The LBCC Bakery had a rough start when it opened on Sept. 21 as several issues slowed down the students running the show.
One of two student-run eatery’s on the Liberal Arts Campus, The bakery serves as an opportunity for LBCC’s culinary arts students to obtain experience in a real-world service position, providing the campus with drinks, pastries, and now lunch, at an affordable rate.
Even before the bakery had opened, customers had begun making their way inside, eager to be the first to order.
Bakery staff were courteous, fielding questions from customers until business officially began.
It didn’t take long for the line to grow, a steady flow of customers including staff coming in as 9 a.m. wore on. It seemed with every passing minute a new cluster of people would enter the fray.
New staff seemed to have a difficult day ahead of them, as multiple small issues hindered their ability to efficiently serve customers.
For one, the chip reader didn’t seem to be working, a minor inconvenience exacerbated only by the sheer number of customers the cashier would now have to manually swipe a card for the coming hours.
Unlike previous semesters,the bakery has extended hours now from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Another issue was that the pastry case had not been stocked, leaving some early customers empty handed, and worst of all, the espresso machine was malfunctioning.
“It’s a lot of trouble shooting,” said one employee laughing, when asked how the first handful of orders went.
However, even with all these small issues, the bakery appeared to have a successful opening day.
Employees were able to get everything working, and the pace quickly picked up as the first hour of opening came and went. The chip reader was fixed, the espresso began pulling, and the pastries came just in the nick of time.
At the tail end of the day, culinary arts student Hannah Garcia still had positive things to say.
“It went well. We even sold out early,” said Garcia.
It’s true, by 1 p.m. the pastry case was empty, and several items from the lunch and breakfast menu had been crossed out.
If you’d like to try out the bakery’s new lunch menu, be sure to stop by after 10 a.m., as the lunch menu is not available before then. If you find yourself in a rush, the bakery does offer breakfast burritos with the option of a chicken, bacon, or vegetarian burrito.
This was only the bakery’s soft opening, so be sure to stop by for their expanded menu coming soon, which will include their farmed ham and cheese croissants.