Jaciva's

10/06/09

Awesome Wedding Cake

by Crickett31

I spent 8 months planning my wedding, watching "Amazing Wedding Cakes" etc trying to get an idea of EXACTLY what I wanted. I heard about Jaciva's and ordered my best friend's baby shower cake there as a "test" and it was AWESOME! The baby under the blanket cake, so cute. I then drew a pic of my perfect wedding cake. It turned out exactly how I wanted it to, brought tears to my eyes when I saw it. Not only that, it was the best tasting cake my guests had ever tasted (poppy seed with raspberry filling is to die for). I will definitely be back to order for any occasion that calls for a cake, thank you for making my day perfect!

• Pros: Professional-Awesome Cakes
• Cons: None

08/27/09

Sensational seventh heaven cake

by eyedoc510climber

Even though I was having my wedding in Seattle, I had Jacivas do my two tiered wedding cake and it was wonderful. They were very reasonably priced and offered very genuine customer service. They want you to be happy with the results. The poor service that I received from the bakeries in Seattle made me decide to choose to have it made in Portland, and I'm glad I did.

• Pros: great customer service
• Cons: none

02/20/09

I think Safeway cake is more moist.

by leequa

Wow. I should have just bought the cake for my boyfriend at the other four places I stopped before coming to JaCiva. I wanted something small enough for two or three people, and was told about JaCiva's ginormous selection. I can't remember the name of the cake I got but it was a smaller one for $12.95. It looked pretty and said that it had a raspberry layer. Yummy. Well, it was titled incorrectly as there was no raspberry in the cake, the icing/frosting (not sure what it was) was flavorless all but the strong flavor of sugar, and the cake! Well, that was just gross. It was possibly stale and just dry as a desert. I have to say, it was the the worst tasting, pretty and expensive cake I've ever had.

I also purchased a chocolate haystack and a discounted Valentine's Day chocolate lollipop. Eh, I've had better. They got nothing on See's Candy.

The service was fine. It was only one person, however, and I had to wait a little longer than expected. But, that doesn't outweigh the terrible cake they make and sell.

Ick. Not recommened!

• Pros: They do have a large selection of candy
• Cons: I don't think they use the best of ingredients

10/21/08

Always happy counter persons, excellent cakes, cookies, breads, and candies

by hufflepuff18

Nothing is bad here. I just wish they'd open late night for dessert service. The Lemon Goddesss is to die for. Unbelievably rich, and moist chocolate cakes, fresh pastries of every type. the owners, Jack and Iva, are sweet and make you feel like you are really part of the family.

• Pros: Desserts to die for, service with a smile, always good conversation with chocolate to boot!

10/15/08

Daughter's Birthday

by CynthiaTuttle

I grew up next door to "Heidi's" ---we use to go to the bakery a lot. It was a fond memory. So when my daughter's 5th birthday came up we decided to go to the best. I wish that "Jake and Iva" had been there, but that's ok.

The cake was amazing as we remembered. It only takes a tiny sliver to satisfy as it's rich and a lot of flavor. We purchased a carrott cake as that's her favorite.

The girl that helped us was friendly. Even put Happy Birthday Sarah on the cake and we walked in 15 min before closing.

I read a lot of complaints on service, sadly the younger generations leave something to be desired where ever you go...no work ethics. But JaCiva's is worth the price tag and drive...DELISH....Thanks! Cynthia Tuttle-Schmunk

• Pros: Cake and the elcairs are wonderful!! (use to eat those in the 70's)
• Cons: we didn't have a con...maybe price, but you get what you pay for.

09/05/08

So Good

by ElleryP

I got my wedding cake from Jacivas. The initial consultation was not a great example of customer service, I had to wait for someone to help me and I had an appointment. However the rest of the experience was great. The cake arrived on time, looked perfect, and was delicious. I was really surprised when my husband fed me the first bite at the wedding reception, it was so good! Overall I was very happy with the service and cake.

• Pros: delicious, experienced advice, knowledgeable staff
• Cons: waiting time for customer service

06/13/08

Horrific Customer Service and Stale Cake

by groovylass

i had a company event that i was planning (4 employee's 10 year anniversaries) and had ordered the "grand marnier dome" a few years back and since it was so well received, decided to order for the upcoming event. i called in the order several weeks in advance and ordered a champagne cake, which i was told would serve 12-14, and then inquired about the large dome cake, stating that i would need enough cakes to feed 30 people. the person take the phone order took the dome order and i again reiterated i needed both cakes to be able to feed 30 people -she assured me it would.

when i went to pick up the cakes, the dome cake i had ordered was a mere 6" round cake, not the 10" that i had ordered a few year's back. when i asked about the size, i was told that was the only size they made and that it would feed about 10-12 people.

commenting again that i needed to feed 30 people, i was met with indifference -i was not even offered other options.

the person helping me was rude and not helpful.

when i returned to my office and shard my experience with a co-worker, she called to ask why we were not given the large dome. the person who answered the phone "amy" said that that was the only size they sold. my co-worker told her about the size our company had ordered a few years back and amy said that that would have been a "special order" in which my co-worker replied -"wasn't the order we put in a special order?" and amy replied that no, we were given one of the two standard dome cakes. amy was then asked why we were not offered the special order dome cake as that would have been enough to feed 30 people with the other cake and amy curtly replied "it is not our fault". my co-worker then asked at the time the order was placed and the "needs to feed 30 people" was mentioned why that was not achieved and amy said that both cakes should feed 26 people "which was close enough"!

to top it off, the cake part in the dome cake was stale. never going to jaciva's again

• Pros: past reputation
• Cons: horrific customer service, stale cakes, people taking orders that should not be taking orders

05/28/08

Not an Old Classic anymore...just OLD.

by mandg888

My fiance and I visited JC's to sample wedding cake flavors and styles. To our surprise we were sharing our special experience with 2 other parties 7 people in all including us. We sat down at a table with a vinyl covering and were curtly greeted by what seemed to be an inexperienced young person who then brought our cake samples out on a paper dixie plate and proceeded to point out our options and handed us a menu, then left. After working the room this employee asked from across the room if we wanted coffee, which took long to get and it too came in a paper reciprocal. The service was enough to make our special moment so UN-special that when tasting the cake the flavors seemed less then mediocre and everything was topped with bland flavored butter cream. The texture of the cake seemed like ithad been in a fridge for a day or so and we were not the least bit swept way. When mentioning that we wanted a specific flavor it seemed too much to ask and we were shot down as if it was an odd request to ask for such a flavor as almond. Which is a typical European flavor. ?Not in wedding cakes, it would be really expensive? the sales person said, instead of trying to accommodate us ?not knowing that price wasn?t an object here we were obviously discouraged?

Weddings are supposed to be memorable in every sense of the word and as a professional event planner I will never refer any of my brides or clients to this store as I want for myself as well as my clients a beautiful, special and memorable experience in all of their planning.

Point is the service is a "C" at best, bathroom was dingy, staff was inexperienced and had not a natural hospitality bone in her body. Decor on the walls was dusty and nothing about our encounter was ?a piece of cake?

A wise mentor always said ?If they love us when they leave us, they?ll be back? I guess you know what I will be doing?

• Pros: Price point
• Cons: Poor and tacky service

04/27/08

If you have to park a few blocks away you get an extra piece of guilt free chocolate. Works for me!

by sandalou

Excellent product, professional counter staff. Preferred the chocolates to some of the more la de da (read$$$) candy shops downtown and the staff was helpful and courteous even when the husband couldn't make up his mind about which pastry he wanted. We were visiting from a couple hours up I-5, but we'll definitely be back.

• Pros: Reasonable cost, good selection
• Cons: It's in Portland, not Tacoma!

01/30/08

A change for the better

by portlandraised

I've been going to JaCivas for a while now, and I agree with the bad service remarks, until recently. It looks like JaCivas has gotten a makeover. They have gotten new store staff, and no longer have the rude little girl working in the front. There are new faces and better attitudes, which makes for a lot better service. They also have a dessert place on the weekends. It's called JaCivas after dark, it's pretty amazing, really great desserts, nice atmosphere, and very pleasant wait staff. If you havent been in a while, I would give it another try, you will probably have better service than you have had in a long time. That's been my experience there lately.

• Pros: great desserts, new staff, JaCivas after dark
• Cons: Hawthorne street parking