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"Returning to the corner of Fourth and Robinson in Hillcrest, Babycakes is coming back a year after leaving its original Fifth Avenue location to replace the former Pinkberry storefront. Established in 2008 by Christopher Stavros, the bakery was one of the first in San Diego to capture the cupcake craze and, over a 10-year tenure in Hillcrest, morphed into a full restaurant and bar before Stavros decided to regroup and refocus on baking and relocate operations to Paradise Hills in 2018. A South Bay commercial kitchen now fuels its Imperial Beach bakeshop and coffee house and supplies desserts to local hotels and restaurants. Its signature specialty cupcakes come in flavors such as salted caramel, tres leches, blood orange, and chocolate raspberry, and the shop also offers customizable full-sized cakes and other treats like brownies, cookies, and crème brûlée cheesecake. The new Hillcrest store is expected to open this October and may offer soft-serve ice cream and frozen yogurt as well as wine and beer, with plans to open additional storefronts in North County and East County; Babycakes was represented in the deal by Brian Jinings, president of Venture Commercial." - Candice Woo