The hot 85°C Bakery Café is here and lines are loooong

All you sweet tooths, your patience is about to be tested. How long will you wait in line for a hot, fluffy brioche or the signature taro bun at 85°C Bakery Café? An hour? 90 minutes?

Because that’s what the wait has been like at 85°C Bakery Café in Tukwila, and it’s not even officially open until Friday. The biggest Taiwanese import since Din Tai Fung, 85°C Bakery Café is currently in “soft opening” mode to train its newbies and get the kinks worked out before Friday’s big launch. But it’s been slammed day and night.

This Southcenter mall location is its flagship store in the Northwest, with two more bakeries coming to Lynnwood and Federal Way by late spring and maybe another in Portland next year.

The Marble Taro Bun and the milky brioche are the most popular among the 100 different breads and pastries that rotate throughout the day. Fresh sweet and savory items come out of the oven frequently, part of the lure of 85°C. It’s also popular because most pastries and breads cost less than $3. The bakery is also known for its iced sea salt coffee (the bakery’s name refers to the owner’s belief that 85°C  is the optimal temperature to brew coffee).

85°C has 900 bakeries around the world, including 26 in the United States.

I’ve driven past its bakery in Irvine, Calif., its most popular location in the United States, and let’s just say that all those Krispy Kreme stores in the south ain’t got nothing on 85°C. The line sometimes snakes out the door and monopolizes the mall parking there. After Friday’s “grand opening” of the Southcenter spot, officials expect the wait will get even longer, and it will remain that way for at least a month, if its openings in other parts of the country are any indication, a spokesperson said.

1341 Southcenter Mall. Hours are Monday-Thursday 7 a.m.-10 p.m., Friday and Saturday 7 a.m.- midnight and Sunday 8 a.m.-10 p.m. (206-244-1885; 85cbakerycafe.com)