cake decorator

barista

bakery assistant

bakery manager

shift leader

85C Bakery Cafe

Each store varies depending on what kind of people are your management team, so some are nice and some are very strict. Workload isn't too hard if you remain as a storefront associate- you won't be asked to do more than you should, only expected to come into your scheduled shift. 

I will say that being shift lead or higher does teach you more that can benefit into non-food service jobs if you're looking to do corporate work. An example include adapting to work specified programs to fulfil shipment orders. 

Headquarters will expect each and every position to go above and beyond of what is asked. Secret shoppers exist in this job and you're expected to keep your store as clean as possible, full of bread and cake as possible, working really fast despite how busy your store gets, and kissing up to each and every single customer as if they have a Karen status. 

Company has a very high employee turn over rate. A lot of people quit because of management and HQ itself. Shift leads and above have to take on most of the workload as part of the policy. Hence why I urge any new 85 workers to stay as storefront only and get that paycheck. Work however many hours you want / need as storefront associate is more flexible. Benefits only apply if you work 30+ hours which is the downside of it if you want work-life-school balance but also need insurance coverage. 

If you want to be in a shift lead position and climb the ladder, just be prepared to: 
- Physically go into HQ to take a servsafe management course + taking the test same day and knowing your results too if you wasted hours of life to only find out if you failed or passed. 
- You will be held responsible to Open or Close. 
- You won't be paid the amount that position gives right away until after 1 YEAR of working as that position. 
- There is an age requirement minimum of 21 years old to even be in part of management team. 


DON'T BE A BAKER if you can't come in super early in the morning like at least 2AM - 3AM  and can't finish baking bread at a designated time. 
DON'T BE A CAKE DECORATER either if you can't finish cakes at a designated time. 
Cake and Bread are time sensitive work and need to be finished before the end of your shift. 

I generally do like the co-workers I'm with because we're all chill with each other. Although I am in shift lead position, I don't micromanage over them since some of them they have been working at the company longer than I have and generally know what to do already. I also try to encourage new workers to work/think independently so that they don't have to constantly hear me telling them what to do and they can just jump right in and not dread their shift / dislike me and not want to work on my shifts. 

I do regret working as a shift lead because it's forcing me to work almost full time as well as being a full time student at the same time. 


85c Bakery Cafe is a good first job. It is organized, has different departments so there's lots to learn in the beginning, and the large customer flow makes it less boring than other minimum wage job.

Pros: Lots of co-workers who are college age so it's pretty fun.
Scheduling is flexible and you can change your availability whenever you'd like to. It's also easy to swap shifts with coworkers. The bakery itself is popular and has a lot of delicious treats to enjoy, last time I worked there we were allowed two pieces of bread for lunch. You get certain teas for free as long as your bring your own cup. There's different stations: bread, cake, cashier, and bar so there's lot to learn. Since 85c is expanding rapidly, there are opportunities for growth.

Cons: 
Scheduling- Although the benefit of scheduling is flexible, because 85 has a large operating time (my store was from 6:30 A.M. - 11 P.M. on weekdays), it will really mess up your circadian rhythm. One day you might be scheduled to open at 6 A.M., the next day you need to close and stay past midnight. Eventually you'll get used to it, but I still had a hard time, even after a year. In addition, management may try to make you leave earlier than scheduled to save labor costs, which makes it difficult for those who depend on those hours to get by.

Fast-paced environment: The work environment can become very stressful because many times the store is under-staffed, so you have to work VERY fast to compensate, especially if on bar. Management will keep pushing you to work faster. You can't really rest. You always have to refilling something or cleaning, and management makes sure you do.  If you do not have much strength/stamina, this is not a job for you. This part of the job really got to me and I found myself not being able to enjoy work because I was physically exhausted. 

Repetitive work: This is a given for the food industry, but after you learn all the stations and do not desire to be in a leadership position, it can get boring pretty quickly. 

Management: Since 85c bakery is expanding rapidly, depending on the store the staff may be on the less professional side due to younger employees. Some may think some managers play favorites but that's a problem anywhere you go. Just work hard and be a good communicator and management will notice.

Recommendation:
I recommend this job for college students who are interested in learning bakery or cafe operations. It's better as a part-time position because the physical demands. However, since you do not receive tip, think twice if it is really worth it to work here over a waitressing job, if money is more important. 
The main goal is for experience and/or moving up in the company. 

Tips if you get the job: It's always better to ask before you do something than not. Don't assume. Also, each manager has a preference so you must learn how to adjust your work style accordingly. Cleanliness is key. 
I hope this review helped.

A nice standard entry level job, hires a lot of college students so management is usually respectful of varying schedules. High turnover, expect to be understaffed frequently.

Day to day environment depends purely on business of store, can be really stressful one shift and relaxing the next. Associates are expected to learn all stations and are often trusted to be left alone with supervisory guidance.
As an associate, it is a pretty standard food service job. You're trained for about 3-4 weeks and then expected to be able to handle working independently in your assigned spot even when it is busy. Being used to a fast-paced environment is a big plus.
Training I think can be better, since the nature of the company being understaffed means that the proper attention to new employees isn't always given. I've seen new associates who learn slower than others just thrown into a spot for months and not trained further. 

One very positive thing I can highlight is that the overall coworker culture can be very good! General conversations and cracking jokes is allowed as long as work gets done efficiently and you're still attentive to the customers. Most shifts can have a positive environment with a lot of laughs. This is not really a kind of work environment where you can just put your head down and not get to know your coworkers.
The company in general isn't too stoic, it all depends on if you're store is performing at a good level.

Management-side is where there's a lot of negatives. What your management team is is the make or break, noticed each store varies greatly in strictness and where associates are stationed. Favoritism is rampant in the company, and upward mobility in promotions is dependant on certain people liking you. Also, promotions are few and sporadic at best, with promotions often not being well planned out, causing bad blood amongst management.
Shift lead work is chaotic, and duties are often expanded to do work that "isn't in your pay-grade" that you are expected to do without complaint. Due to high turnover, management take the brunt of filling in the manpower with understaffement issues in all departments. You are often left with many of the same duties that a higher position, but with less pay. Also, be aware no paid training when you are given a promotion, leaving months with doing more work and less pay. This period is rough in the company, a lot of promotees quit during this.

Overall, not too bad and definitely not as stressful as other fast-paced companies. As long as you aren't management, and have good customer service skills, should be a good fit for part timers who don't mind being flexible on daily duties.

When I started working here in 2017, things were okay. I was working at a new location in and management seemed to be alright. 
My store manager worked as hard as anyone else if not harder and that really sparked good morale across the team.

Though, once we got new management from Southern California, things took a turn for the worse. 

Management there had the impression that their way was the right and only way.  This caused high turn over at all stores across the board in Nor Cal. Store manangers we’re quitting left and right because this new management left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth. 

The new Regional Manager from So Cal was pompous. Never said hi to any of the staff as he arrived, only the manager. He brought in new store managers and we watched as those stores ultimately failed as well.

He managed to take a store from a successful manager after they had opened it and give it to one of his managers soon after they saw the location was doing well. What happened? Crashed and burned. 

Corporate in this company is a huge mess. Always sending out important things at the last minute. Sometimes we would find something else out from the APP and not an official statement from corporate. CONSTANTLY changing routines and recipes. This never gave us enough time to cope with anything! 

The trainers with the exception of maybe one or two were HORRENDOUS. Arrogant, rude, and cocky. Do not treat associates and managers like they’re incapable of learning the items that you’re introducing. Please be more respectful.

The customers at all of these locations are just rude. The company does nothing to call them out on it. You’re just expected to be verbally abused day in and day out. I know customers can be rude at any store, any company, but I’ve worked multiple retail jobs and this one takes the cake. 

Though I will say the best part about this job was my team. Everyone got along very well and it made working there so much fun despite all the stress.

If you want to keep your sanity, stay away from this company at all costs.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Introverts who like to do individual work in a fast-paced environment. Free tea and two breads during shift. Prior experience with barista or food industry would be helpful. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
They make this a requirement to have only one barista and one cashier so even during morning rush hours it’s stressful and they don’t even prioritize the customers who are waiting in long lines. They don’t train you well and expect you to learn along the way or know everything after a few days which is highly stressful if you had no prior experience - no one takes their time to actually teach you and they start getting frustrated if you do stuff wrong. Favoritism - They tell you (as a new employee) that you can’t do certain things yet other workers can. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Fast-paced environment especially during morning rush hours as a barista/cashier however it feels like time goes by fast for 8hour shifts. Individual work majority of the time. Everyone does their own thing and coworkers barely try to make conversation with you. Company does not prioritize customers. Management is not organized in training new employees and they are very straightforward in telling you what you are only doing wrong/not acceptable. Strict on dress code. Workers are here to do the job and leave. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Come to work and do your assigned job. The only interactions that exist is between you and the customers and the workers telling you when to take your breaks or leave.

The job itself is genuinely enjoyable—it’s fast-paced, which makes the time go by quickly, and there’s always something to do. If you like staying busy and being hands-on, this part of the job can be fun. Scheduling is also pretty flexible, which is a big plus if you need work that fits around your life.

That said, the work environment is very toxic. Upper management is extremely controlling and often talks down to staff. There’s a clear lack of support and a culture of intimidation rather than encouragement. As you move up, things only get worse—favoritism is common, and decisions often feel more personal than professional.

There’s also a lot of gossip and drama among coworkers. People tend to form cliques, and if you don’t agree with certain managers or coworkers, you’re quickly pushed out. Accountability is low—many people don’t carry their own weight, and if you ask for help or try to address something, it often gets twisted, and they go straight to management to make it seem like you’re the problem.

What makes it worse is the surveillance culture. People constantly take pictures of everything and report every little move you make. It feels like you’re being watched more than supported, and it creates a very tense, distrustful atmosphere.

On top of that, customers can be extremely rude and demanding, which only adds to the stress.

If you’re looking for something fast-paced with flexible hours and can keep your head down, it might be manageable. But if you value a healthy work culture, this place can take a real toll on your mental well-being.

Worked at 85c a bit too long for my expectations because the job is so easy. Easy to get stuck in a rut here. Favoritism and BASIC knowledge of the job is what gets employees promoted so be nice to your supervisors and pretend you know what you're doing on a day to day basis. Seriously, most people take a test to become a shift lead, supervisor or manager, and most of them pass if they make their testing official laugh or feel good about themselves throughout the test. Upper management and corporate are the typical corporate folks and only care about sales numbers so once you're promoted make sure you either keep the status quo or improve on their dismal sales goals to get a shout out in their internal messaging system and get you noticed. That is with any company though so nothing new there. If you have a life outside of 85, it better consist of your coworkers because that is the company culture. They all hang out together and if you don't fit in, you wont move up. The best part of the job is the coworkers that share the same opinion of the company as you. Also, clocking out and putting your final notice in is a great feeling. Everyone agrees with that whether it is corporate or a regular associate, and that should tell you all you need to know about 85. Their motto is something about leading through the example of indentured servitude or something like that. Good luck!

The job is generally fine and it’s a typical barista job overall. Yes it sucks but it’s what you sign up for, and it’s very doable. The rules are extremely inconsistent, nobody tells you when they change and you are expected to know anyways. You can get written up for things you were never told about, or chewed out for random new rules that were decided that day e.g., requiring no ice drinks to be shaken, then changing some drinks to not shake them, then changing it back, all without communication to any of the employees. Rules also have no reasons at all most of the time, such as not being allowed to take home your two free breads when it was never an established rule beforehand.  Rules are extremely strict and enforcement becomes  personal, which is just generally unprofessional. Management doesn’t understand mental health, they all genuinely hate their lives and get mad when you want to enjoy your life. I recommend the job if you plan on being there temporarily, but don’t apply if you want to be there as long as a year or more. If you are a person who is fine with sucking up to your superiors, you’ll probably be alright, albeit still miserable. TLDR; it’s a doable job, but communication and treatment makes everyone unanimously miserable. 

This is no good place to work at due to 4 out of 5 managers having been conceited & thinking they're always correct while not giving you any packet/sheets w/ the rules & still penalizing you with warning if you unknowingly break certain rules. Everyone begins on 3 month probationary period in which they first claim you won't be judged/pushed for not working too fast but then they still do, & in fact a transferred employee told me about an elderly man in a different location who works a bit slow even though still at best possible, yet here, you get bullied at least mildly if your fastest possible can't reach their "expectation". Also, they mention they will point out at errors if they notice any such as if you accidentally say or talk in a way that isn't okay yet they don't. 1.5 wks after having been given a warning for unknowingly breaking a rule, they fired me, I asked on HotSchedules that I wanted to know the reason for termination & if they'll keep me from finding a new job if I include this job on the resume & application, & the messaging tab was deleted soon after. I tried posting a more detailed description of their altercations but either it wasn't posted or they lied to Indeed that it was misinformation, which websites tend to blindly believe managers more than others without investigation.

You can expect to be busy all the time. The customer demographic in regards to how they interact with workers is rude, impatient, lack empathy and very hard to work with. You are expected to know every role in the store (5 different front of the house roles) as just a store associate (the lowest position). Always understaffed so stress is very high. I learned the importance of team work/support through the lack of it. Management was bad. Very micromanaging and positive feedback was never given. Always focused on negative or what can be improved. For the 5 different store associate roles, you were tested before you can even work the role. You had to memorize recipes, sequences, ingredients, processes, and more. If you failed the test (getting more than 3 wrong), you had to retake the test while off the clock. They want you to memorize and know everything rather than have a reference sheet at stations. It was very discouraging. Workplace culture was very structured. Uniforms and image were top priority and not provided. I don't remember one day I, or any of my coworkers, weren't stressed. The hardest part of the job was the lack of support. We were expected to work on our own and when you ask for support, they look down on you for not being able to man your station by yourself. There was not one enjoyable part of the job.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Cake decorator 224 salaries reported	$18.81 per hour
Barista 259 salaries reported	$18.21 per hour
Bakery assistant 164 salaries reported	$17.78 per hour
Bakery manager 78 salaries reported	$22.24 per hour
Shift leader 97 salaries reported	$19.47 per hour

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