jilly's cupcake bar & café

*sigh*. i have been a customer of jilly's since the beginning, when you could actually walk in there and get the cupcake you went for, actually find a seat (even though there were only about 10 small tables) and serve yourself coffee refills. while i keep reading complaints about the staff, i have never once had a problem with anyone at jilly's on delmar nor at jilly's a go go. they are all friendly and have always gotten our (my best friend and i have used jilly's as our monthly ritual since it opened) food orders correct. the brisket sandwich cannot be beaten. it is absolutely amazing. i dream about that sandwich. she (my best friend) even had jilly's cupcakes at her wedding reception instead of a traditional wedding cake. they were that good.... in the beginning.

i finally had the opportunity to have brunch their yesterday, and i was quite impressed by all of the different, unique food selections available on the buffet. top notch selection. of course, i am a huuuuge fan of the brisket hash. yum. i was also pleasantly surprised by their chicken salad! i rarely ever try chicken salad anywhere because it always sucks. i live in high ridge (barely. i am 3 houses from being in st. louis county, in an upper middle class neighborhood. no wheels under the house, no meth lab in the garage, no still in the woods out back.) and i go to rock hill to get my chicken salad from straub's. until yesterday, that was the only chicken salad i would eat. jilly's is pretty darn close to being as good as straub's. jilly's also serves a caprese pasta salad that was absolutely amazing, a 6-cheese macaroni that is surprisingly flavorful but not heavy and greasy like one might assume, and a long list of other fabulous items on the brunch buffet. i would say try it if you haven't, but i don't know that i will deal with the line and the wait (even with a reservation made a week in advance) again. just not my thing. i think i am at the age where i am over buffets. i will definitely continue to go for my brisket sandwich at lunch though, make no mistake about that.

nowbackto the cupcakes. here is where i had my hopes and dreams shattered. i have been in love with just about every cupcake i have tried from jilly's. chocolate thunder being my "go to". i have always purchased 4 to take home to the kids in addition to mine, the food, etc. i spend quite a bit of money there. this last visit was just under 65.00 between the 5 cupcakes and the 2 brunches. i was super excited to try the cuban coffee that was a cupcake wars winner, and couldn't wait to crack into it. i was stuffed from the buffet, and took my cupcake home to enjoy later. unfortunately, there was nothing (aside from the coffee pipette) enjoyable about the cupcake. the icing no longer tastes like buttercream, it actually tastes like shortening. it leaves a nasty film in the mouth. i also purchased two plain yellow cupcakes with chocolate icing and a red velvet one. two of my kids couldn't wait to tear into them and literally spat out the mouthfuls of chocolate icing that they used to love soooo much. i was shocked! i immediately assumed they were both hallucinating or teaming up to trick me. so i snatched one away and slurped up a pile of the beautiful chocolate swirly mound, only to completely agree with my kids' reactions. of course i had to try the other two cupcakes immediately. i was in a panic. frenzied, even. i couldn't try the other two fast enough. i wanted them to be amazing, maybe there was just something wrong with the chocolate icing and the dry, plain yellow cake?! please?! please redeem my faith in what was once one of my few vices!! well, they didn't. i was heartbroken. the icing is not the oralgasm it used to be. not even close. the cake is no longer moist. the ganache in two of them didn't even fill half of the cavity. i don't know if jilly's has gotten too big too fast, or what the hell has happened, but i will have to find a new cupcake venue. this is now my second attempt at restoring my faith in their cupcakes, and my second costly regret. i miss the days that their cupcakes were literally heavenly. it honestly saddens my soul. i guess it's better to have loved and lost. :,(

it's a good time to be in st. louis if you have a sweet tooth. chefs are actively trying to innovate and if you've got any adventure in your palate, there are some great pastries, donuts, and now, ice cream to be had. if you had asked me what my favorite ice cream in st. louis was, it would have been the selection of house-made ice cream and sorbets at frazer's (here). jilly's has put a different twist on things and i think their offerings rank right up there. i'll definitely bebackto try the sorbet(s) as well as the sundaes (that i just now learned about looking at their menu online), so i'll see you there.

dessert. jilly's cupcake bar & cafe makes delicious and uniquely made cupcakes. a 2x winner of cupcake wars they have proven that they can hold their own and can take on anyone at anytime. put to the test already jilly's cupcake bar ranks high because the judges said so. jilly's cupcake bar is definitely on the fast track with no intentions of slowing down. displaying their skills already to the world they have shown their creativity and commitment to making cupcakes. by trying them you will not be disappointed .the cupcakes are superb and you'll be comingbackfor more.
great cupcakes! highly recommended.
aw

best brunch in st. louis. jilly's cupcakes are awesome but the sunday brunch is why i love this place so much. i've been to tons of brunch restaurants in st. louis (bevo's mill, nadoz cafe, bristols, casa gallardo, etc) and none are as good as this. it's super kids friendly - there are enough traditional items like hashbrowns, biscuits, bacon, homeade sausage, and awesome french toast (not to mention the make your own cupcakes!) and they also great assortment of the more gourmet items like the aspar...agus and walnut salad, jilly's famous chicken salad, crab dip, dragon noodles, roasted vegetables (califlower, eggplant, brussel sprouts and more), eggs benedict (made occassionally with the brisket and sometimes spinach to add a more greek flare), plus a big selections of awesome deserts (don't just stick with the cupcakes - the other desserts they make are super yummy)... i could go on and on about each of the dishes. i always go up once and get a 1 - 2 bite size serving of each dish. then i gobacka few more bites of my favorite dishes. yum!!

i also just saw the thursday supper club is startingbackup and dec 12th its mexican night! the posted the menu on thier website... it looks so good and i'm definitely going to be there.

brunch was good, service wasn't. just felt like we were in their way. we were seated at the table that everyone waiting to get a table was surrounding is and leaning on our table while we were eating. when we complained and asked to be moved they told us it would clear out and did not move us. it did clear out for about 15 min and then packedbackup. cupcake was ok not worth the trouble though.

go here for lunch!. i recently went to jilly's for brunch and loved it - have now gone for weekday lunch. delicious! my friend and i shared the chicken salad and brisket sandwiches. they were soo good! big chuncks of chicken with generous amount of mayo and perfectly tender brisket. i must gobackagain to try the bblt and was also eyeing the cuban and monte cristo. so many decisions! thanks for the good food jilly!

first time visit. i'd heard good things about jilly's, so a business associate and i met there for lunch. gumbo was exceptional, service was great, staff was very professional. we purchased cupcakes to takebackto our office for staff to enjoy. jilly's is definitely worth a return visit or two.

long line, but worth it!. we got there today (3/26) right at noon, and there was a line to the door. everyone was patiently waiting, but it was a little crowded right at the entrance. we were just buying cupcakes, one to have in the restaurant, and four to take home.the man taking the cupcake orders was super friendly. the wait was about 15 minutes to order, and then another five to pay.

we had the bee sting in the shop, and omg, it was fantastic. i had a soda, too, and noticed that it wasn't working. i let a staff member know, and she personally came to find me in thebackroom seating to let me know it was fixed oh, and the two orders in front of us ordered lunch, and it arrived while we (two adults, one child) were still sharing our one cupcake. we had great service and will comebackagain!

reservations reccomended. so this past sunday my fiance and i were celebrating our valentine's day because we both had to work the following evening. i had seen an ad about jilly's sunday brunch in st. louis magazine and it seemed like a great idea, cupcakes for breakfast! we arrived at jilly's at 11:30 on the dot which was the time of the reservation i had made two weeks prior with jilly the owner over the phone, she said that they hard;y had any reservations at that time, so i was shocked to walk in the door and find my self at thebackof a very long line at a stand-still. it was very caotic and unorganized to say the least with at least 20 to 30 people trying to cram into line for the buffet in the very tiny place, as well as walk around a magician in the middle of the mess. i decided to take action and see if i could figure out what was going on, because we had made reservations i figured i should find the hostess and let her know we had arrived. i saw a lady looking a little frantic but not distraught holding a clip board, turned out to be jilly herself, i told her i had made an 11:30 reservation and gave her my name, she immediatley blurted out that everyone there apparentley had made reservations and they were all still standing in line, so seating was really based on a first come-fisrt served, or at least seated, basis. she told me they had bicotti in the corner and we would get a table as soon as possible, yeah right. my fiance and i now a little perterbed weighed our options and decided that by time it was "our turn" to sit it would be 1:00 and neither of us would be wanting breakfast at that time. i went up to jilly again and told her she could take my name off the list, we were leaving, she barley aknowledged us, no apology or anything. jilly may know how to make cupcakes but needs alot of help in the customer service and management department. oh yeah don't forget that reservations for sunday brunch are reccomended but completly useless!

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. comesbackfinishes 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 bebackfor 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.

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 gobackthere.

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 wentbackfirst 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 gobackthere 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.