Budda’s Bakery & Breakfast celebrates grand opening with large crowd

PLEASANT GROVE, Utah — The owners of Pleasant Grove’s newest food spot said they were just expecting friends and family to show up to their grand opening Saturday morning, but they were treated to a crowd they’ll never forget.

Budda’s Bakery & Breakfast had a line snaking through the restaurant and spilling out on the sidewalk — all there to sample the sweet treats the owners brought to Utah from their home in Hawaii.

Jolene Keli’iliki is from the North Shore of Oahu and said she learned all of her recipes from her mom. She and her husband Shawn never planned on opening a place like this, but decided why not?

“We were looking for jobs when we moved here. We did early retirement from BYU Hawaii and nothing was working out, so I told my husband, ‘I’m done working for people.’”

Jolene wants everyone to know her place is called Budda’s, not Buddha’s, though she said you may look like a Buddha if you eat too much of her food.

In addition to their extremely sweet dessert items, they also serve traditional Hawaiian breakfast food, like Spam and egg.