The bakery specializes in Chinese desserts, everything from mochi to mooncakes. (Sophie Bai / For The Heights)
Crystal Gao and Mark Chen began Crystal Bakery as an online business in a small studio, but the Chinese-style patisserie has blossomed into a recognizable spot for inventive pastries in Newtonville.
“We just started from, like, family and then friends at the beginning,” Gao said. “It’s so nice going from a small business to right now.”
Crystal Bakery has built its reputation on novelty and creativity. Customers step into a shop filled with trending Chinese-style pastries rarely found elsewhere in Newton.
“Our bakery is like a new-style bakery,” Gao said. “It’s a little bit different from, like, a Chinatown traditional bakery.”
The hand-rolled mochi is the star attraction, with flavors ranging from mango and strawberry to Oreo, matcha, and tiramisu. Crystal Bakery even offers a “make your own” mochi station, allowing customers to mix and match toppings, fillings, and flavors.
“The fresh cream mochi and custom fresh mochi are the most popular items in our store,” Gao said. “My favorite is the mango cream and the matcha with red bean.”
Beyond mochi, the menu includes both savory and sweet creations. Featured items include pork floss cakes, tiger skin rolls with taro and pork, Japanese-style light cheesecake, mung bean cakes, taro cream cakes, and mousse cakes.
With the Chinese Autumn Festival approaching in early October, the bakery is rolling out a seasonal line of mooncakes—the holiday’s signature treat—filled with everything from classic red bean and taro with egg yolk to coconut custard.
But Crystal Bakery is more than its menu. The shop radiates the warmth of home, adorned with countless decorations and a picture wall showcasing the couple’s friends and family.
Red couplets of the Chinese New Year surround the picture wall. Carrying meaning beyond aesthetics, these couplets are inscribed with phrases wishing happiness and good fortune, with their vibrant red color believed to ward off bad luck.
Behind the counter, employees chat easily while tending to their tasks. Customers can even watch pastry chefs at work in real time, an experience that makes the bakery feel like stepping into a family kitchen. That sense of family is at the heart of the business, Gao said.
“In the beginning, we moved to Newton for a very simple reason because we think about the family,” Gao said. “We can do the business, and also take care of the family.”
Even the bakery’s name carries personal meaning for Gao.
“My Chinese name is 晶 (Jīng),” Gao said. “Jīng means crystal in Chinese. Crystals are very brilliant and shiny, so we think it is a good name for us.”
Crystal Bakery has become a student hotspot, located between Newton North High School and The Fessenden School.
Floods of students can be seen at the end of the school day, rushing to order the famous bubble teas. While classic flavors are on the menu, Crystal Bakery goes above and beyond by adding twists to popular drinks, such as their brown sugar milk tea with taro paste or strawberry milk with popping boba.
Gao also noted the bakery’s superpower: their customized cake decoration service.
“You can find a cake style from anywhere,” Gao said. “You just show me the picture, and then we will make the special cake for you.”
For now, Gao and Chen are focused on Newton, but they are also eyeing expansion into Boston. Thanks to glowing reviews on Instagram, TikTok, and RedNote, more people are beginning to discover this hidden gem.