Beard Papa’s

i was surprised at how NOT BAD these profiteroles were… i was a little skeptical about mass produced profiteroles and was expecting them to be somewhat soggy from the custard, but i was delightfully surprised… slightly chewy texture with a nice custard center… not soggy at all… you can even see the small black vanilla specks!
also impressed that the quality was retained in the takashimaya outlet in singapore… they even had mochi ice cream… and it was actually pretty good!

Boo! They never seem to have anything left when I go. And I’ve tried going in the morning, afternoon and evening.
The one time I got to sample their vanilla cream puff, but it was only average. Oh well.

I’m sorry, but Costco Cream Puffs can only satisfy my cravings for so long. I almost died when I had my first Beard Papa’s cream puff 2 years ago. It was bliss, sheer bliss. When I’m having a bad day my roommates get my a vanilla cream puff from here and everything is as sunny as the store’s painted walls. Yes, the décor leaves a little bit to be desired but who doesn’t love the «pastry chef» and his humongous white hat?! However, every time I have gone the employees have been plenty friendly. Also, as long as he/​she hands over my $ 2.50 taste of happiness, I’ll turn a blind, but careful, eye to its sometimes sketchy location and lacking ambiance.

Definitely overrated. How did these $ 2.50 so-​so pastries get so popular in the first place anyways? Granted, we bought one at around 6pm, so they might’ve not been as fresh as can be… but the way I see it, if you are a very well known chain, your product should always be fresh and great-tasting…at ANY hour of the day. Definitely nothing memorable. They would be of better value if they cost $ 1.50 each.
Nikki not Preferred!

OK. Last Unilocal and I’ll leave it alone. The store was open today. Cream puffs were on the counter. For Lease sign still up on the window. A different Asian Bro was there.
Me: «Are you open?»
Asian Bro: «Yes.» (English is not his first language, but it’s cool.)
Me: «Sometimes you are open and sometimes you are closed? Why?»
Asian Bro: «Papa Beard’s ours.» (Oh, must be new owners.)
[Sinister Asian Chef reappears from the back of the house.]
Me: [Exit stage left…]
Me thinking: «Forget the cream puff. This is all not worth it.»

This Beard Papa’s location makes me laugh.
It’s basically a yellow room that happens to sell cream puffs. But where are the cream puff fillings? The only indication that this place sells cream puffs is the sad menu that has most things sold out (and I have a feeling that it’s not really temporarily so) and the few hollow cream puff shells on the counter. Other than that, the counters are EMPTY. Not only that, there’s no one standing at the register or anything, they’re always hiding in the back!
We walk in, ring the bell, order one chocolate and one vanilla cream puff. The guy pulls out the hidden cream puff fillings from the fridge and fills our cream puffs, then gently dusts on the powdered sugar and cocoa powder on top. He looked kinda sad that he was working at a cream puff shop haha. The one good thing about the cream puffs was that the filling was nicely chilled, since ya know they didn’t exactly have a line out the door.
I’ve had Beard Papa’s at other locations and I never understood why people thought it was so delicious or why it was so expensive. This location tastes the same as the other ones I’ve had and they’re fine, not great. The setup of this place just amuses me.

If you’ve tried this place, you should know that it has really delicious crème puffs and eclairs! However, they are a little pricey, and I feel like their location in the UC campus area isn’t very good. You won’t find many college students who are willing to pay so much for a crème puff.
But that being said, I really like their green tea filled crème puff. It’s so good! And it’s not too sweet!!! :)

Finally decided to check this place out and see what its all about and all I can say is…
Tasty Expensive Arse Cream Puffs filled with Happiness.

I always passed by this place going down telegraph and I’ve always wondered what it was, so today I finally went in and found out it’s a cream puff store. I decided to get some… only to realize that there were only TWO flavors available today. All the other flavors (that looked SUPER good) were «SOLD OUT». It was literally the beginning of the day… but whatever. So given that there were only two filling options, chocolate or vanilla, and one topping option, crunchy cookie, I got a little of each. Two vanilla, two chocolate, one chocolate crunchy cookie, and one vanilla crunchy cookie puff.
The filling was not too sweet, but I personally felt like it didn’t have too much flavor to it. Aside from a brown and white color difference, I didn’t really taste a dramatic difference between chocolate and vanilla flavor. The actual «puff» part of the cream puff was nice and soft, but I felt like had a really strong butter smell. I’m not too fond of that, but that’s just my personal preference. I couldn’t really appreciate the crunchy cookie cream puff because there was nothing crunchy or cookie about it. Overall, it was kinda a disappointment.
$ 11 and 6 cream puffs later, I learned something new today. I learned that I don’t like cream puffs. And I am probably not gonna go back to beard papa’s because that is literally all they have. And for a shop that ONLY sells cream puffs, how can you be so limited in your options!!! ONLY TWO choices??? Come on! Do you even want business!!!
Concluding thoughts: The girl that worked there was super nice. That’s about all that’s notable about this place…

Taste: 2
Value: 2
Service: 3
Came here when they first opened and ordered a cream puff with vanilla cream. The cream puff was cold and had probably been sitting out on the counter all day. Also, I would have liked a little bit more cream, and it was definitely not worth the money. If they get warm cream puffs out of the oven, then I might return.

not good at all.
custard is not custard!
vanilla overpowers and the puff isn’t that great either.
not worth it!

I love Beard Papa’s and always stop there everytime I go to Union Square, so I was super excited when they opened one right by campus.
The first time I bought one there, it was just as good as the ones I’ve had in SF. However, one time the pudding cream filling tasted weird, like metal. I’m not sure how to describe it. I gave it another try and it was different, but not as good as I remembered. =(what happened?

I love cream puffs… and was revved up about my first taste of the classic version at this shoppe.
«I love it when you call me BEARD PA-​PA!!!» was the soundtrack for my tastebuds, but much to my chagrin, I was completely underwhelmed by these cream puffs. Total hype and slick advertising.
I was expecting at least a 4 star response, because the shoppe in Manhattan is always a madhouse… and the one in San Francisco does brisk business, too!
I will concede that I appreciated the a la minute injection of pastry cream with each order, but it had a very off-​putting visual element, and the hydrodgenated oil mouth feel made it impossible to eat more than 2 bites.
I perused the other items on the menu, but was simply unwilling to pay more money to get worked up into a yucky pastry-​rage.
Then again, McDonalds can boast: BILLIONS AND BILLIONS served, so… I guess this chain will keep expanding as long as the population is willing to adore ersatz cream puffs remains loyal/​uneducated.
*shrug*
At least I can still do a credible pimp roll… just not in the direction of BEARD PA-​PA, yo.

I seriously can’t tell the difference between the cream puffs here and in SF. They’re freakin delicious and that’s good enough for me. It can be quite a messy treat that ends up all over your face and clothes, but it’s a mess well worth it.
Flavor of the week is usually good, but nothing compares to the original. I would rank them as 1) original, 2) green tea, and 3) caramel. I have yet to try the eclairs here since I always dive right into the cream puffs and end up buying half a dozen to bring home, but one of these days when I decide to really break my diet, I’ll stuff myself silly with sweets.
Thank goodness they opened one up in Berkeley. Please open more locations! I feel like the franchise is getting closer and closer to home in Union City…

Came here again yesterday for DL’s bday w/​the Liu family.
– got the special of the week: $ 2.25 cookie crunch shell w/​pino colada filling.
heavens! if you don’t count the calories and the $… this is a great treat once in a while, not cheap though.

Oh My Gosh!!! These little pieces of heaven are AMAZING!
I ordered the vanilla bean cream puff in the cookie shell… OMG…Wow I was literally in a moment a decadent bliss and the moment sadly had to end: (Truly The Best Cream Puff I have ever had. It was made right there in front of me and devoured shortly after. Thank you beard papa, thankyou! I also dropped a Strawberry filled puff off for my mother and I believe she is now and addict… lol
I am really looking forward to try the chocolate éclair! ;)

THA BOMB!
Cream puffs! It’s so good when made fresh right out of the oven. YURM! It’s not bland, not too sweet. the filling is made to perfection. You’d have to savor every bite, because it’ll be gone quick. esp if you’re sharing with friends. hAHAH!
This week’s flavor is Caramel (at this location), but I’d have to say. Vanilla takes the win over Choco and Caramel. :)
There’s a bench right outside so grab it and chow down. Be sure to grab some napkins, cuz I guarantee you it can get messy.

Beard Papa’s, you are a miracle!!! You have remained purely dedicated to the Cream Puff!!!
Your staff is still charming and dedicated to yumminess!
Thanks Mr Papa!!!

Bleh. Booooorrrrrinnnngggg! The best part was when I accidentally snorted some of the powdered sugar and got it all over my face and jacket.
No flavor, not substance, no memory. Just Bleh. I’ve tasted better tissue (jk, I don’t eat paper). To me, too much hype.
And the service… it was meh. I was the only customer and the cashier/​puff handler acted like she was too busy to serve me. I shoulda went with my first instinct and kept walking. But then, how could I save someone else from destruction?

I never heard of this place, but apparently it’s been hyped up enough that my friend was excited, so we popped in to check it out.
Definitely expensive for the size of the crème puff, as people have said. Three different varieties of puff, three different varieties of fillings. So nine options. I went with chocolate covered and coffee filling. Quite nice. But I’m not sure about worth three bucks. It was gone in four bites. I’ll try the other varieties, just because… but I wasn’t that impressed. But hey, something new…