jilly's cupcake bar & café

not impressed. i had been looking forward to lunch at jilly's all week, we had planned a girls lunch my 2 daughter's, granddaughter and my son's girlfriend. upon entering a very crowded jilly's thinking, well the food must be good, and it was. the service and available seating not! first you go to one side of a table or the other depending on your ordering lunch or just a cupcake. then wait for the girl to take your order, turn your head for a second and poof she's gone. comes back finishes the order hands us our cupcakes and a number on a stick and off we go into limbo...standing there with a cupcake, a drink and this stick. well this is when we find out that oh yeah there is no place to sit. there are 6 of us, standing there trying to dodge people. looking into this tiny area they have tables all the same size. so whether you were a couple of people or a large group you sat (if you were lucky) at the same size table. well i huess they tired of us being in the way, and listening to us complain. they set us up at these spinning tables what a novel idea lets put 6 people at thes tiny little spinning tables, did i mention we were right where people come in and my daughter spent her time being bumped into by everyone who came in. well remember i said i had that stick with the number...i don't know why because it had no purpose. see they don't understand you have to let the kitchen people know what order goes to what number!!! the guy just walked around with food and you pretty much had 'guess your order!' what a lovely little game to play at these spinning tables. here's a suggestion. a. get more tables b. have them set up so that there are tables for 2 and tables for different size groups. not all tables for 5!!! then you have one old bitty sitting there at this large table all by herself while the 6 of of juggled food. ridiculous!! needless to say next time i'll go to breadco...and come home and make my own cupcakes, as for the cupcakes ...they were ok nothing to drive from eureka to universtiy city for thats for sure.

wonderful bakery-wonderful people!!. my family and i stopped by jilly's this past tuesday. impressive!! i had been in before and this was the first time i had brought our family to endulge. we were all able to find our favorite flavors and everyone absolutely loved it! the staff were super polite and we even chatted with jilly herself.
great atmosphere and top notch food. jilly's is the best bakery around!
we will be back for sure-i don't mind the drive from saint peters and for anyone who is wondering about jilly's--come out and try it! you won't be disappointed.

best cupcakes around!. whether you want something seasonal (pumpkin pie cupcake, caramel apple cupcake) or orginial (reeses, oreo, birthday cake, lemon, chocolate thunder) or downright unique (maple bacon cupcake), jilly's has an enormous cupcake with unreal frosting for everyone. not only are they gorgeous but they taste extra delicious and could make a great treat to share or devour by ones self or take as a pretty gift! the decor inside creates a creative setting, and i would also strongly suggest getting a sandwich, salad or the delicious strata they had prepared for brunch. a favorite place of mine! also, if you ever want to meet before going to the airport, this is a great "on the way" place.

bad customer service. the cupcakes are okay but you can make the same at home. also the costumer service is horrible from managers not the cashiers. they kept pushing me over since i look young and have a young voice. they would not help me with having an event there. i called five times and emailed a manager. we chose another cupcake bar and do not miss having it there. hopefully they will learn to treat their customers a little better than they do.

rudeness is us. a friend of mine and i visited jilly's last week. suffice it to say it was neither of our more pleasant recent experiences.
the one positive i can cite is that the cupcake we had, while not remotely outstanding, was pretty good. the coffee was weak and tasteless. i had first asked for an americano but was told the barista was gone.

while this is clearly a matter of taste, my friend and i found the ambience awful. the walls are covered in a glaring white formica-like material decorated with round red circles. the light in the place is harsh and the room has the feel of either a garish ice cream parlor or a room at a day care center. but those walls do convey noise. sound bounces off them like pinballs and, even though there were few people in the place, it was so loud that my friend, who was right next to me, and i were unable to carry on a conversation.

but the worst part of our experience was the attitude of an older woman who seemed to be in charge. her demeanor was sour and when i walked in she kind of grunted. she seemed resentful that i had walked in necessitating her getting up and doing something. her tone of voice seemed to indicate that she felt she was doing me a favor. i was not alone, as i saw her treat another customer the same way, and she actually poked her finger right in my friend's face while pointing out to her subordinate who was next. they were making fresh coffee, which i appreciate, but while i was sitting there waiting she called me up and said i owed her $1.90. she was perfunctory at best and i couldn't understand why i couldn't wait till i had the coffee to pay them.

bottom line, this woman is rude and unfriendly and either doesn't know how to talk to people or doesn't care. our visit had all the charm of a trip to the dmv, and i will never go back there.

perfect cupcake bar!. my friend and i had made a foodie trip to stl this past weekend and we checked out a couple of different cupcake shops, this was by far my favorite! the atmosphere was simply adorable and perfect for cupcakes. i had the rainbor sherbet, and it was so freaking amazing!!! colorful, delicious...everything a cupcake should be! thank you jilly's i've told all my stl friends about you!!!

an update to "terrible!!!!!!!". first, i would like to let everyone know, that i have spoken to an assistant manager as well as the owner, jilly.

here is what i posted to my facebook account after speaking with the assistant manager:

"resolution!!! called today to speak with a manager or owner (it was not jilly who we had been talking to!) and got some resolution. we explained our entire experience, from ashley's first trip from st. charles with the baby to clayton, only to be told they were too busy and it was an empty store, to the 1/2 dozen falling apart gourmet specialty ... see morecupcakes, the head designer's "offense," to the 2 dozen non-filled but paid for filling cupcakes. the person i spoke to was appropriately mollified, and apologized profusely. simply put, that is what we wanted. just to be acknowledged. i'm a bit more tempered in my disappointment for the store, although it may be some time (if ever) i want to do business with them again. i still can't get over the audacity of that woman saying she was offended!"

and most recently, a message i received from jill, the actual owner of jilly's:

jennifer, my name is jill and i am the owner of jilly's cupcake bar ...please know, i am not the person that you spoke to on the phone, that person was the one who made those cupcakes that fell apart and was appalled (at her own skills?) imagine my surprise when i was viewing different websites this morning and nearly threw-up when i read your review. after finding out the details from other staff members, let me say that i am so sorry. sorry that a person that i employed had the guts and b---- to be so unbelievably rude, self important and just plain stupid. i had no idea about this incident until this morning. that person no longer works at jilly's (as of last week) but ultimately it is my fault, i am responsible for the people that work for me.

i have learned a valuable lesson, if your employee seems too arrogant,...do something about it before something like this happens! regardless of whether you forgive us (me) or not, and i can understand completely you never, ever coming into our store again.

i am truly sorry and i will have my bookkeeper find your receipt and refund your entire bill, please check with your bank in 24 hours.

i opened jilly's because i really like people and have loved this business most of the time, but your situation makes me sick and again i am sorry that the cupcakes were not perfect, or even close to perfect for your sister's event and that a company is only as good as each of our team members....

my sincere regrets, jill


***i think the fact that she took it upon herself to reach out and contact me, speaks volumes. this is obviously a person who took a big chance opening a business doing something she loved, only to see it tainted by unprofessional employees. i respect her for owning up to the situation, and her sincerity.


-----03 may, 2010-----

terrible!!!!!!!. terrible customer service!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
yes, you got me right, terrible customer service! my sister-in-law and i were planning a baby shower, and decided to use jilly's for the cupcakes. she lives in st. charles, so she tried calling the store several times, but no answer. so, she packed up her 14 month old and drove out to clayton...about a 30+ minute drive. she got there at 10:30 in the morning, 10:30, and the rude service staff said "i'm sorry, i can't take your cupcake order now. it is too close to our lunch hour rush." now, i could understand that if it was 11 am, there were people in the store (the place was empty!!!!) and the girl didn't take five minutes explaining why she couldn't take the order, when during that amount of time she could have taken the flipping order!!!!

that being said, my sister-in-law is much more accommodating than me, so she left and again packed up her 14 month old for another day. she went back first thing at 9, placed her order, and things were kosher.

so we thought. the day of the shower, we picked up our order of 2 1/2 dozen cupcakes, (2 dozen filled 'regular' cupcakes and 1/2 dozen 'gourmet' decorated cupcakes). following the directions to keep them out of the sun and in a cool environment, we thought the cupcakes looked great. then, one by one, the ears from the monkey cupcakes (the 'gourmet') began to fall off. not once, but at least 2 or 3 times each.

we called jilly's. at $5.25 a freaking cupcake, the freaking things should not be falling apart!!!!!!!!

now, you think any smart, intuitive owner would say "i'm so sorry this has happened. i will take $1 off each cupcake" or "come in for a free lunch" or something, right?????

wrong!!! the woman had the nerve to tell us she was offended?????? i'm sorry, you're offended???? we paid almost $6 for your falling apart cupcakes, and your offended???? i'm offended by your rudeness, lack of customer service, and the fact that you charge $6 a cupcake. (our bill was over $140, you'd think she would be appreciative!!!!)

oh, and the "filled" cupcakes were plain. and we paid extra for the filling.

i will never go back there and will tell every friend, co-worker, family member, associate and stranger how terrible the service of this place is!!!! not only that, but i have told all 460+ facebook friends, my sister-in-law has as well, we have posted it on our twitter accounts, and now yelp!

terrible service!!!!!!! decent cupcakes, but way too rude.

gross cupcakes. yes, i said it, and i never thought i would use those two words together. don't waste your time on this place. the cupcakes look kind of grotesque, and taste like burnt sugar. and the decor is dated! if you are looking for a 1998 time warp with bad food, this place is for you.

i miss these!. fact: these cupcakes are pricey.

however, they are quite large. you can (and probably should unless you frequent the gym) split one in half and share with a friend or save half for later. thus, the price is fair. so let's stop whining about the price.

bee sting and jilly on the beach are the most fantastic cupcakes i've ever eaten. i left stl several months ago, and i still dream about these. also, i should note that i'm a chocolate girl. i've tried several of the chocolatey cupcakes here, but they're just not as good. good, but not blow-my-mind good like bee sting and jotb.

jilly’s cupcake bar is a very distinct eatery with a surprising menu. when i made my voyage to jilly’s, let’s face it, i was going for the cupcakes. i was pleasantly surprised to find that their menu includes a wonderful selection for lunch and brunch, mo

probably the best french onion soup i've ever had. and the cupcakes are the best deserts in st. louis.

yummy yummy!. anytime we have out of town visitors, we take them to jilly's. the chocolate thunder and red velvet are my favorite. never a bad experience!

i'll bake my own, next time...". i was expecting some out of body experience for the price i paid for 3 different cupcakes, especially for the small size. i was not impressed by any of them. they were raving about the icing, which i thought the texture of one to be kind of mealy. the concept is good, the product (for the price and size) just needs work.