Gemmae Bake Shop

"Gemmae’s original location opened in 1979 just outside of Manila, but the family behind it moved the business to Long Beach over a decade later. These days, the Filipino bakery is run by a mother-daughter duo who can usually be found working the counter. If you’ve never had a crush on a baked good, you will after a few bites of Gemmae’s specialties, like sugar-coated Spanish bread oozing buttery cheese filling or a soft ensaymada stuffed with pandan and ube. The order station up front is lined with packaged baked goods like bright red longganisa pandesal, a luscious meat-stuffed roll with the luscious fluff of a donut hole. Plus, they’ve got a hot bar in the back with rotating Filipino fast food—pick up pork adobo and a whole ube cheesecake in one go. " - brant cox, sylvio martins, arden shore

"If you’ve never had a crush on a baked good, you will after trying anything at this cafe and bakery in Long Beach, whether it's sugar-coated Spanish bread oozing buttery cheese filling or a soft ensaymada stuffed with pandan and ube. Gemmae’s original location opened in 1979 just outside of Manila, but the family moved the business to LA over a decade later. These days, this counter-service place is run by a mother-daughter duo who usually stands behind the long glass case waiting to ring you up. Gemmae’s front counter is lined with packaged baked goods, plus they’ve got a hot bar in the back with a solid menu of rotating Filipino fast food—pick up some pork adobo and a whole ube cheesecake in one go." - nikko duren, garrett snyder

"If you’ve never had a crush on a baked good, you will after trying anything at this cafe and bakery in Long Beach,whether it's sugar-coated Spanish bread oozing buttery cheese filling or a soft ensaymada stuffed with pandan and ube. Gemmae’s original location opened in 1979 just outside of Manila, but the family moved the business to LA over a decade later. These days, this counter-service place is run by a mother-daughter duo who usually stand behind the long glass case waiting to ring you up. Gemmae’s front counter is lined with packaged baked goods like bright red longanisa pandesal—a luscious meat-stuffed dough ball with the luscious fluff of a donut hole. Plus, they’ve got a hot bar in the back with a solid menu of rotating Filipino fast food—pick up some pork adobo and a whole ube cheesecake in one go." - Nikko Duren

"Jessica Causing was inspired by her great-aunt’s 40-year-old bakery Gemmae Bake Shop in Long Beach, California, when she started her own online bakery JEJOCA, which is currently on hiatus." - ByJasmine Ting