Crixa Cakes

Pumpkin pie is out of this world. Gingerbread cake with fresh whipped cream changes your life. The end. Nothing more (needed) to say.

I have been a loyal customer for nearly 10 years, and feel compelled to leave a review after all these years of visits. The quality is high but the customer service is appalling. Non-​existent customer service is a more appropraite description. Linda, the Lativian gal at the espresso bar, is especially lacking in her manner. No «hello’; no smile; nothing — that is, despite the fact that I come in on average once a week. I have seen her greet other Russian speaking customers with adequate charm and even carry on a conversation in their native tongue. What can I say? There is certainly room for a baker who can produce quality in this town.

Their pastries and cakes are usually tasty enough but I can’t get over their consistently rude service. With so many talented bakeries in our area, I’ll go somewhere else. It’s rare to be welcomed into the store or to get a thank you upon leaving. If you ask about their selections, your response will probably be prefaced by a sigh and a rolling of the eyes. I have stopped in at Crixa intermittently since they opened as my mom’s house is nearby and I’ve always felt negative about their customer service. I’ll save my money a friendly, happy store like Sweet Adeline’s.

Wanted to like this place.
Rude and aloof staff made me feel uncomfortable. Just walked out.

We ordered our wedding cake from Crixa Cakes, because my husband is very finicky about his chocolate cherry cakes and wanted something similar to the drunken cherry cakes he grew up with in Eastern Europe. It was really hard to find a black forest cake that wasn’t overly sweet until we found Crixa Cakes.
The cake was moist, filled with cherries and our European relatives said it was delicious and close enough to what they had grown up with. I only wish they had black forest cakes larger than the 9″ because the cherry cakes were totally demolished within minutes. We also ordered the tiramisu, which was also delicious and moist.

It’s very rare to find a high quality bakery. I loved the vatroushka and the poppy walnut cake is brilliant. The apple cake and Black Forest are wonderful too. Everything has just the right sweetness and excellent quality. Homemade feel with professional level quality. You taste the ingredients instead of having one note of sugar. Wonderful wonderful!
If you prefer sickly sweet frosted cupcakes, maybe this is not the place for you. It also has an adorable atmosphere in an adorable building with tables inside and out.

I absolutely love Crixa and can not stay away since I work only a block away. Their cakes are sooooooooo delicious. My favorite would have to be Amaretti (soooo damn good), then Florio (has a rosy accent), and lastly their Tiramisu (wow). Seriously, while writing this review I just want to run over and grab a slice. It’s a little pricey for a slice of cake, about 5 – 6 bucks, but seriously I don’t even think about that when it comes to Amaretti. To conclude, I would recommend this place to everyone…

Again, another Berkeley shop that presents itself like an unassuming small-​town business with local hospitality, but upon interaction acts overly pretentious and privileges certain customers over others.
Came here for the first time the other day. I bought a 6-​inch tiramisu cake that cost $ 27… it said it should be able to feed 8 – 10 people. however, it’s more like 6 thin slices. I would recommend saving your money by buying 4 regular slices, which is about $ 5 each and would be equivalent to a 6-​inch cake. The cake tasted fine, but not overly amazing.
Like what many people have already said, the customer service wasn’t so much rude, but indifferent. Personally, I feel like the store has a bias towards older (wealthier) white liberal types, who seemed to get a lot of positive attention. And take indifference to younger, dare I say it, people of color. I hate myself for leaving an undeserved tip for a takeaway dessert — that awkward tip line… just don’t if you’re taking it to go. During the encounter they barely made eye contact, didn’t bother to explain the cakes when asked, and only seemed ready to complete a transaction. I may come back here in the future, but not soon. Would like to try out some other bakeries beforehand. By the way, a bag costs 0.30 — wow!

My second time visiting this cute but professional bakery after a trip to Berkeley Bowl earlier this morning around 10. My boyfriend and I split the Boston cream pie and the Strawberry cake (don’t remember exact name).
The Boston cream pie had delicious semisweet chocolate on top and a nice, rich cream. Unfortunately the actual cake portion felt a bit tough — almost overbaked? I’m not sure but it wasn’t as fluffy and moist as their other cakes usually are.
The Strawberry cake was delicious, light, and fluffy with a hint of sweetness which brought out the flavor of the strawberries nestled between cake and sweet cream.
My first time I tried the Amaretti cream cake and the Florio. The first was so light and creamy and delicious, and the Florio was interesting with its light rose flavor (although sometimes it reminded me of L’Occitane rose hand cream haha~)
All in all, come here for fluffy, moist cakes that don’t confront you with bold flavors, but instead welcome you through their light creaminess and subtle flavors.

While I stayed in the area, I went to this place every day for my late breakfast. They’re known for fabulous cakes, but they do have one or two daily pastries that I enjoyed for breakfast that had just a tiny bit of sweetness. They also make good coffee (if it takes 5 minutes). I’ve ordered double shot of americano and latte, but it was way too much that regular sizes were just perfect. The place is very cute with several tables and many chairs. Was my perfect place for good coffee and to read my book.

Back in town for work and I am so grateful that this is a block away. Always such a good experience here when I need coffee and a slice of ginger cake.
They pace themselves decently, so don’t come here in a rush to push that unnecessary energy when you don’t get a hand-​made coffee and a fresh slice of cake in time. Relaaaaaaaaaax.
You guys do amazing things, Crixa Crew!

This is one of those «split decision» experiences. I ordered the New Orleans Bourbon cake and it was pretty amazing. It was moist, the chocolate flavor was intense and complex, and there was just the right amount of bourbon flavor (not a «drunken cake» like some liquor-​infused cakes can be).
Unfortunately, the service was severely lacking. There was no «hello», no smiling face greeting me as I walked up to the counter, no «thank you» after I paid, and no «thank you» after they gave me my cake. There was barely any eye contact throughout the entire transaction. All I can think is that either these people are REALLY tired and just want to go home or this must be a terrible place to work. None of the staff looked happy or even terribly interested to be there.
The price for my slice of cake was $ 6.75. While I consider that to be on the high side, I’m willing to pay the premium to support a local business that bakes really high quality stuff and provides great service. While they excel in the quality of their cakes, they fail miserably when it comes to service.
I don’t like to judge a place on just one experience (especially if it is a bad one), so I’ll probably give them another try one day. But if I do, I’ll try to come by earlier in the day to see if the time of day has any impact on the mood of the staff.

one of the best cakes on my book. I used to come here every week senior year when I went to school in Berkeley (by bus! that’s how much I liked it), and it never fails. cakes, quiche, bread, pie… they do them justice.
I’d recommend this place to anyone.

RAGE. I feel utter rage. They literally sold me HALF a cake. Literally.
For my bro’s 16^th birthday, I ordered their flourless chocolate cake. It’s gonna be a small party so I get the smallest size. The lady on the phone says, «oh it’s gonna be half the sheet». Ok, that’s fine. Or so I thought. Actually this is a cake with raised sides. And when they cut that cake in half, they don’t add a fourth raised side. WHAT!!! It’s literally HALF a cake!!!
You can imagine my face when I go and pick up the cake and they present me with the half cake. And you know what the girl says? She says: you know, I often feel like people put too much focus on the look.
YOU DON’T SAY??? I paid you $ 30 for a teeny tiny cake and you don’t think the presentation is important!!!
RAGE.
I can’t give my bro a half cake for his birthday so I had to pay another $ 30 for a small WHOLE cake.
That is the last $ 60 I will spend at this bakery again. Makes me so sad. They really are very good at making cakes. But so utterly terrible at taking care of their customer.
(And to add salt to the injury, I paid them $ 5 to inscribe «16!!!» On the half cake. $ 1 a character!!!)

The best bakery in Berkeley!
Kremes: I thought it will be something like the traditional Napoleon, but it is nothing like that! Napoleons stand small, if not tiny, in face of this Hungarian delish! It is two crispy flaky pastry sandwiching an entire blob of moist, hazelnut-​ish, spongy pastry cream! What more, it is just about the right amount of sweetness. They only serve it on Saturdays though… And they normally run out around 2pm. I wish I can have it everyday!
Potato pirog: Potato pastry. Great option for going savory in Crixa!
Black Forest: I feel Crixa is all about moistness. It is the most moist and pleasant piece I’ve ever had in North America! Try it. You will never forget.

Great local bakeshop — their cakes and pies look tantalizing, and their display of cakes is literally mouthwatering. I tried their black forest cake — good with huge cherries inside. Not the best cake I’ve ever had, but does a good job. Excited to go back to try their pear rose pie (it was unavailable when I went) as well as other cake flavors.
Plenty of parking available in front of the store, and a few tables inside and outside for you to sit and enjoy your cake. If you dine in, they do charge a few cents to give you a fork, but that’s so minor compared to the great enjoyment (and instant gratification) of eating a delicious slice of cake right there. I would say that for the price of each slice, they should consider making the slice slightly heftier, but that’s also a minor thing compared to my overall enjoyment. I will be back!

A friend of mine brought me a Chocolate Mousse a couple months ago and it was awesome! I put Crixa on my radar. The wife and I came here after having lunch @ Smoke in Berkeley close by. We split Florio = almond meringue with raspberry eau de vie & Pave Vergiate = Flourless chocolate cake. Neither of these choices were to rave about. Usually flourless chocolate cake is really good but this one was just ok. I am sure we picked the wrong items for the day. If we are in the neighborhood we will try again.

Lent season is going to start next month, I can use this excuse to gorge on all the dessert I want want want.
A cute bakery shop with a rabbit logo is a place where I want to be. They have great selections of cakes, pies, and drinks. First thing first; I must warn you, they run out of the cakes and pies as quick as it goes down my fat belly…
I recommend trying a slice of their cakes before committing to getting the whole thing. I cannot get over the richly decadent Boston cream pie to the fluffy moist Amaretti cream cake to the sweet blueberry pecan pie. JUST WOW!
The simple things in life

Amazing cakes and pastries. Everyone is super friendly and knowledgeable about the cakes and pastries they create.
Definitely a good place to enjoy a nice slice of rum & apple pie and a nice cappuccino while watching the character of South Berkeley pass by from their outdoor seating.
I don’t come here often enough. And that’s is a shame because it’s only five minutes from my home. So, that needs to change.

So far so good.
I stopped by Wednesday before lunch (11:30) and they still had everything in stock!
Their cakes and smaller bites all looked amazing. I love their menu and it has pictures of all their coffee drinks to show how much milk, espresso brewed coffee, etc is inside. (Amazing. This should be standard at coffee shops!)
Most cake-​items are about $ 5. Their smaller items are about $ 3. I chose a slice of tiramisu and one vanilla merengue.
The tiramisu was good. It was 4 balanced layers of cake and mascarpone. I ate it after 20mins so the mascarpone was too soft. But the flavors were good. It would be #2 on my Tiramisu list…(#1 had shaved chocolate on top)
The merengue was ok. Not memorable. No chewy middle (my favorite part). But not bad.
I’m excited to go try their other options!