CBS Cupcakes

This locations has closed. There is still one at the carlsbad outlet if you are a fan.
Personally their cupcakes are not that special. The only nice part is that you can mix and match the cake, frosting, and toppings.

I don’t know of any other cupcake joint that gives you the opportunity to choose your cake and frosting flavors. Unfortunately, these are really mediocre (mostly because of the American buttercream) and pricey to boot. I am being generous with 3 stars because I tasted their confections at the OC Fair last year – benefit of the doubt and all that. However, this year I enjoyed their key lime and red velvet cake balls on-​a-​stick. And they offer cute doggie cupcakes, comparable to Three Dog Bakery.
I hear they closed this location, too? You can visit their website if you must.

The customer service was OK at best. The staff seemed easily distracted and not overly excited about their jobs. Which would be fine if this was McDonald’s perhaps. But at cupcake places– I guess I just expect super friendly, kind and chirper folks behind the counter.
Perhaps they were not because they probably have to deal with a ton of kids/​teens all day since they are located in a foodcourt of a mall. But still, every time I walk into Sprinkles– they are clearly much busier yet manage to treat you like a queen.
I do hope CBs steps up the customer service/​attention/​greeting a little because I actually have chosen them over Spinkles to use for my (brother’s) wedding reception! that I am hosting.
After a long search and many taste-​tastes, I thought SPrinkles would be the winner because I LOVE their atmosphere, customer service and presentation. all 3 which CBs lacks.
However– what CBs has, that beats the others (for me), — is TASTE!
And that, is very important to me especially when I am giving this to other people at a reception.
Their cakes were exactly what I was looking for– light and fluffy! I absolutely love the mosit cake with the smoth frosting.
I wish they were a little prettier to display, and I am a bit nervous about how the arrangement will go for transportion (reception is in 2 weeks, so I will post a review again after and let you know how it went!).
I also like that I do not need a minimum order. We only plan to have 35 – 40 guests along with other desserts. Some other cupcake shops had a minimum order of 200 required for their minins!
I will grab a cupcake from CBs every time I am at the mall, which is often and I am excited to have them at our reception and see if everyone else loves the fact that they taste homemade too!
The other shops I tried may have had more flavors to offer, but the muffins were too dense. way too heavy and filling.
CBs tasted like a little piece of heaven.
Hopefully as they grow, they will improve on presentation. But either way, I am sold and going with CBs!

Someone bought me a box of cupcakes from this place. Being that I am such a cupcake fanatic, i had to come on Unilocal and rate my experience.
Let me break it down:
First of all: Appearance– Cupcakes look store made, vons quality, big bulky cupcakes in shiny clear boxes, poor packaging.
Fabulous packaging is expected. The clear plastic container gave no indication this came from a cupcake boutique that charges 3.25 per cupcake. So not a good start…
This store allows you to pick your cake, pick your frosting and pick your toping. Lost of choices gone bad —
How about stick to one thing and do it well?
The red velvet cake earned them two stars, not horrible. In fact, better cake than i have experienced at cucpake love of solana beach.
However, the ugly boring packaging and high prices keeps me from rating anything above two stars so far.
Now the FROSTING — The frosting is sooo crucial in a GOOD cupcake.
Sprinkles (in la jolla) has mastered the art of good frosting. This place is no match to Sprinkles and the frosting flavors are: chocolate butter cream, vanilla butter cream and cream cheese.
I tasted the cream cheesy, lemony, runny, sugary, yellowish, you get the picture. NOT GOOD.
In conclusion– bad appearance, bad list choices, good cake and bad frosting. You have been warned!
For the same price, drive to Sprinkles and visit a real cupcake boutique.

I have had a couple Red Velvet cupcakes from here, and they are like heaven. They’re almost sickening. What you can do here is cool, too. You pick your cake, your frosting and your decoration (sprinkles, etc)… although Red Velvet really can’t have anything but cream cheese frosting! :)
However…
… recently had a bad experience. The employee took my friend’s order for a birthday the next day. We wanted a giant Red Velvet and then some minis. Got a call in the morning that no one told them to make a giant Red Velvet… so … we couldn’t have one. Mind you, these «giant» cupcakes are $ 15 a piece… and here they are making you substitute. Nice… Then we had asked for writing. It was all packaged up when I got there, so I just put it in the car. WELL when we openined it, the writing was all messed up!!! so much for that!!!
They gave us a couple of their special «Shirley Temple» cupcakes after they screwed up, and I didn’t like the cake! As minis I liked this flavor. but as regular sized, they just tasted fake. The manager also was extremely helpful at remedying the situation with a refund, because they really had to. It was unacceptable.
So. overall. the cupcakes are so good, and they cost less than a lot of designer cupcakes. But… what if this had been a wedding? A refund doesn’t fix that… so just a heads up, be careful if you’re ordering for anything really important.

They’re cupcakes are huge… Costco size if you will :-)
They do great bitter flavors like Key Lime and Lemon. The lemon is the best lemon I’ve found in SD so far. The nice thing here is that unlike most shops they don’t do different flavors every day but rather have 4 standards (key lime, chocolate, vanilla and red velvet) and one flavor of the month. The sad thing is that after reading their website I don’t think they’ll have lemon once this year!
A few different bakeries have gotten dinged for having their items out or exposed. Here everything is tucked away and the person working frosts it for you when you order it.
BONUS — they’re website has coupons (BOGO anyone???) and they hand out stamp cards. If you’re a gluten — as I am — you’ll buy however many to earn a free one in no time!

With all the cupcake shops opening up around, it seems silly that you’d now find one in an eatery overlooking a hockey rink – but then again, with all the foot traffic roaming around the Westfield shopping mall, I’m sure the location is perfect for business.
After a long afternoon of shopping with the family last week, we stopped in here to recharge our batteries and get enough of a sugar rush to power through the rest of the day.
The menu is simple but the concept is fun. Here, you can select the flavor of cupcake, type of frosting… and topping! The cousins loved it. With the selection we had to choose from, we ordered the red velvet and chocolate cupcake both with cream cheese frosting.
–The chocolate cupcake — Moist, I’ll give him that but It could’ve been more chocolatey. Would rather have the buttercream frosting instead of the cream cheese that my husband selected here.
–The red velvet cupcake was much better though. The cream cheese frosting was light and creamy with just the right amount of sweetness.
My little cousins ended up getting with the chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream and I was only allowed to taste the buttercream frosting and was prohibited to not touch any of the cake itself or any of the sprinkles they added. Vanilla buttercream was great but I think I would’ve enjoyed if I had a little bit of cake to go with it. No funky aftertaste so that’s a plus.
This is a great place to grab cupcakes with the kids. They aren’t the best in town but the kids will certainly have a blast picking out their cake, frosting and toppings. A great way to keep the kids still for at least 30 minutes. =)

2.5 stars
They may not be the best but they’ve got a pretty smart strategy: position yourself in the food court right in front of the icerink and draw all the little kiddies’ attention. The kids from the Youth League seem to be their main clientele.
The cupcakes were dense and moist. The red velvet was too subtle, but I really liked their cream cheese frosting. The chocolate and vanilla cupcakes were good, but nothing special. As a matter of fact, they tasted more like the cake-​mix kind. :\ The chocolate frosting was decadent but reminded me a bit of the pre-​made jar kind that you can buy at any grocery store. And the vanilla frosting was a little sweeter than I’m used to… think bakery frosting (yes, there IS a difference).
Nonetheless, they were good. $ 1.50 for the minis and $ 3.25 for the regular, which are more muffin-​sized rather than the usual cupcake size. My four minis came out to $ 5. I guess there was a deal? Whatev, I’m not complaining!
Pick your cupcake flavor, frosting, and toppings. Cupcake flavors come in red velvet, vanilla, chocolate, and key lime. Frostings are vanilla, cream cheese, and chocolate. Toppings include graham cracker crumbs, chocolate jimmies/​sprinkles, rainbow jimmies/​sprinkles, pink sugar, oreos, and mini M&Ms. There were a few more but I can’t remember them. They also had frosting shots, caramel apples, cupcake-​shaped cereal treats, doggie cupcakes, and some CB’s merchandise. They even had a large cupcake for $ 15. Order ahead of time to ensure they have the flavor you want.
But when it comes down to it all, would I come rushing back here for more? Most likely not. :\

I tried the Vanilla Cupcake with Chocolate and the Red Velvet with Cream Cheese in the mini variety for $ 3.
Both were dry and texturally weird — like angel food cake. The red velvet was a major disappointment and it tasted like there was too much vinegar in the batter. The vanilla was bland.
The cream cheese frosting was gross — too sweet and a very weird fake cream cheese taste. The chocolate was okay — mild but not rich and less chocolate-​ly than I would like.
Presentation was sloppy — overflowing cupcakes and basic frosting application. It is a good idea that we’re able to design our owns but it also reminds me that I can make this at home.
It’s a cute shop but it’s messy. I see the prices for the cupcakes and tshirts but it’s harder to see the prices for like the shot of frosting, doggie cupcakes, and whatever else is around the store.

Um. I should have just done a quadruple-​take at the cupcakes hidden under ten bujuzillion gallons of frosting and should’ve let my conscious be my guide.
«They look super sweet — too sweet,» Conscious said.
«But I’m craving cupcakes!» I urged.
And with that, I got a chocolate chip cupcake with chocolate buttercream frosting and oreos on top. I LOVE CHOCOLATE, if you couldn’t tell. But I couldn’t stand that generic, ultra-​sweet tasting frosting, and ended up throwing all my frosting in the trash and eating the cupckae alone.
Any good aspects to this place? Let’s see. The counter lady was Asian! I like Asians. And she was nice. And I guess I was fortunate enough — unlike the other reviewers — to get a fresh cupcake!
But unless you are ready to become a type two diabetic, I would advise you not to come here.

Don’t be fooled by the whimsical décor. Or the pretty, decorated cupcakes. These desserts were one big, dry disaster with generic frosting to boot. So disappointing.
Go to Babycakes in Hillcrest instead for your cupcake fix. Or if you want cake in general, hit up Nothing Bundt Cakes in Poway. Asap.

I wasn’t going to write a negative review about this place because I kind of feel sorry for who ever the owner is. I’m sure they’re paying a ton in rent and stuck to a sucky lease and losing money every month.
HOWEVER
after seeing all the bad reviews how is one more going to hurt?
In fact I’m hoping this review (and all the others) will help them.
This is a cute store. Service is ok– not great.
The real problem is their product and lack of selection. They offer 1 flavor of the month– WTF! You’re a cupcake speciality shop and you only offer 1 featured flavor for the entire month??? Are you crazy? So if I don’t like the flavor, I shouldn’t bother going back until next month to see if I’ll like the new featured flavor?
And if you’re only going to offer choc, vanilla, and one or 2 other flavors then they better be damn good. Unfortunately they were awful.
Way, way, way toooooo sweet frosting. I couldn’t even taste my dry cupcake because the gross frosting was so overpowering. I scrapped off most of it just so I could taste how flavorless, dry and just plain bad it was.
Here’s my FREE advice to the owner.
Change your recipes (even box cake is better than the one you’ve got)
Lower your prices
Offer a bigger — much bigger, selection.
Change your frosting recipe.
Sell some beverages.
Don’t serve over priced cupcakes on a cheap ass napkin. For what you’re charging you can purchase a plate and fork for your customers.
Every time we go to the mall we walk by to see how you’re doing and we’ve never seen a customer. After having my cupcake (we bought 4 to try the different flavors) I’m not shocked at the lack of revenue your store is generating. There’s a reason why.
Wake up and smell the cupcake and make the changes to your business now before it’s too late. Best of luck. If I see a larger menu offering, I’ll give your shop another try. Until then, I’d rather buy my cupcakes from Von’s or even Food 4 Less — yeah they were that bad–

Yes Yes Yes! Cupcakes in the mall! What a perfect ending to shopping my ass off.
No No No! Say it isn’t so… they suck!
Chocolate with Vanilla buttercream icing was just such a let down. Cake was not full of flavor and a bit dry. How I wanted to just love this place cause they pile on the icing, but it just didn’t have much taste.
Damn, I’m so disappointed.

This review is for my Red Velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting and cookie crumbs sprinkled on top. Loved the combination and thought it was perfect.
CBS Cupcakes: Guilty pleasures
nom nom nom nom…

Hey Unilocalers! It’s my birthday tomorrow and decided to treat myself to a cupcake tonight after work. As luck would have it, I don’t live or work by any cupcakeries, so google guided me to this place. I soon found out that it’s located in the U. City mall… hmmm…wasn’t expecting that but that’s ok (it’s not nice to prejudge… EVER). Here are my thoughts:
Pros: CBS is located inside the mall at the food court. However, once you walk up to it, you almost think you are in a cupcake boutique for a mini second. Its décor is super cute, full of pink and fluff (tres girly) and they make yummy treats other than cupcakes, such as coated crisped rice treats (in the shape of a cupcake). I ordered their brownie cupcake with cream cheese icing and topped with pink sprinkles. The cupcake tasted literally like a brownie but was paired well with the icing. I’ve had better cupcakes in general, but for a space at the mall, I would imagine it’s a nice pick-​me-​up between shopping for shoes and clothes. Their rice krispy treat coated with icing is a nice alternative for the calorie conscious.
Cons: I don’t believe it’s worth it to come all the way over here for JUST a cupcake, especially if you live far, save that for the specialty cupcakes stores. However, if you happen to be doing some shopping or are in the area with your girlfriends and want something sweet, stop on by! They also have a fro-​yo place nearby if you’re not into cupcakes.

My sister was telling me about these delish cupcakes that you were able to customize so I was stoked! I placed an order with her and she drove all the way from Chula Vista to go get some!
It looked awesome but as soon as I bit into it I had frosting all over my face and it was WAY too sweet! And I love sweet but this was straight sugar! GAG

I’m not going to lie I was attracted to the appearance of this little joint. Hot pink, black, and baroque design.
But my attraction just faded until I came closer and checked it out, looked really dirty and unorganized. It could look better. Then I wondered why it’s in a food court? Ghetto…
For the price of the cupcakes I expected the chocolate cupcake with cream cheese frosting to be really good. The women behind the counter looked tired and irritated, not friendly, and I asked for a box for my cupcake cause I was not going to eat it there. She hands me a cheap ass plastic container with their sticker on it, I wanted a box where my cupcake does not move around and ruin the frosting man.
Whatevs… I took it to spices to try it with Amy Y. and we both agree that it was super dry and full of unecessary sweetness. The cream cheese frosting tasted like butter with sugar, and the cake part didn’t taste like chocolate.

OK if you have kids, I would give this place 4 stars but since I don’t I give it 2. The whole concept is brilliant, but they just don’t taste that good. It’s kind of like the Cold Stone of cupcake stores. You pick from four different flavors of cupcakes and can have a choice of three different flavors of frosting put on them while you wait. Then you have the option of having colored sugar, sprinkles, gummy bears, graham crackers or other options sprinkled on top of the frosting. It’s a little kid’s dream! They have mini cupcakes for $ 1.75 and regular cupcakes for $ 3.50. They also have sweet tea, hot chocolate, and a few other beverage choices.
So Darby and I got the mini cupcakes because I wanted to try more than one flavor and because she is not a pig like me she only got one. I tried the key lime cupcake with vanilla frosting and the velvet red cupcake with cream cheese frosting. Both of the frosting contained way too much sugar that over powered the flavor of everything else. I could barely tell there was cream cheese in the frosting because the sugar content was so high (like I said, a kid’s dream). So I tried the cakes without the frosting. I could barely taste the key lime flavor but since it was food color green I knew it was key lime. The red velvet was dry and dense. It really needed the frosting to be edible.
If I was at the mall with a child or had just taken a child to the ice skating rink, this would be a nice finish to the day for them. Otherwise, i see no reason to go back and pay too much for too little. Also they do have super cute pink and black aprons, but they too were overpriced.

While this place is really good and very cutely decorated with their pink and black and white décor, $ 1.75 for a mini cupcake is just not worth it. Ever. These mini cupcakes are smaller than the mini cupcakes you would make at home! I had a cupcake craving for like 2 days… and when I got here, all I could afford was a mini!
Good points about this place:
1. very cute décor
2. delicious Red Velvet cupcake
3. you get to choose your flavor cupcake, your flavor frosting, and one free topping
bad points:
1. cost
2. cost
3. cost!
Their regular sized cupcake costs $ 3.50… Uh… that’s more than Sprinkles cupcakes. :(Needless to say, their mini cupcake did not satisfy my craving… I went to Henry’s after to get groceries and hunt for cupcakes… of course, Henry’s is a health food store, they didn’t have any cupcakes with frosting on them!

So my sister and I went to the UTC food court for lunch today. Upon entering on the Burger King side, I noticed all these ppl w/​tiny little cupcakes in their hands. Pretty, little, adorable cupcakes w/​a big swirl of frosting on top. I was going to tap one of these ppl on the shoulder and ask them where they got these, what appeared to be ‘free’, sample cupcakes. And right when I was about ready to go in for the tap, I looked up and saw CBS Cupcakes. There was a HUGE line to get these tiny little cupcakes, so I really assumed they were offering free samples on their opening day.
So after we had our Mongolian BBQ, we rushed over to the cupcake place. So while waiting in line, I was staring at the man piping mounds of frosting on these tiny cupcakes and then topping it off w/​chocolate sprinkles. The menu is pretty simple:
Choice of 3 flavors: Red Velvet, Chocolate, or Vanilla cupcake.
Choice of 3 frostings: chocolate, vanilla buttercream, or cream cheese
Choice of toppings: sprinkles, oreo pieces, graham crackers, some other stuff
I was almost giddy at this point. Then i heard my sister gasp ‘wow, what a rip!’ I turned to her and asked what she meant. She pointed to the prices and we about passed out.
It was $ 1.75 for, what i use to think was, the adorable tiny cupcake. And it was $ 3.75 for the muffin size cupcake. Note: for me, it was a huge turn off to see the word ‘muffin’ next to cupcake on the wall — it just makes me think of a huge Costco muffin topped w/​gross frosting.
Anyhow, it turned out they weren’t offering free samples. And by the time I figured this out, we had already waited in line so we paid for the $ 1.75 tiny cupcake. I mean TINY. Hold out your thumb — like right now — and look at it — that was the size of the cupcake. For $ 1.75. We got the chocolate cupcake w/​chocolate frosting and chocolate sprinkles.
The cupcake was terrible. Really really bad. Cake was dry. Frosting was overly sweet. And the sprinkles tasted stale. It actually made me sad… boo hoo…
And it didn’t help that my sister kept mumbling ‘i cannot believe we just paid $ 1.75 for that’ over and over again…
The location is right next to Sbarro. I heard this a temporary location for the holidays? It’s a really cute set up — lots of white and pink colors. But DON’T let that suck you in — resist the temptation. I don’t want anyone else feeling that they just got ripped off :(
The phone # is for the UTC shopping center. There’s no phone # for the cupcake store yet.
I hate giving anyplace 1 star. I think this might be my first legit 1 star place. I hate that :(