wasn’t there. That kind of customer service doesn’t just lose business — it tarnishes your entire brand.

I will never step foot in this location again, and I’ll be letting others in the area know...

I go to Baker's Sweets a lot.But today's experience was awful. July 5th 2024, lunch. Never ever have I been so disappointed with how our party of seven were served Where the food came out horrible. My grandchildren 3yrs and 5 yrs were served spicey fries. My fried green tomato BLT had 3 nice size green tomatoes but 1 piece of bacon and 1/2 slice of lettuce. My son was served cold hard shrimp and grits plate that he had to cutt with a knife to eat the grits.My daughter in law was waiting for her fried chicken salad plate and didn't get it until the waitress came with check and realized she forgot it then came back and said they didn't even drop the chicken in yet. My daughter got a chicken sandwich with lettuce tomato and Swiss. It came out plain. My son inlaw ordered his burger/patty melt med rare it came out Xtra well. Among other things. I stood at the front counter ordered my coffee as I arrived, waited as she made it and placed it on the back counter where it sat for 5 min. I had to tell them at the register that it was sitting there. Many other customers were complaining too while we were waiting for our food but I thought nothing of it until I found out when we were served. We should have walked out but no. We got the check after complaining and were only compted the 18% gratuity they charge for larger parties. What#@%&! Larger party? 5 adults and 2 small kids. Our bills were still full price. Excuse, the normal cooks were off and everyone else partied the night before. Sorry Baker's Sweets. You have lost 7 customers today from us and I'm sure others. If you don't have the proper kitchen staff you should not have been...