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J.J. Bakery, a Southern California Chain of Taiwanese Bakeries in Numerous Area Locations


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JJ Bakery. (Chain--tried the Arcadia location) This is a California chain that makes Taiwanese-style breads and cakes, much like Bread Corner here, but done much better. This is a good place to hangout while you wait for your text from DTF. You can also buy some breads and cakes to go. I rather enjoyed their egg tart, as the crust was a just-right flakeyness to it for me. I also enjoyed their wife cake and their taro custard bread (much later on of course) .

I've heard about the epic waits at DTF but had always been lucky with the wait (Arcadia Baldwin location) by going at slightly off times, never having to wait more than a few minutes...I guess it was a "weekend" day for most people, because the wait was already partway down the plaza. We didn't even bother to find out about the length of the wait and instead grabbed some items from JJ Bakery (it's in the same plaza).

I love DTF, and I agree with you- the XLB are the reason to go. My sister is in LA and it is a regular stop for us. We waited a long time last winter break- but we went to JJ Bakery (delicious and cheap) and then walked around the neighborhood for a bit. 

In addition a full suite of typical Taiwanese bakery items, J.J. Bakery  in Arcadia (I've only been to that location) also has a limited selection of cooked/hot breakfast/dim sum foods (at least in the morning), making it an even more attractive alternative to Din Tai Fung when the lines are too long. We've had the turnip cakes (no longer crispy on the edges if it's been sitting there a while, but otherwise quite good) and the big meat and vegetable buns (very good. I love giant buns, and the fillings are flavorful, plentiful, and not at all sketchy tasting/feeling). It's great fast food. I've also run in an grabbed bakery items before/after a DTF run many times, and they have always been good, if not particularly memorable. In case it's not obvious, they also serve hot and cold drinks, including boba drinks. The one time I got a boba tea it was perfectly fine.

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The egg tarts are indeed good, both to scarf in the parking lot and to take as gifts (cute boxes!). The swiss cake roll slices sold in the refrigerated case (they have several other versions, roll or otherwise, that are not refrigerated) have an extra dollop of sour cream in addition to the cream, to punch up the richness. Yum!

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They have hot, fluffy buns coming out at midday as well! I wandered in when the Din Tai Fung line was too long for a quick stopover (still 20 mins @ 1:30 on a weekday, sigh) to grab some goodies and was delighted when the servers let me know that a fresh batch of pork / vegetable buns (slightly under-seasoned, without a ton of filling, but tasty with cloud-light bread when fresh) was just ready. I grabbed a bunch, as well as some of the best curry beef pastries I've ever had (nicely flaky pastry, lots of filling, and strong curry flavor), and a few cake rolls. Perfect treats and driving food to beat the afternoon traffic, and the remainder kept very well until  I got home.

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One advantage JJ has over other bakeries is that the DTF wait (among other attractions) keeps business moving briskly, so the items are are constantly being refreshed (there are at least two more bakeries on the same block with little/no visible foot traffic while walking down the block, as compared to the constantly swinging door at JJ).  The downside, however, is that they are sometimes out of the things you want - no curry pastries were available during this visit :( We missed them but got some lovely pork buns, a few cake slices, and some fluffy raisin rolls instead.  A long line here also moves quite quickly, as they have several registers.

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