Irvine's 85°C Bakery on NPR

85 Degrees Celsius (pardon me if I don't use the ° from here on out), local Asian bakery and unstoppable juggernaut was featured in an NPR story a few weeks ago (yes, this post is a bit late on reporting on the report), but the piece by Neda Ulaby for Morning Edition is still worth a listen if you didn't hear it on the way to work on June 8th.

The newsy part of the story is about how the Taiwanese company has been using its flagship US store in Irvine as a testing ground for its sea salt coffee among other things.  All to get ready for their planned IPO later this year.  It also stated that the company is slated to open a second bakery in Hacienda Heights.

What won't be new to you is the part about how successful the place has been from the very beginning.  Just this weekend, I saw that perpetual line, which was no shorter than when the bakery first opened almost two years ago.

As for its plans to compete with Starbucks? I wish them luck. Though I'm sure I won't be the first to regard the place as a bakery first, a coffee joint a distant second.