Lilly Mae’s Cinnamon Rolls

My fiancée and I stopped by to get some breakfast before heading to the Monterey aquarium. While the cinnamon rolls were good, the price was outrageous. We paid $ 20.65 for two frosted cinnamon rolls heated up in a microwave (we were not told that this would cost an extra $ 2.75) and a medium Diet Coke. The Diet Coke clearly needed new syrup but the staff did not seem very friendly. My fiancée also asked politely for a cup of water and was told they only offer bottled water. Understandable but this store gave us bad vibes for an inflated profit margin. We also witnessed the cashier girl getting berated by the presumable owner/​manager. Overall would not recommend.

Terribly rude server behind the counter. Frosted cinnamon roll was’nt done in the middle. Apple cinnamon roll was good but we will never go back. Don’t need to be terrorized to get a cinnamon roll. :)

Whenever we’re adventuring in a new city I always try to goto the local places. I wasn’t in the mood for food so much but my sweet tooth was real and cinnamon rolls sounded delicious. Upon going in there were a few people in there finishing up their food. The cinnamon rolls were kept in a warmer but did not look too appetizing. Okay, don’t judge a book by its cover so my mom and I decided to share a pecan cinnamon roll and a large hot coffee.
Well.the cinnamon roll was pretty good. I wouldn’t go out of my way to get it but it satisfied the craving. Warm and gooey center and the flavor was really good, just a little dry in parts. As for the coffee, if you can burn already burnt coffee I think we had it here. I’m so sorry to say that because the service was great and she even gave us a new coffee after the first burnt one but the second one was just as bad. The other baked goods that were available looked good but the prices for a burnt coffee and cinnamon roll were a littlee steep for me.
Good experience and good service.

Terrible customer service and terrible food.
Girl working the counter had a terrible, almost hostile attitude, and couldn’t care less what was ordered. She gave us what she wanted, resulting in all breakfast sandwiches coming wrong — none were even close to what we ordered. The food was also all heated up in the microwave, inside the plastic containers! You could see the smoke coming off the plastic through the microwave door.
The coffee tasted bad enough to discard after a few sips, as did the ham and cheese wrap and breakfast sandwich.
The cinnamon roll was the only redeeming part of the bakery, but Cinnabon still puts it to shame.

Date of visit: 4÷30÷2016
After walking through the Monterey Bay Aquarium, we couldn’t help but be lured into Lilly Mae’s by the tantalizing smell of cinnamon and fresh baked goods. My baker extraordinaire friend, Diella, was also excited by the selections and we all opted to get cinnamon rolls.
Meh is the understatement of the year for these rolls. Cam and I shared the Apple Maple roll, which was okay, but the frosting was absolutely terrible. It was overly sweet, almost like it was just powdered sugar and water mixed together. I prefer having a nice cream cheese frosting with my cinnamon rolls, and this just wasn’t it. Diella also didn’t like her roll, which was the frosted cinnamon roll. She also didn’t like the frosting, but did say that the roll itself was okay.
To top off this experience, I found a fly in my roll. Now, maybe it just flew in while we were eating it, but regardless, I was done. Upon handing the bowl back to Cam, he proceeded to drop it, which was a sign from the divine spirits to just throw it away. Definitely a waste of $ 13.

Worst portions ever I purchased the funnel cake fries and a cinnamon roll and the funnel fries had 6 little strips it looked like left overs. So dissatisfied. Then I asked for a cup of water and she said she could not give me any water that she would have to charge me for a soda to give me WATER. Never will I come back again.

IT’S A TRAP!
RUN!
Super expensive and subpar rolls.

If you’re going to have a business based on cinnamon rolls… You should be able to produce some awesome and delicious cinnamon rolls. These are literally rolls that have been on standby, not fresh. AND SO EXPENSIVE!!!

Truly awful experience here. I ate next door at the restaurant and came next door to this place for a cinnamon roll and coffee. The rolls were 5.80 and coffee was three something for a small. The cinnamon rolls looked good at first but once the socially awkward cashier girl grabbed the cinnamon roll and threw it in the microwave, I knew everything was going to be downhill from there. The cinnamon roll was over microwaved and rubbery and my coffee was halfway empty when she gave it to me. The cinnamon roll was bad and tasted like a cheap bundle package you could of bought at big lots for 3 bucks a box. Had to ask for more coffee when I didn’t drink anything. The workers were all mindless and the cinnamon rolls were absolute microwaveable expensive garbage. Truly one of the worst experiences in a pastry place I’ve ever had. If it wasn’t for the tourists. This place would be condemned and out of business.

Pretty good breakfast snacks in the heart of the touristy part of Cannery Row. My wife and I were both hungry, so she got a cinnamon roll, and I got a breakfast sandwich. It was just ok. Nothing special, but good enough to hit the spot when I needed a bit of nourishment.

On our way to the aquarium, we saw a sign for cinnamon rolls and knew we had to stop there before heading back to the city.
Lilly Mae’s had many options for cinnamon rolls: plain, frosted, apple cinnamon, pecan, etc. They also had other baked goods and sweets like cookies, donuts, pies/​mini pies, etc. We ended up buying the frosted, apple cinnamon, and pecan cinnamon rolls; at $ 5.80/each I felt that they were pretty expensive but we ended up getting a deal where you buy 3 cinnamon rolls and get one free.
I tried a little bit of each of them and I have to say that the apple cinnamon rolls were my favorite! I loved the apple chunks on the cinnamon roll; the taste and consistency is like apple pie filling. I thought that their cinnamon rolls were way better than Cinnabon.
If you’re visiting Monterey, Lilly Mae’s is definitely worth a visit for some sweet treats.

Cinnamon roll was just OK, certainly not worth the money. I applaud them employing a girl with legitimate functional issues but I feel that someone working a counter position should be able to communicate with customers effectively. Maybe she could work in the back?
Also super expensive, they’d never get away with their prices or quality even a block away outside tourist central or in the average shopping mall.

Cinnamon Rolls.
I LOVE CINNAMON ROLLS
My excitement was out of control when my friend and I walked past this place on our way to the restaurant we were going to eat dinner at. The smell that made it’s way into my nostril’s was so amazing. I could almost taste the sweetness.
So after an okay dinner, my friend and I are so ready for some amazing dessert. We come to this spot on Cannery Row, and take a look inside. We’ve got cookies, pies, churros, soda, cinnamon rolls, candy, and a bunch of other things for people with the sweet tooth.
There are flavored rolls, frosted cinnamon rolls, and cinnamon rolls not frosted. NOW WHAT KIND OF CRIME IS THAT? Not frosted? Well of course, I went for the roll with the frost because that’s how I ROLL. … Anyways, I watched as my roll was chosen, and put into a microwave oven to be warmed up. I guess I didn’t get a fresh one, but it’s okay. I didn’t want to eat it warm.
I asked for a cup of water. Now, maybe I’m just spoiled, but most places I’ve ever gone to always gave a cup of water for free. Because it’s just a cup of water. BUT NOT THIS PLACE. This place charges you for the cup and the water. I had to pay around $ 2 dollars for the small cup and water. EH
So my friend and I are hoping beyond all hope that the cinnamon roll would taste good… It didn’t.
The very middle of the roll was okay. It was warm, it was soft, and the frosting was sweet and easy to take in. It was just the rest of the dessert that failed. The other parts weren’t warm enough. The outer edge of the roll was too hard to cut and therefore too hard to chew. The frosting wasn’t even all over the roll.
Honestly, Cinnabon has better rolls this this. $ 7.46 wasted.

I actually enjoyed the cinnamon roll that I purchased. I bought the caramel cinnamon roll, and it was exactly what I expected. The roll was nice and moist, there was a great abundance of caramel, and the extra icing certainly didn’t hurt.
I do agree that it’s overpriced, though. There is no way that this roll should be worth almost $ 6. Maybe $ 3 – 4, tops.

I would really give it a 2 star.
For the price, I expected it to be REALLY good but it just tasted like any other cinnamon roll.
But 3 star because the lady was very nice.

Come on, you’re walking with all the tourists in Monterey. The smell of a warm cinnamon roll fills the air. You see trays of sumptuous cinnamon rolls in the counter and baking going on behind the counter. How can you walk by without getting one?
The taste was great. Can’t go wrong.

This place will lure you with it’s sweet smell, but the cinnamon rolls are dry and over priced.

Walking along cannery row, tired and hungry, the sweet smell of warm cinnamon rolls lured us in. Service was such a turn off, but the picture they had of a pizza pretzel made me stay. They had plain pretzels and then three kinds of «stuffed pretzels» which were jalapeño cheese, pizza, and cheese. We asked the girl working for a pizza pretzel and she kept saying «we don’t have the cheese one.» So we were confused because we were like «we’re not asking for the cheese one…» And it was back & forth for like 5 minutes straight until she understood we wanted pizza, not cheese. We also ordered the apple cinnamon roll. When it came time to pay, the two workers were all over the place and confused and ended up charging us for the customer behind us and didn’t really even know how to handle the situation. So my girlfriend being the nice person she is just paid for our order and the customer behind us and left it at that.
The apple cinnamon roll was really the only redeeming quality of this place. We noticed the other cinnamon rolls still available, the apple one being the last roll probably meaning most people also ordered this one. It was better than your average Cinnabon. The roll was gooey and not to sweet with just the right about of cinnamon. The pizza pretzel however I could not finish, which if you know me is surprising because I’ll always try to finish food even when I don’t like it. This pretzel was just so hard and not chewable. The filling was just as bad, the photo showed tomato sauce cheesy goodness but there was no cheese in it. Just weird sauce. Altogether service/​pretzel was a turn off, 2 stars for the cinnamon roll.

I had horrible internet service at this location and had I been able to log onto my Unilocal account I wouldn’t have spent my money in here.
The Unilocalers were right… the cinammon rolls were hard, old and gross… and to make it even worst, they were pricey.
We ordered our rolls and took them to go. We walked inside the little shop area and when we came out the lady that had just given us our rolls was smoking on the street. That was such a turn-​off as I wondered if she washes her hands when she goes inside.
Never again.

Call me weird but my favorite cinnamon rolls are in fact from Cinnabon or ones that I bake at home myself. We had just come out of the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the smell of these cinnamon rolls is what attracted us to this small bakery. They had a variety of different cinnamon rolls and after some debate, we settled on the Cinnamon Apple Maple and Pecan. I was a little disappointed to find that they weren’t exactly fresh and they microwave it for you to warm it up. Not a good sign in my opinion.
They were a little better than I thought they would be. They were still soft which was a good sign and I liked that they weren’t that sweet and drowning with frosting. I preferred the Pecan one by far because it was more reminiscent of what a real cinnamon roll is. The Apple Cinnamon while also tasty, was not as good as the Pecan and was out shadowed easily. The thing that bothers me the most is the price. It is one of the most expensive cinnamon rolls I’ve ever seen and their size does not reflect the price. But I guess if you’re located on a very crowded street like this one, you can charge whatever you want for mediocre rolls. ³⁄₅