Cinnabon Sydney: What it’s really like in Australia

By William On Jan 31, 2023

Sydneysiders have been queuing for hours to try the cult cakes from American bakery chain Cinnabon.

The store opened in Darling Square in central Sydney on January 7 and has seen wait times of up to two hours, with people prepared to queue up the block.

Cinnabon’s signature item is a shop-baked parchment topped with the distinctively flavored Indonesian Makara cinnamon and topped with sweet white glaze, best served hot from the oven.

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American comedian Louis C.K. described Cinnabons as “a six foot tall cinnamon swirl cake made for a sad fat man.”

As with many American servings, Cinnabons is large by Australian standards, which can lead to deep regret over life choices about two-thirds of the way.

I had had the standard size Cinnabons before, but this time I had four smaller ones in a sampler pack.

They weren’t as sweet as I anticipated, if anything, the icing was applied quite thin in places.

The interior glaze spread over the thick batter also offset the sweetness with a slightly tart flavor that reminded me of golden syrup.

Two was all I could heat up, which is the way to eat them. Once cold, they freeze into fairly solid lumps.

They are worth trying and sharing, but maybe not if the wait is longer than 10 minutes.

Such has been the demand, the Sydney store’s website advises customers to expect a 60 to 90 minute wait and warns that queues will be cut before closing time.

On the day he visited Daily Mail Australia, those advancing to the front third of the queue had been waiting around 30 minutes.

Gyuri and Yuna had been waiting and said they were looking forward to trying the cakes, after waiting half an hour, because friends had recommended them.

Joan, who had been waiting patiently at the end of the line for 15 minutes, said she had visited on a weekday because the line had been “crazy” over the weekend.

Sydneysiders have been patiently waiting for the cult American pies served by Cinnabon

The lines are particularly crazy on weekends, sometimes stretching close to the length of Darling Square.

“They promoted it and some people waited around two hours in the back for this,” he said.

Having seen it ‘all over the streets’ and promoted by social media influencers, I was intrigued to try the new flavor.

“This is new to me,” he said.

I can smell the aroma from a distance, but I’m not sure how it will taste.

“I think it’s going to be sweet, like it tastes like sugar.”

The rolls are baked in-store and have a distinctively flavored cinnamon glaze on the inside of the rolls.

Dina was standing in line even though she had already tried Cinnabon cakes in her native Egypt.

“I used to eat it at home and I’m really looking forward to having it again,” he said.

‘It’s so good. I hope it’s the same here, so I’m waiting here to see.

Cinnabon, which also has six stores in Queensland and one in Victoria, has become well known to Australian fans of the critically acclaimed TV police drama Better Call Saul, which is the prequel series to the award-winning Breaking Bad.

Friends Gyuri and Yuna had never tried Cinnabons before, but they were prepared to wait.

In Better Call Saul, shady lawyer Jimmy McGill, who practiced under the name Saul Goodman on Breaking Bad, has assumed the identity of Gene, a Cinnabon store manager, to escape his misdeeds.

The show was the reason Annie waited in line with her 10-year-old daughter Ava.

Despite being a worldwide franchise, Cinnabons is only available in three Australian states.

“I’m a Better Call Saul fan,” Annie said.

‘It was the best series.

“You have feelings for him as a human being, but he continues to make bad decisions that are unethical, so you struggle to relate to him.

I hope Saul is there.

Promoting the new Sydney store on social media convinced some people to give it a try

The shop’s owner, Helen, said there were lines every day, but the biggest had been on the Saturday opening, almost a four-hour wait.

“It’s because we bake them fresh every day,” he said.

‘All of our rolls are handmade and it shows, we roll everything and bake so it takes time.

“I can understand that it’s frustrating to wait, but we just want to deliver as fresh a product as we can.”

The store has sent out samples of its drinks for customers to try while they wait on particularly hot days and has also limited the number of bagels customers can buy.

The critically acclaimed American crime drama Better Call Saul, seen here with Bod Odenkirk playing the lead character Saul Goodman, has garnered a lot of interest at Cinnabons.

“At first we try not to sell to no limit, but if we don’t sell to our limit and people are prepared to buy a lot more, the wait will be a lot longer,” Helen said.

She said she expected demand to remain strong, but hoped it would slow to the point of not keeping people waiting for long periods.

“We do our best to accommodate everyone,” Helen said.

Despite doing the same job as Saul Goodman, Helen admitted that she hadn’t seen the hit TV series.

“This program did a very good publicity for us,” he said.