Becker Bros Bakeshop and Espresso Bar

Hurricane Sandy dated 10/​29/​2012 knocked this place out of business…

They were too shellshocked that I even patronized a place like that. Not a real selection to boot, someplace to avoid.

It’s easy to miss Becker Brothers if you are not searching for it. You can’t see it from Sussex Turnpilke (the street it’s located on). It’s located within the Heritage Plaza South (the one on the right of Burinni’s) with Heritage Bank in the front. You have to walk inside the common interior space and it’s located off of that area. The space is large, but feels somewhat cozy at the same time.
The brothers who work there are super friendly guys. Just the right kind of people to run a a place like this. A friend introduced me to the owners and she was taking me there to check out the bakery. To my surprise they can also make a really good cup of espresso. I picked out some pastries to bring home. Everyone enjoyed them. I’ll be back.

My brother’s girlfriend and I ordered my father’s retirement cake from here. We ordered pastries from another bakery my family has frequented for 20 years, but I insisted on using Becker Bros because it seemed modern and trendy. I thought we’d get a really awesome cake to celebrate my fathers career.
We spoke to a guy for a good ten minutes, in person, the day we ordered the cake. He said they could do a 3D fire helmet and a firetruck; it sounded AWESOME. The only other request was that it have white icing, which my father specifically said he wanted (not sure why, but it’s his cake, right?)
We went to pick it up at noon on the day of the party, as we had agreed upon with the bakery when we ordered it. It wasn’t ready yet. We ended up waiting about 30 minutes. They did offer us a free coffee; but that didn’t really help the cheese and antipasto platter that was in the hot car. However, that was not nearly the biggest problem.
The cake looked like it was for a 5 year old’s birthday. It was a pinkish red color, and had a firetruck outline piped on the top, with «congratulations» in tiny letters, crammed in against the (also pink) border. When I was asked what I thought, I said, «I thought it would look… a little more adult», and the decorator immediately became angry and defensive, calling from the back, «well, that’s pretty subjective!» He also said, during our conversation with the guy in front, «I made the same cake for a Volunteer Dept last week and they loved it!». Well, sorry, but I didn’t order their cake, I ordered a white cake with a 3D helmet on it. Then he said, «Well, was I ever involved in a discussion about a 3D helmet?!». Ummm… I guess I stupidly assumed that that was the BAKERY’S job, to convey what I ordered to whomever was making the cake. They checked the order ticket, and it said right on there, «3D helmet» and «white icing». So I know I wasn’t imagining things. He also claimed to have been «trying to call me all morning». I had one missed call on my cell phone, and there was no message. Sorry, but I didn’t recognize the bakery’s number, plus I was busy preparing for a party with 150 guests at my house. I wasn’t too worried about it before I got to the bakery, since I thought our order was pretty clear.
They took $ 25 off the cake, but it still came to $ 90; which is a lot for a cake that could have been baked and decorated by a shoprite baker for half the price. It tasted okay, but certainly not good enough to make up for the bitter disappointment of having to show my father an ugly pink cake. Of the 150+ people at the party, at the end of the night, only about 10 pieces had been eaten. Major fail :(