Well after 45 minutes of waiting which allowed me to eat my lunch and check my mail numerous times the Perfect Circle Cupcakery in Orange finally opened! I read yesterday on Fast Food Maven (Hi Nancy!) that they were supposed to open at 11:00 AM, I strolled up at 11:30 and the door was locked, so I went and grabbed some lunch. After I ate it was 11:50 and they said it would be another 15 minutes till they opened. After about 40 more minutes of waiting they finally opened their doors and I was lucky enough to be the first customer. The owner said she was still in the soft launch process but that they plan to be open for reals now. Service was nice, but there isn’t really much to taking my order of cupcakes and putting them neatly in a box for me to take home, but both the girls were nice that were serving.
Now on to what they have. They had 8 cupcake varieties today and all cupcakes are $3. In my opinion they are a little expensive especially since they are just normal size varieties, not the slightly larger ones that I’ve had from some other cupcake shops.
Today’s flavors were…
Sweet Joe, which looks like a apple crumb with a little bit of powered sugar on top.
Old Towne Orange, topped with a orange slice.
Princess Vanilla, white on white.
Coconut Bliss
Queen Red Velvet, red cake with cream cheese frosting (not filled, just topped).
Snickerdoodle
King Chocolate, white on chocolate
Vanilla Peppermint, unsure what they look like because they were still being worked on.
I ordered 6 (2 Red, 2 King, 1 Old Towne, and 1 Snicker) to go and ate one of the Red Velvets, which was good. The frosting was just sweet enough to not be too overpowering the cake was not dry and not too moist, it was just about perfect. I’ll add more later to see what everyone else thinks of them tonight.
The store has a nice look to it, decorated with pastel blue walls, black and white accents, a flat screen playing Breakfast at Tiffanys and enough seating for about 12 or so people.
No star review since they just opened.
Perfect Circle Cupcakery
165 N. Glassell
Orange, CA
714-997-CAKE
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{ 26 comments }
Nice review, its tricky opening a new place, I’m glad they are finally getting thier show on the road.
I for one look forward to stopping by sometime next week to check it out, hope they are close to a coffee place. Would be nice to grab a cup, get red velvet cupcake and people watch in the circle.
They actually have some coffee there. But if you want coffee somewhere else, The Filling Station serves some good coffee and are open from 7-3 everyday. Other then that there is Cafe De Luca closer to the circle, and two Starbucks at the Circle.
FINALLY it opened. I live literally down the street and walk by it all the time, and have been waiting since the spring, when a banner inside read “Coming Summer 2008.”
Checking it out today. Thanks for being the first!
Finally went by yesterday, I was there checking out the shops and decided to also try a bit later the sushi place next door (my review in Yelp) I walked in about 3:30ish, there were maybe 6 cupcakes left in the case. Seeing at least that many people in line ahead of me I did the math and didn’t stay but this was my observation.
1) Staff semi-friendly
2) Stocked inadequately
3) Product too small to warrant the price
4) I seriously doubt I will go back
Sorry, wanted to be excited about this place, I live in Orange and want to see the OC Circle retailers do well, but I don’t know…….did notice up and coming Fro-yo and hotdog places coming, love a good dog…..I’ll be back!
I stopped by today and was not impressed with the cupcake but the girl was friendly. So far 2 out of the 4 I ate were a little dry. If it's not a moist cupcake I'm not happy. Even though it's close to home, I won't be going back…I'm sad to say.
Dan, do you know what their hours are?
@Val: You know, I’m not really sure, especially since they never seem to open when they are supposed to. My understanding is they are open at 11 AM, but from what I’ve read they close when they run out… Your miles may vary. Let us know what you discover when you go!
I went on opening day and was pleased. I’m an interior design student, so I definitely loved the design. They were out of some cupcake flavors by the time we got there (I really wanted to try the red velvet!) so we tried the Snickerdoodle, the orange one and the chocolate. All were really good and I especially loved the orange one! I will definitely be back.
P.S. There are two Starbucks locations at the circle and there are two other coffee shops on Glassell just north of the circle within walking distance — Chapman Coffee and The Ugly Mug.
I think this place is going to have a difficult time. Been to all of the others and I am sorry to say that in my opinion this product does not measure up. Nice decor, cupcakes way to small compared to competitors. Quality is just not there and I hope I am wrong but telling it like I have experienced it in my travels to other cupcake places. the few comments I have heard have focused on the size, the very sweet frosting and not real good cake under the frosting.
I thought that their cupcakes were absolutely AMAZING!!! The price is resonable considering how wonderful they taste! The owner told me that their “grand” opening is on February 1st. This explains why they aren’t open at 11 like they should be. On February 1st, their hours will be 11-8. I will definitely be visiting again sometime soon!!!
It’s a little expensive…but cupcakes are definitely my weakness
Sounds good but photos of their finished products would be a good idea. Coconut Bliss sounds yum!
@Vic: Oh, there are, I just upgraded something and didn’t realize I had to upgrade my database, the finished product pictures are back!
One wonders what will happen after the opening buzz wears off and people start realizing that $3 for a normal size cupcake isn’t worth it. I hope they can change for the better.
Thanks for adding us as a friend on Foodbuzz. We welcome you to come visit our site!
My 3 girls and I (11,11 and 15) visited the circle for the first time last Sat and we loved it. We strolled in to the Cupcakery about 3:30 only a few cakes left but we tried Red velvet, snikerdoodle and coconut bliss. The cakes were good but the frosting was amazing. NOT too sweet, really creamy and yummy. We are on our way back today for the grand opening. I wish they had better coffee.
The cupcakes are $3 because they’re made fresh every morning by hand…the cake, frosting, and even the little design on top..all by hand…this is also why they don’t always have what you want because they bake them as soon as they start to run low…i think these reviews are inadequate and aren’t looking outside the box.
it’s sad how people can be so picky and ignorant.
Terrible, terrible customer service from the counter staff to the owner. Doesn’t matter the taste or cost of the cupcakes – this place is going to fail if they don’t treat their customers better.
Taste is subjective.
Customer experiences are perhaps less subjective. My experiences in 3 visits have not been terrible but also have not been especially grand either. It appears to me that the girls working the counter have not been trained very well.
As far as variety and inventory. A slippery slope to be sure. Tough to control. If there is consistently not enough then how many people are not going to come back? If there are a ton left over that is an expense problem. One thing for sure though is that if people cannot find a reasonable inventory of product when they walk in then things are not going to go well. I mean, its a cupcake shop and you must have product out there. I stop by every once in a while. The last two stops I saw very little available and left. Would I make a special trip just see if they had product? Not likely.
Every bakery has stales or product left over, its part of the business. If you tell me there are only 3 or 4 cupcakes left over each day then it is for certain that customers have been lost.
I think it is a nice looking and comfortable shop. I don’t think there has been much or very good training of employees. I think the amount of product available is an issue. The quality assessment is an individual thing. We have all seen places with such outstanding food that customers will often overlook poorly trained and somewhat rude employees (speaking in general here). Then we have seen places with such poor food that nothing can save them. Everything else in-between is a personal judgment area. In the final analysis, is the business growing? Is anybody from the business making an effort to talk to customers to get feedback? If so, are they assuming all compliments are accurate and all criticism is meritless? Criticism can be very beneficial. Compliments are nice and make you feel good. As proprietor I would want to know of all critical comments. I would analyze every critical comment to see if there is a pattern, something I should seriously think about, something I should change and to dismiss the absurd. Of course, if we dismiss 90% of the critical comments as absurd then there is another problem which might be objectivity.
My negative comments regarding customer service stems from my experience this past weekend. I placed an order for a baby shower. Placing the order was a challenge as the staff member was unable to provide a menu of cupcake/frosting choices, was unwilling to supply me with ideas, and (as I wrote in my Yelp review) simply stood there shrugging her shoulders. My ultimate complaint is with the final product. I paid for classy white cardboard boxes for each cupcake and they arrived in tacky, plastic cartons that were too small and consequently squished the top of each cupcake. After a lot jawing with the owner and her litany of excuses she finally agreed to refund me the cost difference between the plastic and cardboard boxes. Only to call me back and insist I split the cost of the refund with her as she needs to pay her staff. As i said – terrible customer service. This owner lost a large new customer base due to her and her staff’s lousy attitude.
I have been to The Perfect Circle several times because I happen to love Cupcakes. I really like the Princess (Vanilla/Vanilla). My husband LOVES the Sweet Joe, which is a coffee cake cupcake with no frosting. I have tried other flavors that I also like. My one negative comment is that they just don’t focus on customer service. The staff has been friendly, but I don’t get a friendly feeling from the owner. My friend had to ask if they use Canola Oil because she has allergies and the owner was very short with her answer. she just doesn’t seem like a people person. It honestly seems like they don’t NEED to business to succeed. I hear that the building is owned by family, so they don’t have high overhead. This is a rumor that I can’t confirm, but it explains why the owners are so casual about closing early and not being open when they say they will be. This weekend there was a HUGE car show in the circle that started in the A.M., there was a sign on the door saying that they would be open from 12-3. Then when they DID open they put a table outside with cupcakes on it and didn’t let people go inside. They should have been open by 10 AM and they should have invited people in to enjoy the air conditioning & beautiful decor because it was 95 degrees outside. No business sense.
@Mimi: I was at the car show also on Sunday and I was pleasantly surprised to see the cupcakery open as they are normally closed on Sundays. I actually got a chance to speak to the owner. I asked her why they are not open Sundays and she informed me that the entire shop attends church with their familys. She was very friendly when I spoke to her. I hope to see the business succeed because I LOVE the cupcakes and I have heard nothing but good things from my friends and family. Plus it’s a great asset to downtown Orange. At the end of the day, all I really care about is that the cupcakes are great!
Unfortunately I don’t have any knowledge of how good or bad the cupcakes may be, because every time I go to the Circle this shop is CLOSED!! Times are tough right now- I don’t get not doing all you can to make money & help your business succeed! I was in the Circle today to spend time and shop with my mother- as were countless other families on Mother’s Day and again the shop was closed. Just in the time that I passed the store there had to be 4-6 other groups that stopped and looked inside & seemed disappointed that the shop was closed. Seems to me that a day like today would’ve have been a perfect day to make new customers…but from the above postings maybe success is not a goal? Honestly, I hope the owners did not invest too much money, as I don’t see the store lasting too long…again I am just a one time potential customer that is disappointed in someone’s lack of business sense. BTW, I understand Sunday’s are a family day & lots of families do go to church (like the big one that is directly across the street that has lots of people, ie potential customers… on the street in front of the shop,socializing after services)but i also know that there are church services all different times of day.
I love a good cupcake, especially orange. Orange everything for me, HA. Your pictures make me want one! Thanks, Shelly B
The cupcakes are mediocre IMO. It’s great that they bake them each morning, but that’s not exactly some new and innovative things, being that 99% of bakeries out there do the same thing.
What really stands out for me is the horrendous service. The staff range from clueless to apathetic and the owner is flat out rude. The only times I’ve seen a business get away with that kind of attitude is when their products are mind-blowingly good, and the cupcakes here are definitely NOT that.
For all those complaints about them not being open on Sundays. I saw a sign in the window this past week that they are now open on Sundays from 12PM – 5 PM!
I find the place lovely. I've been in twice this week and had two different people serve me. They were helpful, friendly and pleasant. The cupcakes I've tasted were wonderful. I haven't tried them all yet, but I seem to keep coming back for the Cookies and Cream cupcake… yummy!
Now that the cupcakery has been open for awhile, I think everyone needs a return visit. You will have a good time and a great cupcake.
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