Carlo’s Bakery

Food: 3/​5, the only amazing thing I had was their cheesecake. Lobster roll, I didn’t like too much. Danishes were good. Cupcakes are usually dry.
Décor: 5/​5, great work on the design ! Looks like most of its other locations (this is NOT the original location so tourists, be careful with the selfie sticks.)
It’s also a bit pricey.
Cool place for a quick craving or snack, but not to be compared with many other small bakeshops in Philly. (Termini’s, Isgro’s, etc.)

Lobster tail was amazingly delicious! The crunch of the pastry and the smooth creamy filling really made the flavors go over the edge.
Tried the cannoli but I prefer Termini’s at Reading Terminal Market instead. We also ordered the chocolate mousse cake which was great but unfortunately we didn’t have the full effect since the cake melted in the car. Wish they would have told us it wouldn’t last too long when we ordered it to go.

Today me and my husband drove two plus hours to try Carlos bake shop after all of these years I had been wanting to be there. First surprise no line at all, I just got in and order. The salesperson was very pleasant indeed. We got lobster tails, cannolis, biscotti, rugelash, white chocolate mousse small cake and lastly I ordered chocolate truffle mousse. After reading some of people review about goods being frozen I was kind of hesitant ordering all of those stuff. So my second biggest surprise was that all of the goodies that we ordered werent frozen at all, they were fresh and tasted marvelous, esp. Lobster tails and cannolis to die for, so good so yummy. No wonder this bake shop is so famous all around the world!!! Definitely we will be trying out their main branch in Hoboken, NJ sometimes soon!!! Worth driving there

I have watched buddy on tv for years and when I walked by his bakery craving something sweet, I couldn’t help but walk inside. I tried the vanilla almond biscotti which was delicious. I also had the Italian rainbow cookie and was utterly disappointed. I didn’t like the flavor and it was cut very thin. I have made these cookies myself and they have tasted much better. If I am in the area I would stop by for some biscotti or try a cannoli. I don’t think I will be going out of my way to come here though.

A friend brought me in here on a girls shopping morning which started with a grueling workout at the gym — who doesn’t want a treat after working out? :)
Anyways… I got a pecan snowball which was really good and a vanilla cupcake with vanilla frosting (I know, boring). I had the cupcake the next day which was very good and still fresh. I used to go to magnolia bakery in NYC and I have to say this cupcake was just as good.
My friend also got cupcakes for her family and some pecan chocolate dipped cookie which looked good.
The shop was clean and bright and not crowded — although it was 11am on a January Friday morning.
Sure there are better bakeries especially in south Philly like Isgro’s but this is a good bakery in rittenhouse and I hope they do well. People seem to like it and I’ll come back.

I came here on Black Friday when all the other cafes in the area were closed for the afternoon.
I ordered one of the small cheesecakes and WOW, it was really good! Super smooth and just the right amount of sweetness for me.
The only negative of this place was that I ordered the cheesecake to stay, but they forgot and put it in a to-​go box. And then I ordered a coffee with my cheesecake, but they forgot to give that to me and I had to ask then where my drink was.
Not a lot of places to sit inside — the table I was at was pretty wobbly. But a good place to pick up some cheesecake… to go. ;-)

Well well… I’m kinda surprised at how many people are slamming this place. I’ve been meaning to check it out for a while now. I plead ignorance in that I don’t know anything about a Cake Boss or this particular chain. I just saw that it was a new light in an area that’s otherwise pretty dark at night and has been for quite some time. So I made my way over here one good time on the late night…
It was just me, 2 people already seated, and the lobster tails. It can be a challenge to figure out what to get given so many options, but the choice was clear. I made some chit chatter with the counter guy about the place and asked about the lobster tails (sfogliatelle’s cream filled cousin). I’m thinking, it’s gonna suck because it was like 9pm and this stuff was made in the morning… right? Whatever, I gave it a shot. Loved every bite.
Now after reading some of the slam about this stuff perhaps being frozen, it makes sense that it was good despite it being so late. I’ve eaten sfogliatelle much later in the day and it was just a shadow of its former self. That wasn’t the case for the lobster tail, it was surprisingly fresh. In a past life, I was a thaw and decorate baker myself (and while I didn’t actually eat anything that I made… true story) …I get it.
Overall, I feel like I won the coin toss. I’ve been places that seem cool enough, but I ordered the wrong thing and got a bad impression. Not this time! Lobster tails are that work. You heard me. I was told that they’re made with Bailey’s… it’s like a White Russian Sandwich then.
–PRO QUESTION– what other bakery is open this late?

WARNING: Everything they sell is frozen and they just defrost and decorate… Yuck
The manager has got a nasty attitude too. Not that truly matters when you’re going for the bakery items but they’re all packaged and frozen anyway… What a joke! There are so many real bakeries in philly… Stay away!

I understand that Carlo’s bakery is kind if a big deal. It’s got old school classics like rainbow sprinkle cookies, and cookies by the lb. perhaps it’s my being from NY– but no rainbow cookies? What’s that about? I don’t see them in Philly anyway. Not shocked.
I had a mini cannoli and a rainbow sprinkle cookie.
The cannoli was good. Not Termini Bros. or even close… but even a bad cannoli is better than no cannoli.
And the rainbow cookie was just ok.
For a really fair review I might have to go back and try a cake or some other delicious something or other.

Admittedly I had high expectations for Carlo’s because… obviously! With its NY counterpart’s long lines and fancy exterior, I thought we were in for a real treat. We arrived late in the afternoon yesterday because my mom was interested in buying me a birthday cake. The bakery case was fully stocked and the staff was quick to ask to help us with their high tech iPads. Service wasn’t particularly friendly or bakery-​esque (if you get my drift). This location feels like an assembly line with its high prices, cookie cutter (pun intended) service and even an automatic box tie machine (come on!). Half the fun of coming to any bakery for me is the passion and people. The cake was only okay. Think chilled Entemenns loaf with better icing. There are quite a few wonderful bakeries in the city. This one just has the great location.

The cakes here are amazing !!! Love the fast and kind service and the how cute they wrap the boxes! This is my go to spot for everything sweet. I absolutely love it and can depend on this bakery for a bday cake or just a small sweet snack.

So, here’s the thing– if you’re going to open a bakery in Center City Philadelphia with an open kitchen and everyone wearing white baker hats, that has long, slow lines when people buy t-​shirts in front of you, and sometimes when you walk buy it smells like chemicals instead of chocolate, it should at least be better than Dunkin Donuts…
I would love to find a neighborhood bakery that brings the best tastes of South Philadelphia into center city. The things I tried from the Cake Boss didn’t look good sitting in the case… there was oil on the wax paper underneath big, flat, mushy looking cookies… and were expensive for pasteries that do not look taste better than they look sitting in the case.
Terrible biscotti– I believe it was the vanilla almond that had the worst fake almond flavoring aftertaste. Biscotti from a box in Target or Trader Joe’s taste better than these.
The guy I ordered with didn’t know what kind of cream was used in the cannoli. He told me it was cannoli cream.
Isgro’s any and every day of the week.

I like this place for the most part, if you know what to get you won’t be disappointed. I have been to the original location, and I prefer that one, but this certainly is worth coming to check out.
The first time I came here, I bought a whole bunch of things to try! Various cookies, cannoli’s, and a few cupcakes. I was babysitting my nephew that afternoon, so I figured I could bribe him with some sweets and pick up a nice treat for my boyfriend for dessert.
I really liked the cannoli’s and the cupcakes. I was not a fan of most of the cookies. I was a little disappointed in the quality if the products here since I had expectations from my visits to the original location.
They have a really large selection, and a few tables to sit at, which is nice if you want to devour your food right away. Staff is pretty friendly, but usually when I have come here, the service can be slow.
The Carrot Cake Cupcake, Cannoli, and the Oreo Cupcake are my favorite things. I will absolutely be trying the cannoli cake as soon as I have an excuse to buy it!
A bit on the pricey side, and not as great as the original bakery, but you can only do so much when opening up new locations. I do certainly enjoy these baked goods and will definitely come back.
I would have liked to give them 3.5 stars, but I will round up to 4 since overall, my experiences here are positive!

Solid mousse cake but slightly underwhelming given all of the buzz. The cake itself was tasty but not that differentiated from what I would be able to get in any other bakery, including KC in Chinatown. The presentation was great, though. Overall, Swiss Haus is still my go-​to since their hazelnut cake remains to be surpassed but Carlo’s is a decent option for your standard birthday cakes. The cookies here are good, but again, I still prefer the buttery goodness of Swiss Haus.

After wanting to try carlo’s bakery in nyc a few times because it was always packed and I’m impatient sometimes, they finally opened one closer to home in center city. Thank you for that. I didn’t completely give it a five stars because the bake goods that I purchased today didn’t meet that expectation. I was hoping for some chocolate covered stawberries and mini tiramisu cake but they didn’t have any .
No line, fast service today, and I also found a parking close by.

Carlo’s is known for their sweet lobster rolls but I was on my way to dinner and those babies are huge! Instead I browsed the cookie section!
They have solid cookies –try the chocolate chocolate sandwich cookies, amazingly chocolately and crumbles, then melts in your mouth! The white powdered sugar balls were not quite as good — a bit bland and dry. Overall I am in love with the chocolate cookies and will be back for more!

I’ll start this off by mentioning that I have never been to the original location. Ok now that that is out of the way: I love this place. I’ve been stopping in for various occasions (birthdays, Father’s Day, etc) since they opened in June. I will share with you that during those first few weeks they were giving away reusable bags if you spent a certain amount of money… I now have two of them… YES IT WAS WORTH IT.
I’ve read some of the other reviews on here about it being crowded and not getting service right away, but I have only experienced that once and that was on Father’s Day when the store was filled with everyone trying to get their hubby one of those cannoli cakes. I would take those comments with a grain of salt. Anywhere will be crowded during certain times of the day. The staff has always been courteous and very patient as decide what I want.
Now, on to the fun part: what to get. Remember when you were a kid and you walked in to Toys R Us and your parents dropped the bomb that you could only walk out with one thing? This is my struggle every time I walk in here. I hypothetically could leave with a lot of things but I know I shouldn’t so I limit myself. My favorites: the carrot cake, the chocolate mousse cake, and the chocolate dipped cannoli. I recommend all of them. Other things that I have tried that are delicious: the Oreo cupcake, the chocolate cream puff, and the walnut brownie.
This place is a little pricey, but I guess it comes with the name of the Cake Boss. I also like that the kitchen has a large viewing window from the street so that you can see what the bakers are working on as you walk past.

From what I have tried at Carlo’s, the offerings are pretty good:
Some stuff is really good (the seven layer cookies) *****
Some stuff is pretty good (the napoleons) ****
And some stuff is just ok (the donuts) ***
The servers here are friendly and there are a few tables if you want to eat your purchases and try a few different things. They also have this motorized thing that wraps string around the boxes that is kind of fun to watch.

I ride my bike past Carlo’s frequently, so I thought I’d given in to my sweet tooth and stop in.
The selection of baked goods is huge. I spent a solid 5 minutes salivating at all the goodies before I decided on a cannoli and brownie. I figured that ordering what are bake shop «staples» would give me a good idea how their other delicacies would taste.
The cannoli’s outside was dipped in chocolate, so you can imagine my anticipation upon arriving home and unwrapping that beast. But that’s where the excitement ended. The cannoli’s filling was not very good — it was rather sour and I scraped most of it off. The outside of the cannoli was the best part. My brownie was rather dry too and I probably could have used it to wipe away the tears I shed for wasting $ 7.00.
On the plus side, the staff was eager to assist and watching the cake-​makers while I waited for my order was kind of cool. Despite that, I probably won’t return to Carlo’s, but given it’s location, the bulk of their customer base will most likely be tourists anyway.

Cake Boss has arrived. I have mixed feelings, but I «bravely» venture to Rittenhouse.
Things that are 5 stars: the clean beautiful bakery with lots of light from the large store front windows. Some seating if you decide to eat the cupcake you bought for yourself in secret so no one in the office knows about it. Also, the staff was really nice, cheerful, and patient. I have weird confession– I like the packaging of the baked goods: you can see from my pic but they had a box that perfectly fit my one cupcake and two mini cannolis. Adorable because I could gift someone these baked goods and love the presentation! Also it insured that my cupcake wouldn’t be rolling around just cuz I didn’t order enough to pack the box.
The 3 ¾th star thing: the actual baked goods. Which is a bummer and can’t totally be overlooked. Lots of things looked crazy decadent (of course a place like this would have great presentation) but turned out to be okay and not super over the top knock my socks off. The star for me was probably the peanutbutter cupcake– it wasn’t overly sweet which was great in a way and the cake part wasn’t dry! The cookies, like a lot of Italian cookies, were on the dry side due to the nature of butter cookies, but even the Nutella butter cookies which sounded like they would be chocolate hazelnut delicious was a little too subtle. The chocolate covered cannolis again looked so decadent but weren’t that overly rich– which I guess to people with less of a sweet tooth would like. But I kinda feel like if I’m gonna indulge it better be over the top splendiferous! But honestly, I can’t complain, as the goodie were wolfed down.
Anyway, I will be back to try the cakes and update a review. You know, for the sake of Unilocal!hehehehe