Fay-Da

Please Do Not Support This Bakery
Please Do Not Support This Bakery
Please Do Not Support This Bakery

Their breads are pretty decent. The garlic knot roll wasn’t as savory as I was expecting it to be. The roast pork bun (in the warmer next to the registers) are pretty good! And it’s a decent price too so you won’t have to even break a $ 10.

I come to this location about 3 times a week because my boss always buys breakfast when we’re working. So. I’ve only been here in the morning.
As other reviews have said, the store sometimes does get very crowded and the line might scare you off but they move very quickly! So don’t be alarmed. The ladies who work there are also very sweet, however they don’t speak English well.
That’s just about all the good things I can say about this place though. Although I do like their assortment of pastries and bakery goods, I constantly see the shelves EMPTY or with barely anything left. The egg custards have been in that rotating heat thing for so long I always see that the aluminum cup which holds the custard is BURNT to the paper. None of their drinks are made consistently despite having the same order (3) times a week for almost a year and a half now. Some days there will be too much sugar, some days not enough.
There are also some breads that you have to order behind the counter, for example the lotus leaf wrap that comes to a whopping $ 3! It use to be $ 2.50 and larger, but now it is $ 3 and smaller. This is also a hit or miss, sometimes there’s a lot of meat and sometimes there’s none at all. I also enjoy getting the «rice roll» but they always seem to be OUT of this or it’s not ready to be sold since it hasn’t heated enough
CAN YOU GUYS PLEASE REPLENISH YOUR INVENTORY???

This location gets pretty crowded and upon entering I was blocked by patrons who were stand ing around blocking the entryway like it’s a museum hall. Could I conclude that they’re suburbanites? Possibly. Or maybe they were dazzled by the sweet smells emanating from the store and reluctant to go out into the winter cold.
There’s a wide assortment of offerings on their shelves, but I didn’t see egg tarts on the Monday afternoon when I popped in. Lady behind the cash register was quick to ask me what I wanted to buy but her answers had an über foreign level of efficiency in communication that seemed a bit too fast-​clipped and aggressive.
It appeared decently clean but didn’t really have that special sparkly vibe that makes you want to go back asap. With the large number of bakeries in walking distance, it’s too bad this location doesn’t try to be more competitive in their products and services but who knows maybe they cater to a particular demographic that doesn’t include myself. Maybe I felt this way because the fluorescent lighting was dim.

The 5-​Star is due to their soft, fluffy, creamy custard bun! A friend of mine brought it for me one day, and it quickly became my favorite breakfast and anytime-​of-​the-​day snack!
Oh and the ube bun is good too but the custard bun is better IMO, obvi.

Don’t get me wrong. I like Fay-​Da. Only problem is this store does not make it well. I don’t know if it’s the poeple who work later in the day (since most of the time I get their drinks in the evenings), but the tapioca tasted like it had cockroaches crawling all over it. I would never go back to a store if they make horrible drinks more than once.
My cousin got the one with coconut jelly and she said that tasted pretty bad too.

Would like the pound cake to be less sweet and I found pieces of egg shell in it.

The pastries in all the Fay-​Da are the same since it comes from the factories. They are good and cheap but it is the people I am actually reviewing. This location is better than the Chinatown location in Manhattan but only slightly! It feels like I am bothering them when I want to pay.

Their bakery is not bad, but there is one cashier always cheat on the small money. When u first gave her a quarter but later found u have smaller changes, she would not return that to u. Although it’s a small change but when u bumped into twice or three times. That’s called business dishonesty. Please manage your cashier and she is also very rude when I ask my money back.

This place is fairly tasty. I haven’t tried most of the pastries and buns available, but they all look great and priced well. My favorite bun would be the Chocolate & Walnut bun, it’s cheap & so filling! This is just the right amount of sweetness for those who think «less is more», like me.
I’ve also tried their iced drinks, so good! Try the lycée juice with grass jelly, my favorite drink. There’s something for everyone here, but don’t come too late! I came around 6pm one evening and the chocolate & walnut buns were sold out and a lot of other buns too!

It’s OK here. Very large space with a lot of seating. But when I went in May, oh man was it blistering hot! No air condition, and I just wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.
I normally love lots of things from Chinese bakeries: red bean bun, hot dog bun, etc, but this time I was really craving a fruit tart. They looked really good, and I ended up getting three.
They weren’t that good — I prefer the ones from Chinatown instead.
The crust was very thick, and hard to eat, mainly because it seemed like there were ground nuts in them or something. Also altered the taste a bit. Custard was flavorful. The fruit looked great, but some of them were not ripe, so it lacked sweetness and was way too firm. Also, it wasn’t cheap — at $ 2.25 it’s significant, or maybe prices have gone up all around and I haven’t caught up haha.
The cakes looked good, but it seems a lot of them were more mousse like, and I prefer a fluffier and cake like dessert.
I would consider coming back here again, but I was pretty turned off when I saw either an employee or customer (they were too close together to tell which one) sneeze on the buns. Some of the plastic bins/​covering were open, exposing the food to the germs.

Chicken puff, Black Forest cake and milk tea for 6 dollar something, can’t beat the price for what you are getting. It has a big seating area at the back but looks like the place can get crowded at peak hours. The ordering part can be challenging as is expected but not bad manageable. They have good bakery selection, egg tarts I heard are really good. The cake we tried was ok. The puff was good. So hop in if you want something cheap but decent at the same time.

Grabbed a decent sub-​$ 3 chocolate mousse, having tried other more Asian items at the Manhattan locations.

I like how the ladies at the registers are all dressed in uniform lol, its often very crowded and quite noisy… but the buns are fresh. can’t complain you get a breakfast meal under $ 3 lol

This place is ok. It’s cheap, everything runs about a dollar give or take $ 0.50.
However, the people that work here are … undertrained for a lack of a better word. I waited on line behind 2 cashiers. There was 2 people in front of me but others that just came into the store just started stepping in front of the second cashier. Then people started to cut from behind me?! Said something but was quickly brushed off. Uh… not cool. Could be the fault of the customer and not the workers but when I brought it up to the cashiers they just said hurry up we gonna close in 30 minutes. 30 MINUTES! SHUT UP.
On another occasion I see 4 people working there but only 1 person actually working the register and getting the cakes/​pastries from the side. It took me 15 minutes to pick up the TARO CAKE that I wanted which was already made in the display… FYI there were no other customers. 3 people just sat there behind their phones and the 1 lady just kept looking at me when I told her I wanted a cake from the pre-​made selection. It was the weirdest thing ever. I don’t understand this behavior as they’re not young teenagers but older ladies. Whatever, I guess you get what you pay for.
The food = edible
The service = forgettable
They’re fortunate for the generous 3* rating as its cheap and filling.

You can’t really go wrong with most Chinese bakeries. Fay Da is a well known chain. Cheap pastries, breads, sweets, cakes… even if you’re not satisfied with an item, you’re only a dollar and change short, plus you can easily find something else to eat. Coffee is crap, milk tea is much better.

I used to come to this bakery after school when I was in high school for cheap food. They have a large selection of pastries and I usually order the hot milk tea.
Their pastries and drinks are consistently decent.
I haven’t been coming to this Fay Da bakery as much. Also, the Fay Da in Chinatown is a lot nicer looking, interior-​wise.

I work near by and I’d like to think Fay Da is to blame for my recent weight gain because they have delicious cheap Chinese desserts and great drinks that I just can’t help over indulge. I noticed that Chinese bakery desserts are not as sweet as American or Italian or whatever bakeries and I love that! It’s just the right amount of sweetness. Some favorites are the Japanese cheesecake, milk cream bun, chicken puff pastry (yummm), the steamed buns and tiramisu. I love the Horlicks drink and the coffee/​milk tea as well. During the summer, I was hooked on their iced coffee! It’s amazing!
The service is quick and the ladies on the register aren’t looking to make small talk. It’s all in and out and I have no complaints about that.

We came here for a snack. They had fresh soy milk so that’s always exciting since that’s harder to get in Chicago. We had some soy milk and then I had a taro puff. My husband had the scallion twist and then we had an egg tart to share. I love taro so i love my taro puff. It was packed full of taro filling, although it did get kind of squished when I used the tongs to get it on the tray. My husband liked the scallion bread. We both thought the egg tart was very good. It was still warm and the custard had a nice egg flavor. Wish we had Asian bakeries like this in Chicago.

The pastries here are edible, but pretty cheap, not the best quality stuff by a long shot. The Neapolitan cake is alright, the garlic bun is decent.
Also service is pretty rude. I waited for two cashiers to stop their conversation and take my order. When that didn’t happen I interrupted them and told them I was ready to order. My server was nice until she asked what I wanted, and I told her a slice of the Neapolitan cake. She didn’t know what I was talking about, and out of nowhere she became really irritated. This is an item YOU sell, you should know it, and… what on earth are you upset about? She even had trouble finding it when I pointed it out to her. She rung me up with a sour expression and not another word. Whatever.