Short & Sweet Bakery & Cafe

This is my first ever review on google but I just felt like I finally needed to, as this was long over due. Short n sweet bakery is my go-to place for breakfast, lunch, and dessert! Highly recommend the chicken bacon ranch salad + the herb roasted chicken panini. SO SO good. Macrons are the best in Hilo! No where else compares, they have so many flavors and choices. Lilikoi cheesecake is simply amazing as well, just a few of my faves when I stop by. And I’ve been coming to this small little gem for YEARS now, I wanna say since about 2014 maybe, and one thing they have is CONSISTENCY. The food is always good, always fresh and always the same, which I love! Love supporting local! A must if you’re in downtown Hilo. I live about 45 mins away, but it’s always worth the trip for me and my family. They have also helped with a family wedding of mine a few months ago. Everything was perfect and the bride was thrilled! Stop by and try, you’ll thank me later.

Glad I stopped in....great breakfast sandwich!

This visit, my mom and I had the lilikoi cheesecake, meant to take a picture, but took one bite and another....they have quality pastry, worth every penny. Great customer service.

Eggs Benedict ($10.95, available on Sundays for brunch) starts with a house-made English muffin topped with Canadian bacon, poached eggs, hollandaise sauce, and served with breakfast potatoes and fresh papaya. This was the first time I ever had a house-made English muffin and absolutely loved it. It was thick and held up well to the runny yolk and hollandaise. The poached eggs were perfect with yolk flowing like lava. The hollandaise was silky like it should be and very light on the lemon juice just how I like it. The breakfast potatoes were much different than what I see on the mainland which are usually underdone/overdone and bland, but these potatoes had a baked potato flavor with a smashed potato texture and simple seasoning. Rating: 5/5 Herb Roasted Chicken Panini Sandwich ($9.75) is made with thinly sliced herb roasted chicken, house-made basil pesto, mozzarella cheese, roasted red bell peppers, and organic local greens atop house-made focaccia bread. This was a beautiful panini with grill lines from the press, contrasting colors from the bread, and the green from the pesto and greens. It was a refreshing sandwich right down to the fresh local produce. The pesto was just strong enough in flavor yet lets the herb roasted chicken shine through. The focaccia bread had a perfectly formed crust on the outside yet is spongy on the inside. Rating: 5/5 Portuguese Sweet Bread ($6) gave my mom the chills when she tried it. It took her back to her childhood when her mom brought back sweet bread from Buck’s Bakery in Honolulu. This was a bread that was sold as a fundraiser and folks would rapidly buy them up. It had a different look and taste from King’s Hawaiian, yellow interior probably from more yolks and a spice that gave it a special flavor and aroma. Maria did a lot of research on old Portuguese sweet breads and came up with a recipe that is so onolicious. It had a beautiful golden-brown exterior with light yellow, fluffy interior. Next time, I’m going to buy a bunch of these so I can take them home with me. Rating: 5/5 Lilikoi Bar ($3.25) reminded me of a lemon bar, sweet and tart, but with a lilikoi (passion fruit) curd on top. It was just so Hawaii and so ono! Rating: 5/5 Kohala Crunch Bar ($4.95) is a creative dessert combining chocolate mousse and candy bar into one. It had sweet, rich, chocolate flavor and a nice contrast of silky mousse on top and crispy, candy-like texture on the bottom. Perfect for the chocoholic! Rating: 5/5 Hilo Bar ($2.75) is another creative dessert combining oatmeal cookie crust with chess pie like filling with macadamia nuts. It tasted like something your grandma would make. So good! Rating: 5/5

Fabulous sandwiches and amazing desserts! The girl at the counter was fabulous! I would definitely eat here again! Lovely indoor and outdoor seating! We got a cake for a party tomorrow! Can't wait to try it!