Ross Bridge resident Alex Tate said she and her family were so excited to see K & J’s open. “The parents just have to show up with the kids, and that’s it,” Bryant said. It’s designed to make it easy for parents to plan a party, she said. She already has partnered with Front Porch, a Ross Bridge restaurant, to provide pizza for birthday parties as well, she said. “I’m super-excited about the birthday parties,” she said. Also, part of the dining area can easily be sectioned off for birthday parties, team parties or other group events, she said. It has seating for at least 50 people inside and another 25 outside, Bryant said. The Ross Bridge location has more seating and, at least at the outset, has seen a lot more walk-in business. The Uptown site also handles a lot of DoorDash orders because of the volume of people working in downtown Birmingham, she said. The Uptown location has a dining area and has walk-in traffic, but it’s more of a “production kitchen” that handles a lot of large and corporate orders, Bryant said. She and one of the bakers rotate back and forth between the two sites as needed. It’s been amazing.”īryant split her staff of 14 people (16 including herself and her husband, who helps when he’s not at his primary railroad job) between Uptown and Ross Bridge. “The support we’ve received from the community is just overwhelming, and everybody is just so nice and so welcoming. “I’m so surprised how busy Ross Bridge is,” Bryant said. And business has been bustling ever since. The fact that the Dreamcakes spot already was designed as a bakery was just icing on the cake, so to speak.īryant redecorated the bakery with pink walls, put her own special touches in place and had the doors back open by late December. Plus, a lot of her former customers from Alabaster and Shelby County were missing not having her close by, and a Hoover location is much closer than Birmingham, Barnes said. “We had a ton of customers we were already familiar with, and we always sold out,” she said. Two to three years before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, K & J’s started bringing its food truck to Ross Bridge and was making appearances every Wednesday night, Bryant said. K & J’s, which has gained national attention for its designer cakes and “Kollosal” milkshakes and last year received a bronze award for Alabama Retailer of the Year for businesses with sales under $1 million, had just relocated from Alabaster to the Uptown District in Birmingham in April.īryant, the founder of the bakery, had no plans to open a second location, especially so soon, but her commercial real estate agent, Abra Barnes, spotted the former Dreamcakes location and said she knew it would be perfect. Just four months after Dreamcakes closed both of its locations in Homewood and Ross Bridge, Kristal Bryant stepped in and opened a second location of K & J’s Elegant Pastries & Creamery in the former Dreamcakes spot in the Ross Bridge Town Center. By being featured on such publications as Food Network, Travel Channel, Southern Living, and Cosmopolitan Magazine just to name a few, K & J’s has become an experience that everyone wants to try.Ross Bridge residents didn’t have to go long without having a bakery in their commercial district. These shakes have set a trend in Alabama and placed this small business on a national stage. With over 18 years of experience in the food industry she has an eye for “detailed perfection” and put a guaranteed stamp of approval on each showpiece that she creates.Īfter branching off into the world of Ice Cream, K & J’s has become known for their Kollosal Milkshakes. Growing up in a family that had a passion for cooking and her love for arts, she knew at the very young age of 14 that she wanted to become a chef. We are committed to creating the best cakes that will definitely make your event unforgettable.ĭesigner Chef Kristal Bryant attended Virginia College Culinard in Birmingham AL. We bake with the freshest ingredients and offer the best quality product for the best price. While offering many other sweet treats such as cupcakes, pastries, cookies and so much more, we pride ourselves on our unique designs that are custom made for you to order. K & J’s Elegant Pastries is a custom cake shop that specializes in custom cakes for all occasions.
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