I’ve been obsessed with Chinese cuisine since I tasted my first mooncake at my high school’s Chinese club. Lucky for me, most of my friends were Chinese American, so we frequently took the train to Chicago’s Chinatown for dim sum and pastries. Since I moved to Gainesville, I’ve been looking for a place to fill the bao-shaped hole in my stomach. Finally, on Aug. 28, a new bakery opened in the building that once housed Sweet Buns, which had been closed for what felt like forever due to “renovations.”
Bakery 1908 is an Asian bakery, carrying everything from sweet buns to custom cakes, that opened in 2023 in downtown Orlando. After selling over 400,000 buns in their first year, they opened a second location in Disney Springs, featuring hot food like dim sum and ramen alongside their signature bakery items and drinks. Now they’ve expanded to Gainesville, perhaps hoping to fill the niche for an Asian bakery in our college community.
I only heard about this new bakery on Thursday, September 25, when I was scouring the handy @exploregnv Instagram account for places to explore. Naturally, I dragged my roommate with me to try it that very Saturday, and now I’ve visited twice in seven days, with hopes of going again soon. When I walked in the front door of the bakery, the first thing that excited me was the bakery’s setup. Glowing shelves lined the walls with red bean rolls, pineapple buns, egg tarts and even mini hot dogs! I eagerly picked up a tray and a pair of tongs to select the most exotic-looking pastries from glass cabinets. I particularly enjoyed the self-service aspect of the bakery, as I find it allows for a more personal experience. I scanned the display cases the same way that a passionate reader browses a library for the best books. Once I got to the cashier, I only had one more choice to make: what drink to order.
Bakery 1908 offers multiple beverage options—a few tempting ones are the Thai boba tea, tiramisu latte, and the Four Seasons Oolong Tea. I chose their signature 1908 milk tea, which is sweetened black tea with boba. With all my selections organized on my tray, I found an open booth and dug into my pastries. Between my two visits so far, I’ve tried two savory buns — the ham and cheese bun and the chicken and pineapple bun — and two sweet buns — the red bean roll and lemon bun. Nothing disappointed me, but I can say that the red bean roll was my favorite, with the classic smooth sweetness of the red bean paste threaded through the dough. The boba tea I got complemented the meal perfectly, featuring smaller boba balls than other boba places I’ve tried in Gainesville.
While Bakery 1908’s Gainesville location currently only offers bakery items, an employee I spoke to assured me that they will have their own dim sum in a couple of months once the kitchen is ready. I hope that other students will flock to this bakery, as it is conveniently located along the RTS bus routes 1 and 12. Bakery 1908 is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays and weekends for people to drop in and enjoy a new kind of café experience tailored to their taste buds.
UF PRISM 