85°C Bakery Cafe

Super friendly staff at this location at pick up. However phone conversation was a disaster. Was ordering 4 dozen egg tarts for the office and new staff who picked up had no idea what was going on. Wasn’t sure if they could do that? didnt nkow if it was possible to pick up at 7:30am and instead of stating facts she commented in question form like i’d know any better than her. Silly. I will stick to my Newark location. Egg tarts were delish and piping hot though. So good food, bad service.

I love 85 degrees, because of the variety of breads and pastries they have. However this location fell short of many of the things I like. It looked like that many of the breads were placed in two different locations just to fill up space. Also, it was a bit difficult to find as it is located in the back of the shopping complex.
However nonetheless, everything still tasted great. My favorite is the mango bun I forgot the specific name for it. The mushroom one was pretty good too! If you want a variety of bread, drinks, and cakes come here! Although it is a bit more pricey then Sheng Kee for example but the taste is worth it!

There are a few good things that makes me give 85 2 stars. The variety of baked good and the delicious drinks they make. But the other things makes this place hard for me to step into. The line for drinks is just ridiculous… no matter how slow the day is, they take forever to make your drink. The pastries always seems to be dry, even the ones with filling inside. They have a wide variety and I have yet to try them all but so far I am not impressed.

85 is now the standard for chinese/​taiwanese bakery in the area. Sheng kee has gone way down, which often happens to chain establishments over time.
Always a popular place, the lines at 85 can get long sometimes, especially if someone isnt staffing the drinks only register (like last time).
Some of the cream cheese and filled items can get pretty sweet, word of caution there.
Fyi this chain was originally focused on coffee, hence the 85deg C moniker.

Comes over here whenever possible. Compared to some modern bakeries their fares are pretty reasonably priced. What i do love is the taro latte. It’s purple and creamy and warm and sweet and heavenly and palatable and a pure delight to drink. It’s my go to drink for caffeinated beverage — other than water.
What we also love is the calamari stick which looks more like a bun. We have had discussions before with the confusing name since who would think that this spherical bread would be named a schtick… If your reading this and you know the answer, please let me know … If you dont know what the heck I am talking about it’s that black menacing bun with a white smear on top. For a dollar a piece you would bite into that calamari essence in the center thats soft and creamy. An explosion of flavor. There are also baked varieties that they offer from cakes to pastries of your picking pleasure.
I like coming here even when it’s a tad far… I never get disappointed… yet.

A friend and I were here on Friday night, the place is semi-​packed, the staff all yell «Fresh Bread» when they are bringing something out, which is awesome.
The selection is very good, and it is Friday night, and Fresh Bread keep coming out.
The staff are very friendly and helpful.
As for the goods, it is fresh and sweet.
Great place if you are in the mood for Asian bakery goods.

FRESH BREAD!!!
So obviously most of us are familiar with Asian bakeries like this (Kee-​wah, 85C, etc) so this should be no surprise to an Asian pastry novice. Typing this, I can smell the sweet scent of *employee voice* fresh bread and NEED it in my body now. The employees always yell fresh bread when fresh bread comes out of the oven just for clarification.
My boyfriend and I stopped here on a Monday around 5pm and were surprised to see a fully packed bakery. I guess we shouldn’t have been THAT excited, since Milpitas does have a high population of Asian-​Americans and is generally an amazing place. We got 5 pastries: pork floss, sugar, pineapple, cream cheese, and a tan tart. SO. GOOD! The pork floss was perfectly salty and sweet, and of course so soft. The sugar was super good, we actually saved it for breakfast the next day and it was just as good! Just keep it air tight in the bag. Super light and airy. The pineapple bun we actually didn’t eat since we left it as an offering, but I’m sure it’s delicious too. The cream cheese bun was so warm and perfect and delicious and omfg I could eat 60 of those in one sitting. So freaking good. It had melted cheese on top and sweet-​salty cream cheese in the middle. Just kill me. The tan (baked sweet egg) tart was also super yummy. Perfect sweetness level and so melt in your mouth flaky amazingness.
We also got a large sea salt iced coffee which was also delicious. They offer so many drinks from boba to coffee to all the things! They package it in normal boba type packaging. The coffee was the perfect amount of sweetness and also had such yummy foam in it omg.
So here’s the best part about this. All 5 pastries + the large coffee. Guess how much. Just guess. Do it. $ 12. TWELVE DOLLARS!!! I screamed. How freaking amazing is that, just kill me.
It’s safe to say I will without a doubt be back.

I didn’t think that 85 would vary that much between store to store. but believe me– IT DOES! Back in SD, I was on the struggle bus to fight for bread in the evening, since they stopped baking around 7 PM and closed down the shop at 9 PM. I KNOW RIGHT? THE NIGHT IS STILL YOUNG.
I came here around 9:30 PM with two others because we found out this place is opened until midnight… how much more Asian can you be than come to a bakery and eat all the delicious cakes, carbs and boba drinks in the world?!
Line was hella long for this late at night… go to bed! (Just kidding.) I’ve tried a variety of items here before, and I have to say that my favorites are:
–Marble taro /​/​Classic but it seems like they are cutting down on baking those now… so snatch those during the day time!
–Mochi bread /​/​It’s like mocha/​coffee crusted filled with delicious red bean and mochi inside. Again, only during day time/​selected dates.
–Honey bread /​/​Probably one of my recent addictions! Super sticky but I feel like Winnie the Pooh!
–Multigrain bread /​/​It looks so dry but believe me-it’s so soft and moist inside! I am in awe and ate a whole loaf of this! (oops.)
–Brioche /​/​There’s the long broiche and the puffy round one. GET THE ROUND ONE. It’s a bit caramelized on top (even better) and super fluffy and soft. MARSHMALLOW PILLOW.
Drinks:
–Frozen marble taro /​/​Whoever invented this should get a Michelin star… I hate cold drinks but this my friend, is the one I crave for when the temperature is a bit high.
I’m planning on grabbing a cake from here for my graduation… they look amazing!

1. Arrive early morning before any other customers,
2. grab fresh, warm marble taro bun,
3. smile at cashier as you pay,
4. begin consumption of said bun upon first step out of bakery,
5. walk around parking lot until entire bun and crumbs are consumed,
6. walk back in, head held high, smiling at cashier that recognizes you from 5 min ago,
7. repeat steps 2 – 7 until guilt overcomes lust for marble taro bun
This is why I’ve banned myself from coming back.

This location is terrible.
It’s a lot smaller than the Cupertino location. Too many people crammed in a small area. This place was rather hard to find. Not sure if it’s cause Google maps led me the wrong way or whatever.
There were only two people at the register with a line that wrapped around in the store. Why not open up more registers to speed up the process?! Especially since they know how tedious it is to individually wrap each bread. Its messy here too.
Anyway, I noticed a few different bread at this location, but we didn’t try any of them haha.
Inexpensive for good quality bread and pastries! But I don’t like this location. We were just curious to see the other locations. Highly likely that we won’t be returning to the Milpitas 85C.

OH MY GOODNESS I AM IN LOVE. The moment I walked into this bakery I knew it would be a fairy tale happily ever after. The deliciously warm smells of fresh baked bread wafted into my nostrils the second I stepped into the place, and in that moment, I knew I had stepped into heaven on earth. I literally ran to the trays and started piling on everything I saw. I have a huge weakness for chocolate chip bread and chocolate croissants, so the second I saw those I knew it was game over. Bought a TON of bread – enough to snack on for the next 3 days. However, I actually ended up finishing it all the next day because I just couldn’t help myself. Oops. I mean, carb loading right???
It’s kind of a good thing that this bakery is located across the country from where I live because my weight would definitely become a problem if 85 degrees was an easy drive away. In the meantime, I will be slowly counting down the days until the next time I can stumble in through those glass doors and scarf copious amounts of fluffy bread down my esophagus.

85 has slowly crept from Taiwan to SoCal and finally to the Bay Area. This location is one in a handful in the bay, though perhaps not as large as the rest of its cohort.
Taro buns: On point. Always on point.
Mini brioche: On point with perfect sweetness and delightful fluffiness.
Pineapple cake: Impulse buy, also surprisingly on point. Thin, buttery, crumbly exterior yields lots of sweet, stringy, moist interior.
Parking: not on point. 85 is in a mildly obscure location. Visit at some non-​lunch hour for the most propitious parking conditions.
Milpitas stank: not on point. Ever.

Staff here are friendly and welcoming and the location itself is big and clean. Parking can get quite difficult due to it being located inside a plaza surrounded by other restaurants but there is street parking too if you really want some baked goods.
My personal favorites here are:
milk buns
Portuguese styled egg tarts
taro bread
blueberry bread
ham and cheese bread
hot dog bread and a few more that I can’t recall
A major dislike about this place is that even though the store itself it huge, they don’t use up the space and add more shelf space for their pastries. Choices are limited to what they make that day but come on offer a bit more of a variety for your customers. Don’t come an hour before closing since by that time most of their popular ones are gone and the ones that people don’t usually get are left behind.
I haven’t tried out their drinks yet but I’ve heard great things about it. They also have beautifully decorated cakes too. So if you ever need one for a birthday or a celebration you can always come here too.

Should be a 3.5 star. The wait after 7:30 pm is just too long. It took me more than half an hour to check out and paid for my breads.
If I go right after work, the line is short, but they don’t have that many breads at that time.
The wait asides, this is a pretty big 85 degree comparatively. You can find a seat easier here compared to other locations i think. And the breads are pretty delicious. They just introduced the new bread, called the SNOW BREAD i think, which has cream filling, and the taste is just right, not too sweet.
Besides that, the EGG TART here is the best I’ve ever tasted. Note that I am not an expert in pastry.
One thing I notice is, I have not seen the CHEESE BRICK TOAST, one of my fav, here even though I have been here 4 or 5 times

Love 85 °C, but not a fan of this location.
First time I came to this spot I had the hardest time navigating it. Hidden in the back of the plaza, my GPS sent me on a mission looping around for a good 10 minutes.
Size of this spot is small and not as spacious as other 85°C’s I’ve visited. And, not sure why but they are usually sold out or running low on breads/​pastries. If you are craving something specific, most likely it won’t be here.
The last time I was here there was an issue with my son’s drink. After he paid for his order, a few minutes later, they called him up along with about 5 other people and told them they were out of boba. He didn’t want anything else to replace it so he just asked for his money back — there were 3 workers trying to figure out how to give his refund. It looked so difficult that he told them to keep the money.
And to top it off, between the foul smell of the Milpitas landfill and the gnats flying around I usually lose my appetite when I come here.
This location is not as crowded but there’s a reason why. I’d rather make the drive to the Cupertino or Newark locations. ..

I’ve reviewed multiple 85C locations already. What the hell, one more couldn’t hurt!
This place is a little bit bigger than some of the other ones I’ve been to (Irvine, Garden Grove, and San Jose stand out). It’s probably close to the same size as the one in Newark, though.
If I go to this branch, I would normally go in the morning around 7:15am, which is a little after they open. It’s usually to get a cup of Iced Sea Salt Coffee, which by the way, is different, but definitely it a good way. At this time in the morning, the pastries are limited. You will have the standard Pine Nut, Coconut Twist, and Taro Swirl available, along with the apple pie and cake rolls. You might get lucky and get a Premium Milk (my favorite) or a Boroh Danish (an unassuming piece of bread with a lightly-​sweet, crunchy topping. When warm, it is simplicity at its best! The refrigerated case is always stocked with delicious looking goodies, but in all honesty, I’ve only tried 1 or 2. What can I say, my weakness are their breads!
While the Premium Milk is my favorite (it has white chocolate in the middle!), some other must try options are: The Berrytale (love that name) which is made with blueberry and cream cheese, Choco Crumble (which might have been seasonal), Cheese Dog (one of the few «savory» breads I like here. Basically, a small hot dog wrapped in croissant dough), and the Taiwanese Boroh Danish. My wife also LOVES the egg tarts here.
For those new to the whole 85C concept, whenever pastries are brought to the front, they yell «FRESH BREAD!» It was cute the first 2 times I went there. Not so much now. But, I will say, I’m always curious to see what’s brought out whenever I hear that.

Three strikes and you’re out!
Within three visits in a one month span, they had a bunch of NOTHING on their shelves. The times of these visits were beyond the two-​hour mark before closing. What gets me is that they still had long lines. I guess everyone was thirsty at the time or ordering specialty cakes. I seldom hear them yell «fresh bread» here, compared to the other locations. And when they do, the people waiting (armed with tongs), snatch them before the tray makes the shelf.
Other folks I know say the same thing… that the selection at this 85 Degree is minimal. Sadly, this location is the closest to my home. Maybe I’ll have to go back to Cupertino or Newark to get my brioche and egg tart fix. I can always count on them!

This is my go to Asian bakery and I first discovered it in SoCal so I’m glad they expanded into the Bay Area! Tons of yummy desserts and I haven’t had anything bad here yet :). The one bad thing about this location is that it is at the BACK of the plaza so I was walking around for a little bit before I found it the first time. As soon as you get in though, you’ll hear them yell out ‘Fresh Bread!!’ every time more bread comes out. The unfortunate part is so many people seem to love 85C that the lines can be 10 – 15 min at times, and an even longer wait if you get a drink!
I would definitely recommend the marbled taro bread and premium milk if you enjoy sweet breads although the one caveat is that if you come too late in the day, they run out! They do have a decent selection of savory breads as well if you’re not feeling something sweet. The drinks are awesome especially the taro (can you tell I like taro?) and the green tea sea salt drinks as well! This is a weekly stop for myself!

An easy place to get a quick dessert fix! All the desserts looked so beautiful that it was hard to not buy it all. However, to not make my wallet cry and to not get diabetes, I decided on the matcha green tea mousse with red bean in the end. I’ll come back to try the others later.
The dessert was boxed in a cute yet functional to go box. The mousse was firm and not fluffy. It went well with the red bean paste at the bottom of the cup. Overall, pretty good, but quite expensive. I think I paid more for the presentation than anything.

It seems as though things here don’t change very much. or often. I don’t mean the pastries itself, they go out rather quickly. I mean the variety. I rarely ever see the taro bread and that’s all I really go here to pick up for my boyfriend. I’m a lot easier to please if anything chocolatey or coffee flavored is available but he only eats the taro bread and it’s never to be seen. We got lucky today and came in when some were brought out. Quickly, I ran over in heels to grab one. I honestly wish 85 had some wifi because it would then explain the amount of sitters/​squatters.
Like my last review, it takes forever for the drinks/​cakes to come out. The drinks need to be made, sure. But the other things are in display cases so I’m a little unsure why it takes a while when there is rarely that many people in line before me. I do appreciate the screams of «fresh bread «when new items are brought out. It made today’s trip slightly more delightful and cheery. That made the wait seem a lot shorter.
I can’t give any more than 2 stars as much as I’d like to for the better service, restocking of cake slices, and fully stocked up display cases but … the tables and chairs were really dirty. The chair literally had so much shed hair on it I thought someone took off their toupee or lost a weave. Keep up the progress, though, 85! I have hopes for you!