Woman Goes to Café and Sees Cake on Display. Then She Looks in the Back and Sees Something She’s Not Supposed To: ‘Probably Costco Croissants Too’

Cafés selling freshly baked pastries straight out of the oven are a common assumption. Most customers tend to operate under this belief while they browse the menus and display cases.

One New York-based woman was one of them until a glance behind the counter at a café shattered this illusion.

What Did She Notice At This Café?

TikTok creator Billy (@stinkytalesfrmtheo) stands in front of a glass display shelf of cakes and begins listing the desserts this unnamed bakery offers.

“OK, they have tiramisu,” she says. “They have carrot cake.”

Afterward, she pans over to cookie-cutter-esque croissants on the neighboring shelf. “They have pastries,” she notes.

When the content creator shifts the camera, she unveils what could possibly be the secret recipe for the cakes.

“Then, I look over here,” she says, zooming in on a stack of Chef’s Quality precut cakes. “I’m not supposed to see that. I thought this was homemade,” Billy remarks.

Essentially, this discovery was thoroughly disappointing, as she vents in the text overlay: “Nothing is real anymore.”

People Aren’t Surprised

Billy’s video amassed over 545,000 views, where her exposure successfully ruined the café experience for some.

“Ohhh nahhh I’m eating at home,” one viewer commented.

“Very sad. We can’t trust any food places anymore,” another said.

However, the overwhelming majority weren’t fazed in the slightest.

“Every coffee shop does this stg. they had me putting out pastries from sam’s club lol,” one commenter remarked.

“Lol wait till you find out every restaurant basically gets their food from 1 place,” a second stated.

“And [they] got the audacity to charge like 12 bucks a slice!” a third added.

“Probably Costco croissants too,” a fourth quipped, referencing TikToker Sreenitya’s viral video of Kirkland croissants being delivered to NYC bakery, Le Parisien Bakery.

Is This A Common Trend?

While the thought of a café baking their own food sounds appealing, it’s not a reality for some. Limited time, space, and high costs can make it difficult to produce these treats in-house almost daily. Not to mention, the challenge of maintaining the consistent flavor and appearance customers fall in love with.

According to The Exploding Bakery, these places tend to try to find a solution that meets in the middle: baking some of their products in-house and sourcing others from wholesale cake suppliers. The Mary Sue even covered a recent story where a woman caught a famous bakery in New York selling Costco croissants.

This applies to many places that serve food, including many restaurants and coffee shops. Take Starbucks as an example. Alleged employees of the coffee giant claim the baked goods in the pastry case are pulled out of the freezer and thawed, per Mashed. When a customer orders one of the desserts, it’s tossed into a small toaster oven to be warmed up. 

Meanwhile, restaurants primarily source their supplies from multiple networks of vendors that cater to a specific need, Dining Alliance states. Running low on certain products? Look no further than whole suppliers like Restaurant Depot or Costco Business Centers. Need products in bulk? Sysco, US Foods, and Performance Food Group are common because of their variety.

To ensure you’re paying for an in-house confection, you can ask the workers themselves, though an answer isn’t guaranteed.

@stinkytalesfrmtheo

This really a stimulation

♬ original sound – Diaryofamadblackwoman

The Mary Sue reached out to Billy via email and TikTok comment.

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