la la bakeshop toronto

Toronto bakery gets one-star review from customer for closing during power outage

A bakery in Toronto was given a one-star review on Google by a disgruntled customer after the shop because the shop was closed due to a power outage.

The saying "lights are on but no one's home," was quite literally true for a customer at the Annex's LA LA Bakeshop recently, when he was angered to find the doors to the shop locked during its regular hours.

The bakeshop has gained a (mostly) positive reputation over their three years in business, known in the city for their South Asian-inspired desserts like salted egg croissants and coconut sticky rice cakes.

Despite being held in generally high regard, though, not everyone's sweet tooth is satisfied with the bakery.

In the one-star review, dated this past February, the customer explains that he "pushed," and "pulled" the door to no avail, noting that he did see people in the back of the shop.

"I guess they don’t need the business from people of the community," the review concludes, attaching a photo of the locked-up shop with the lights on inside as "proof."

lala bakeshop toronto

The one-star Google review.

The bakeshop was quick to respond to the handle-jiggler, explaining that they had received last-minute notice from their landlord saying the building's power would be shut off that morning.

"As a bakery you can imagine most of our work takes place in the morning, so this power shut off caused a huge disruption to an otherwise already busy (Lunar New Year) weekend," LA LA Bakeshop writes.

They then go on to explain that the "movement" the customer had seen in the back was the bakeshop's staff scrambling to get the shop ready in time for their 2 p.m. late-opening, which had been announced through LA LA's social media accounts.

"In hindsight it would have been better if we had posted a handwritten sign on the window, but sadly given the stress of the situation we didn't think to do so," they write.

With that being said, though, the bakery also defends themselves in the response, arguing that the one-star review was "uncharitable" given the context.

lala bakeshop toronto

LA LA Bakeshop's complete response to the review.

There has been no further update on whether the reviewer was able to get his fill of sweet treats after the debacle, but LA LA Bakeshop has remained business-as-usual, churning out their unique desserts, free from power outage-based interference, ever since.

LA LA Bakeshop has locations both in the Annex (346 A Bloor West) and Scarborough (3272 Midland Ave) if you want to try their creative confections for yourself — but you may want to double check their social media for any adjusted hours before you make the trip.

Lead photo by

Fareen Karim


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