Sweet Arrival: Magnolia Bakery

Magnolia Bakery, the newest contender in the battle of the bakeries, where customers have already resigned themselves to a routine. They gaze wistfully at a colorful selection of sweets as they wait -- and wait -- before advancing to the sign marked "order here." 

The delay is made all the more excruciating by the irresistible smell of freshly baked cupcakes circulated by a pair of 6-foot-wide fans suspended from a silver crown-moulded ceiling.

Still, the wait for a cupcake is better than the wait some residents endured for the shop to open.

Matt Legum, a West Hollywood local, originally from New York, said signs promising that Magnolia was on the way taunted him for almost a year.

When the bakery opened its doors this month, the 50 people who had lined up at 7:30 a.m. were rewarded with what Legum called "divine, buttery deliciousness."

Magnolia owner Steve Abrams bought the original shop in New York City in 2006 and added three more locations there. The Los Angeles shop is the second Magnolia outside of New York, with the other in Dubai.

The bakery was originally scheduled to open at the beginning of this year, Abrams said. But he was slowed down by what he called "permit hell."

Abrams endured the challenges, he said, because he was committed to the shop's Third Street location. He wanted a "real neighborhood, and this is a real neighborhood."

Legum, an actor, couldn't stand the wait the morning the shop opened, so he stopped by Magnolia that afternoon and was relieved to find an ample selection. He walked away with four cupcakes: two red velvet and two vanilla. Cupcakes in classic flavors such as chocolate and vanilla run $2.75,  while specialty cupcakes like red velvet and caramel cost 50 cents more.

Magnolia joins a crowded field of high-end cupcake shops in the area, including Sprinkles, Famous Cupcakes and Crumbs. And there's already a lot of competition on Third Street for diners with well-established, celebrity-favorite hot spots Doughboys, Toast and Joan's on Third.  

Abrams isn't fazed by all the competition and expects business to be "jamming."  

Legum would agree. "No one touches Magnolia -- it's the best," he said.