Carlo’s Bakery

Not great, not bad. The cupcakes were okay, but mostly tourist hype. Price was reasonable but I definitely prefer magnolia bakery’s cupcakes. Not worth it to come back here.

Kind of been disappointed lately with their cakes. I have been coming here for over 25 years and now that they have expanded the cakes are not as great. They also removed items from the menu that were amazing. I tried to order a large strawberry cheesecake just to be told that they no longer make them but I can get the individual sizes. Not sure why they would stop making these since they were always sold out. I also noticed that in some locations the cannolis are already pre made. Before the shells were done and they would put the cream fresh.
I guess its true when they say all good things come to an end. I don’t feel the quality and taste is there like before. I think they shifted their focus on building more locations and selling merchandise. Which I find a bit tacky to go into a bakery just to see t-​shirts, shorts and tees all over the place. The place is nice and renovated but its just been crappy since their expansion. Don’t even get me started on how dry and hard the cakes have become.
Will probably be looking for a new bakery.

I was a big Cake Boss fan and has always wanted to try their cake that looked so amazing in the TLC’s show. I ordered Chocolate Moose Cake thinking it was chocolate cake, there is no sign of product name on the display so I assume it was cake inside. What I had was way too sweet. The chocolate covered strawberry was delicious but I was really disappointed by the moose cake.
Not many people in line like I saw on TV so that is great. I had their cake at my friend’s wedding (strawberry buttercream) it was yummy so I decided to make the trip but was let down a little by my high expectations.

After a quick trip to Hoboken for some lunch and a walk, hubby and I stopped in Carlo’s Bakery for some sweets to enjoy at the park near the ferry. Their counter is full of delicious looking cakes, cookies, brownies, etc. It was hard to choose what to get! Ended up with a couple of dark chocolate chip cookies and a Red Velvet cupcake. And a souvenir mug to boot!
Everything was yummy! We were very happy with our purchases. And my coffee mug is truly one of my favorites — not even sure why, it just is.
I do not watch Cake Boss so I don’t know anything about the owner or anyone who is/​was on the tv show. I just know that I enjoyed what we got and would go back again if we ever get the chance.

Sadly, I wasn’t all that impressed. The food is fine but without a posted menu, ordering can be kind of overwhelming. Luckily we didn’t wait very long but the girl who helped us wasn’t very, well, helpful. When we asked for suggestions she said «everything.» Oh yeah? Thanks.
We don’t really frequent bakeries so half of the pastries were foreign to me. We had to turn to Unilocal for better recommendations.
The inside has been totally commercialized. Pictures from the show adorn the walls and any classic old time bakery ambiance has vanished. Aside from the storefront, there is no reason to visit here as opposed to the chain locations in Vegas or Dallas.

This place is a tourist hot spot. Make sure to come when it isn’t a peak time. We came at 7:00pm on a Thursday and the line was pretty short.
Original Cake Boss filming location it’s pretty cool having a sweet snack in there.
I ordered a cannoli, crêpe puff and lobster tail. The cannoli was good but nothing to talk about. Your basic cannoli. The crime puff was messy but quite yummy. The lobster tail was very good. It was $ 4.95 but was filled with a vanilla custard crime pudding substance. Not sure what was inside of it but the outside was flaky and inside was hella creamy.
We went because we stayed in Jersey City but it’s not worth traveling to NJ for if your staying in NYC.

It’s a Hoboken thing!
So is this the best bakery ever? Not really, but it is a fun touristy thing to do, if and when you’re in New Jersey. I came here with my Buddy V super fan, my fiancé, and was surprised to get some bakery help right away. Their waiting system is based on a «take a number» style, this way you can scope out the baked goods behind the glass and watch a few cakes being made while you listen for your number to be called.
We ended up buying three Cannoli’s, two Lobster Tails and a layered flaky pastry with a very thick icing on top. The Lobster Tails are a great choice and a specialty of Carlo’s Bakery. The Cannoli’s have a great crunchy pastry on the outside, but I wasn’t really into the filling. It was very sweet with an interesting aftertaste. The multi-​layered cake was fantastic; the pastry was light and airy and the frosting on top was crazy addicting.
This place is small and can get filled up fast so if you’re visiting, call ahead first to get the waiting time. We called and found out it was about five-​minute wait, but as we left the line went out the door.
Let the pastry coma commence!

I placed an order online for pick up and I am so very glad I did. The line was insanely long and there was a bouncer outside of the door. But since I ordered online I got to skip the big line and wait in a smaller line.
I went in and pickup cannolis and red velvet cupcakes. While I was there I saw 1 of the sisters but that was about it. The place was packed, pretty disorganized and I still had to wait about 30 minutes to get my order.
The cannolis were ok. They were a bit heavier then I am use to. The pastry dough wasn’t light and flakey but was more dense. But it still has good texture and over all pretty yummy. The cannoli filling was flavorless. It wasn’t that sweet and pretty unforgettable. Some cannolis also have chocolate chips in them. These ones did not making it even more forgettable.
The red velvet cupcakes were not good at all. The cake was dry and unappealing. The cream cheese frosty was way to sweet and it as very over powering. The frosting to cake ratio to me was also off. I would of wanted more frosting but since it was to sweet it was just of putting. The red velvet cupcakes were more or less untouched.

Cake Boss! Always wanted to try Carlo’s Bakery since watching the show but sadly it is more TV hype then actual good eats.
LONG LONG lines. I had to come twice because the first day, I came at 10 am and the line was down the street and it moves at snail pace. Second day I came 30 minutes before they opened and the line was like 10 people deep. I waited like 15 minutes after opening to order. People order really slow.
Getting here is easy from NYC. Take the train to Hoboken and its a 5 minute walk to get here.
The bakery is really small and cramped inside.
Cannoli — $ 3.95 — So disappointing. Super chalky filling. The shell did not taste fresh and was a bit soggy.
Lobster Tail — $ 5.50 — Looks flaky but was not when you bite into it. Filling was better then the cannoli one but nothing special.
I was really sad how below average the pastries were. I guess when you become super commercial, the quality goes down hill. Prices are priced high for basic pastries.

Product purchased– My wedding cake: there were what looks like two «nail «marks on top of the fondant icing. In addition, the border was supposed to be a ribbon/​band around the cake color magenta. Several times we pointed this out to customer service at the NJ offices and it was written on the paper order. The color we chose looks more like a wine burgundy and it did not have the ribbon/​band we envisioned, so it was disappointing.
The way it is decorated with the «magenta» like color looked «cheap».

Took the train, found the location, and stood in the hours long line to finally try out Carlo’s Bakery!
To be fair, there’s so much hype from the TV show that my expectations were very, very high.
But the pastries were not out of this world. And I expected the store to be very high energy and it was actually just very crowded, no music, and pretty quiet employees working inside the bakery. I was hoping to see someone from the family at the location, I think they’ve moved to a different location.
But I’m glad that I made the visit because I’ve watched their show for years.

Luckily we didn’t have a line up or too much of a crowd the day we went. The bakery looks great, displays of baked deliciousness. What’s missing to me is labels and pricing? I couldn’t find that.
The cashier could be a bit more polite. The bakery is famous because of the TV show. People come because of it, so some more patience and detail when I ask — how much is the cupcake, what flavours of cake do you have, how much does a cake cost. I get that it may be irritating responding to questions about flavour and pricing but maybe signs and pricing would avoid this.
The lobster tails were a win. The cupcakes were good. I ordered what I thought was a cupcake with vanilla frosting but it turned out to be Irish cream– meh. I also got a cannoli cake to take home.
The baked goods were great but there better and friendlier service. And maybe it’s good to label and price the items. I find that the quality is the same as any other big Italian bakery in America.
It’s a great area to eat lunch along the street as its full of restaurants and then stopping by here to pick up dessert.

Meh. I forgot to write a review of this place during our NYC vacay. Needless to say Carlos was not very memorable.
I do remember standing in a long line in a filthy bakery! Trash everywhere. No one would clean up the tables. Trash bins were over flowing.
We finally get up to order and collect the items we paid for (a couple cookies and a coffee cake) I take a bite into my cookie and there is a hair baked into my cookie.
I should have known that Carlos does not pride their store on cleanliness. The baked goods were very generic tasting, the local grocery store makes better baked goods than this place.
I would definitely pass on Carlos and go to a smaller locally owned bakery.

Yay! Got here and no lineup! (Thursday at 10am)
So many goodies and so little time. I was leaving on a jet plane that night. I grabbed the famous lobster tail (yummy!) and an Oreo cupcake for my soon-​to-​be hubby who loves anything Oreo.
I wanted to grab some donuts — they looked sooooo good. We had already enjoyed a cake earlier that week from there — there was cookies and cream filling in the middle of the cake. I don’t usually like fondant but this cake was good!
The place was clean and bright. Friendly and efficient service. It was affordable. Two treats and a small coffee (which is the size of a large Canadian coffee) came to $ 10 even. Nice! (Not as good if I factor in our current exchange rate — but hey, not Buddy’s fault :)
Will I make the trip over again — yes! I’ll bring the hubby and Hey! Hoboken is nice! With treats in hand I walked around the town (pre-​burning the calories I was about to consume). It was a cold day but the calmness and beauty of the day made up for that.

My favorite bakery in Manhattan is Buttercup Bake Shop and it’s hard to match the quality of their sweets, even in a city that has an endless supply of bakeries. But when I took the PATH train through the world’s first underwater tunnel, over to Hoboken to see Carlo’s, I wanted to see if Buddy could back up all the television talk with a good product. I know he’s a cake-​making genius. But can they make incredible baked goods?
I went about 10 a.m. and had a surprisingly brief wait. The place filled up quickly and I had my picture made with the matriarch Mary Valastro while picking out what to eat. The cannoli were amazing!!! The chocolate-​covered strawberries were amazing!!! The crumb cake was amazing!!! I was afraid it was all TV hype, but the proof is in the product and Buddy really delivered.
Kristine D. gave Carlo’s two stars??? Girl, hook me up! Tell me where your 5-​star bakery is!!! I’ll try it next time I’m up there! Give a fellow elite the secret location!

The boss of bakeries… best bakery ever. Beautiful presentation of cakes, pastries, everything in their displays — fantastic — and everything we had was over the top good! This place was amazing before all the Cake Boss tv hype, which is when I knew it… And its lobster tails … Just wow.
I passed the several block line one day on a Hoboken appointment and stopped to ask what’s going on ?? Someone said this place was famous for its tv show … Ok whatever– I don’t do lines but was curious … so moving right along.
Yesterday after an appointment walking Washington I recognized this place as a bakery where — during my pregnancy years ago (pre cake boss and hype) I would get thee one sweet sinfully delicious lobster tail craving — too often — walk blocks to get them and regularly … Too much … This was when it was not modernized or renovated, no lines, not decked out with tv show souvenirs … So stepped in yesterday and realized what was my lobster claw craving bakery became the hyped up cake boss tv place with the long lines… I was like wow … Very cool… And deserved fame and success …
Seeing one of the women/​owners I joked that their lobster tails contributed to 10 plus pounds of my pregnancy — maybe even the reason for my c-​section. She laughed and asked, and how’d he turn out? Me: bright, sweet, creative, athletic … Great ! I guess I have to credit their lobster claws not just for the bigness but his sweetness too: p
I bought a lobster tail yesterday for old times sake and wow, remembered… no wonder I developed the craving. Heaven ! Also took home a beautiful and unbelievable chocolate creation… Took brownies to my son and his friends who devoured them On a street corner. And a chocolate covered strawberry. All amaaaazing !
I wish they were nearby for gifts and dinner treats though would not want them next door — dangerously way too good for my temptation and waistline. If you’re in Hoboken — must go. Mid day weekday when I was there the lines weren’t bad.

Seriously, let’s be real. This bakery is all tv hype. Just because the show is somewhat interesting doesn’t mean that the baked goods are any good. At best, this place is average. But considering the horrendously long lines AND how expensive their pastries have gotten since the show started, forget about it (sans the Jersey accent).
When I was a kid, my mother once ordered a full sheet of tiramisu for Easter. My family threw away ¾ of it. Despite it being somewhat pricey because it was from a nice Italian Hoboken bakery, my family had no qualms about tossing it out. I’ve gone in through the years (pre-​show of course) and would pick up a lobster tail, a rainbow cookie, a rugelach here and there, but it was always just ok. Definitely not anything to write home about.
Yes, they do a great job decorating their cakes, but please don’t eat them. I’ve been to a fair share of events where they’ve ordered one of these beauties, and they were just terrible, dry, flavorless slices of what they call cake.
And if you think that they’re baking these concoctions in the kitchen out back, those days are long gone. Their actual kitchen churns out baked goods in a large operation in Jersey City. So don’t wait on those massive 1 – 2 hour long lines just to pay for overpriced mediocre Italian pastries. Definitely venture over to the dozens of other nearby bakeries. They might not have a tv show, but you’ll support local business and actually receive something that’s worth your money.
If you ABSOLUTELY must try something from there or really, really want a T-​shirt or some other random souvenir, hit up your contacts. Hoboken residents and employees don’t wait in line. I once used a friend’s work ID and got the local hook up. I was in and out in 2 minutes despite the quoted hour and a half wait just to step foot into the store.
Lastly, if you expect to see Buddy in there, you won’t. I’ve literally seen this guy walk down Washington St. and cross over once he was a block away and aim his face away from the bakery. Once he passed, he crossed back and went into the nearby Office Depot. I can’t blame him really, but that was a crap move considering he had people waiting in line up the block AND across the street hoping to see him.
I wish the pastries justified the price tag and the wait, but I gotta call it like I see it. It’s a solid 2-​star joint.

I love bakeries. I love baked goods. I love cannolis. I enjoyed the tv show that popularized this bakery. So naturally I assumed I would like this bakery.
We came here late one evening and there was no wait. We got a few cannolis to go. About fifteen minutes later, we dug into our mini chocolate and plain cannolis. They tasted okay. The shells were filled with pretty good pastry cream & chocolate chips and dusted with powdered sugar. The shells were thick, but didn’t taste very fresh. They were a bit stale. The ricotta cream could have been a little better too. Perhaps it was because we got them at the end of the day. Maybe I built it up in my mind, assuming this would be the best cannoli I would ever have, but it didn’t live up to the pedestal I put it on. Either way, I have had better cannolis before. Plus, they were rather pricey for miniature baked goods. There wasn’t much of a selection that time and the remaining items they had didn’t appear too interesting to me.
I am just glad that we did not have to wait in line. I do appreciate that they close several hours later than most bakeries do. I would be interested in trying a lobster tail one day.

Good things come to those who wait… to get into Carlo’s Bake Shop, in the form of getting your hands on the treasured cannoli.
Hits:
* CANNOLIIIIIIIIII!!! I have a microscopic sweet tooth, and I adored it, mainly for the buttery, perfect-​level-​of-​crunchy shell… In retrospect, I should have ordered a dozen cannoli and just left the decadent filling
* The Lobster Tail stuffed with light whipped cream was another popular one among my family, though I could have nixed the whipped cream; call me crazy, but if I lived the rest of my life lacking whipped cream, I wouldn’t miss a thing
Lessons Learned:
* You’ve watched the show, people! The line (which starts at the CVS up the block) to get in is outrageous… and once you’re in the shop, it’s even more chaotic — not a good setting for those who suffer from claustrophobia
* Although each pastry item isn’t expensive, the bill can rack up easily — my family of 5 practically dropped a Ben Franklin on these cavity-​inducing suckers…

I don’t even know where to start with this place.
First of all, just make sure that you have a couple hours (yes, HOURS) to kill before going to this place. The wait to get INSIDE the bakery takes at least 45 minutes-​unless you go right when they’re open. Once you get inside, you’ll have to wait for. probably another half an hour. There’s very limited «seating» inside and it’s packed with humans walking, pushing, and shoving each other all over the place so they can snapchat & take pictures of the pastries/​bakery. So to be on the safe side, I would not sit. Some guy, and I’m not joking, pulled my hair trying take pictures/​videos of cakes being make by the kitchen. I’m sure it was an accident, but I just wanted to paint a little picture of what it’s like inside of Carlo’s Bakery.
So you get a ticket outside and wait in line. Once you get inside there is a little screen that tells you which number is currently being helped. Once it’s your turn, the screen will shows your number and someone will also scream it out. You better listen because once they pass you, there’s no going back. That person is going to help you pick out whatever you want and also will be the person that brings you up. I’d say they have a semi structured system, except last time I was there, they missed mine and my best friend’s numbers which sent us to a moment of panic because we literally waited more than an hour for them.
Their pastries are pretty good. I do really really like their lobster tails. Whatever that cream inside is, it is amazing. I’ve tried their cannoli but I’m not a big fan. Also not a fan of the cream puffs. I thought the cream inside was too heavy. If it was light like the one in lobster tails, it would have been perfect.
Overall, it’s an interesting experience if you never been here. It’s cool to see it in person since I was a big Cake Boss fan. However, I don’t think I’ll be returning anytime soon unless I have major major major major major craving for their lobster tails or they start doing delivery. It’s just not worth all the pushing and hair pulling.