Puffilicious

This place is now closed! We bought 2 Groupon deals and used one. The second time we came here twice and there was a sign on the door saying they’ll be back and no one came back! Groupon refunded our money back and now this business has officially shut down. I had a weird iffy vibe about this place. Maybe because I saw no one in the store ever. This place could have had potential though because of the very cute presentation, décor and furniture. One thing I did enjoy was the cream cheese puffs.

Beard Papas, step aside– here comes the Puffilicious take-​over.
Came here after I saw a few posts on Instagram. My, oh my– it was beyond nearby to where I live. So what would a foodie like me do? Go, duh.
This place is located on Baldwin Avenue, on the way to the Santa Anita mall. It’s somewhere around 7 – 11 (if I recall correctly). Parking can be done via street or private lot, which wasn’t too packed when I arrived.
Upon arrival, the décor was beyond cute– like I wanted it for my bedroom (yes, even with the fake grass). Nonetheless, it was so adorable, and I bet it’ll be a nice hipster place to take a photo.
The service was spectacular. The lady that helped us was beyond friendly and approachable.
The cream puffs were pretty decent as well. There were a variety of flavors and sizes, which were perfect for any special or casual occasion. For me, the original flavors were iffy– nothing too fancy; however, there were a few (coffee & green tea) that really stood out. The cream puffs here are not too sweet and definitely has a CHEWY-​licious factor. So if you like chewy, this is your spot to try!
Overall, I really enjoyed this place and I wouldn’t mind coming back. Why four stars? For me, cream puffs are alright. I haven’t had an addictive one where I would come back in a heart beat. Nonetheless, this spot is pretty cool for a sweet hang out (literally)!
Turn Ons:
— A variety of flavors and size of cream puffs.
Turn Offs:
— None

If you like cream puffs (and who in the hell doesn’t?), this place is worth making a visit to … just make sure you only stop by on weekends, because the shop is currently closed Mondays-​Fridays for some terrible reason. Come in off of Fairview, park in the back lot.
The first thing that caught my attention when I wandered into Puffilicious was the interior: it was conspicuously clean and easy on the eyes.
The next thing that I noticed were the prominently displayed «DISPLAY ONLY NOT FOR SALE NOT EDIBLE» signs posted in front of ALL the puffs on display. Filled with confusion, it was only later that I realized that at Puffilicious, any puffs you order are apparently baked fresh on demand (yay!).
The girl working at the counter was nice enough, and after I selected the puffs I wanted, she advised me of a 10 minute wait before they would be ready. I didn’t time her, but I’d say that was a pretty accurate estimate.
Their pricing schedule turned out to be more reasonable than I expected:
Box of 6 Mini Cream Puffs: $ 5.30
Box of 12 Mini Cream Puffs: $ 9.99
Individual Regular Cream Puff: $ 2.40
Box of 6 Regular Cream Puffs: $ 14.10
Box of 12 Regular Cream Puffs: $ 27.90
Among the Puffilicious Cream-​Puff Fun Facts posted on the wall inside is the following: «You can enjoy Puffilicious Cream-​Puffs immediately after purchase for a crispy texture or chill them at home for a softer chewy experience later».
Having sampled their puffs both fresh from the oven and chilled from hours in my fridge, I’d say they’re not bad when cold, but I seem to enjoy them more when they are fresh and crispy (I’m personally not a fan of chewy puffs).
In either case, while I can’t say these are the best cream puffs I’ve ever had, they’re still quite decent, and I really like the «fresh-​baked» business model of Puffilicious. I wouldn’t order more than what I could consume within the hour, though — I think these are best enjoyed fresh if possible.
Of the puffs I sampled, I was probably most partial to the Cream Cheese Oreo puffs.
By the way, there is no restroom inside the shop, so don’t plan on lounging inside for *too* long …

Fyi: they are opened only Saturday & Sunday. I think they might be closing store soon (not sure). I’m glad we drove here on the right day.
Little pricey for cream puffs. I got the 6 minis, make sure you eat them same day, it taste better. Overall, they’re worth a try but call to make sure they’re open.

So I finally got my first taste of Puffalicious and it was delicious and decadent. Stopped in on a Sunday to get my dessert on before zoning out in bliss to a facial at Chocolat Day Spa.
First off, these are huge! I thought I was going to be able to eat them as I drive along to the spa, but nope… instead, I had my AC on, parking under the shaded tree in the parking lot behind the shop — enjoying and savoring my puffs. Yes, I was feeling very hedonistic today, bwahahah!
I got the white chocolate puff with chocolate filling and the oreos cheesecake cream topping with custard filling. The puff itself was chewy, but not old and crusty. Both was yummy with generous fillings and very cool, especially on a hot day. (I felt bad for the girl selling the puffs since the AC was broken and in the process of fixing. She was a trooper!).
The only thing I didn’t like with the oreos one was the cream cheese frosting. It tasted sour — one star off for that.
At $ 2.40 a piece, it’s pricey, but a different alternative to Beard Papa’s. I would definition return again and next time, getting the minis since six of them cost a lil cheaper than getting two by itself, lol.

Wow. so I was pleasantly surprised when I walked in– extremely cute interior décor that is good for chatting, grabbing a drink, and hanging out with friends. Plenty of parking in the back! When I walked in on a friday night around 7 PM, I was the only person there for some reason.
I ordered two boxes of 12 minis (12 for $ 12) and I told her what I wanted. The lady said the cream puffs were fresh made and would take around 5 minutes. Btw theres a sign on the wall telling you to first bite your cream puff from where the stuffing hole is. in fear of accidentally getting the filling on your neighbor lol! After getting my cream puffs, I tried one right away, and it was yummy!
The outside of the cream puff is similar to a Brazilian cheese ball (the ones you get at Brazilian steakhouses) and is more chewy instead of crunchy. definitely not your typical cream puff. The chocolate, vanilla, and green tea fillings were all very delicious, and the toppings on top complemented everything very well.
The lady was really nice, and in terms of price, presentation, atmosphere, and taste (if you get like non-​traditional cream puffs) its definitely a 5 star. Will be back with friends to try their drinks as well!

Used my groupon :) puffs were cute and mini And delicious
The choco filled ones and the original filled ones were the best :)

I loooooove their cute lil puffy lil puffs. LOL wtf did I just say. But seriously, these «cream puffs» — and I say that loosely because I don’t think these are technically cream puffs but Idk wtf they are really — are delicious. My mom brought home a box of the mini puffs one time, and I am ashamed to admit that I ate about 6 in one sitting. Sigh.
So I have been waiting to return here for a while, and apparently tonight was the night. It was deserted when I arrived, about 45 minutes before closing time, and the cashier guy looked bored out of his mind so I saved him from his lonely misery. You, sir, are welcome.
I ordered a dozen of the mini puffs, and it cost me a total of just under $ 11. TIP: they currently have a 10% off check in offer! I personally don’t think I would ever order the regular/​large puffs because I like variety, and if I had one regular size puff… well, that would be all I can fit in my stomach (you know, that’s probably not true but I like to think so).
My favorite has got to be the strawberry and blueberry yogurt mini puffs! They’re yogurty so the filling is not too thick like the cream cheese one, and it has a slight tang to it as well. It’s only a little bit sweet, which is great because it’s not the overwhelming sweet where you need a drink after, but the kind that makes you want to stuff more and more puffs down your throat. MORE! MOOOORE~ Oh and their other flavors are also great. Honorable mentions: oreo cream cheese, strawberry with vanilla cream, green tea, & taro.
And also… this could just be me, but I really like the puff shell to be super soft and chewy. But when I ate one tonight, it was TOOO fresh (who knew this was ever a problem) and the shell was crusty and only the inside was chewy. WELL, I like my shell to be ALL chewy. So I let that box sit in the fridge for a bit to moisten up the hard outer shell LOL. It’s been a few hours so I’m gonna dig in now.

I resent the fact that people are bashing this place because it’s not meeting their idea of what a cream puff is. People are allowed to innovate, be creative, try something new. The worse thing you can do as a food critic is suppress this.
Also bare in mind that this is a small business by a couple girls who are putting their finances and dreams on the line and hope to share something they enjoy doing. It’s understandable that some places are in it just for profit but I don’t believe that this is one of those places.
With that said, I agree with one of the previous reviews that the texture has a mochi like consistency to it, and to the person who said this is a dinner roll, I don’t know what kind of dinner roll you eat but mochi is nothing like a dinner roll. Also where as beard papas makes their puffs in advance since they’ve been in the market for years and are able to gauge their daily output needed, have a brand loyalty and marketing advantage, you can’t compare the two processes. I like that my puffs were fresh, I didn’t mind having to wait for the two dozen of puffilicious epicness I would endure later. I really like the cream they’ve made, it tastes delicious to me and everyone else in my office thinks so as well.
They have 6 different types of cream and 15 different variations. I think if you know all of them you could probably ask them to say mix the coffee cream with a Oreo cookie crumble topping. They’re still in their soft opening phase so any suggestions would certainly help them.
According to what they wrote on the post it the flavors I got were:
Chocolate almond nut
Oreo cream cheese
Green tea almond
Strawberry yogurt
Blueberry yogurt
Strawberry cream cheese
Blueberry cream cheese
Chocolate crumble
Taro
Coffee
Strawberry dream
White nut choco
And they’ve all been quite delicious.
One thing to note was that because I ordered so much (2 dozen) they told me it would take about 20 minutes, which I didn’t mind. I hadn’t had dinner yet so I just stopped by Lu’s garden for food while I waited. Din tai fung is also right down the street so if you’re going to DTF to eat, you could stop by here, place your order then come pick it up after you eat!
Since my office really likes it, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, I’ll be coming back again later for a puffilicious time.

Came here on the day of their grand opening because a guy randomly handed my mom and I a coupon for 15 perfect off all cream puffs in a parking lot. You really can’t go wrong with cream puffs, so we thought, «Hey, why not?»
The place is small and minimalistic in décor. Possible patrons may be attracted to the wide variety of colorful cream puffs on display behind a simple glass window. However, I believe that when it comes to something as pure and delicious as the cream puff, classic is the way to go.
The original cream puff is filled with a fluffy custard. Sweet and buttery, the cream filling complements the thin and chewy dough. The puff part of the cream puff lacks the flakiness found in your usual cream puffs, but surprisingly, I kinda like it more that way.
Other flavors include green tea, cookies and cream, chocolate, yogurt and strawberry, yogurt and blueberry, and strawberry cream cheese to name a few. The only other one I managed to try was the green tea cream puff. The green tea cream puff would be good for green tea lovers and you could definitely taste the matcha flavoring in there. However, again, I think original trumps all.
Obviously eating a handful of cream is an treat to be enjoyed only occasionally. However, whenever I’m in the neighborhood and don’t mind risking a little puffiness, I haul myself over to Puffilicious.

So the display is just for show and they actually make yours to order. I’m assuming the puff is made already and they just stuff it when you order. I guess maybe it’s more fresh that way and it won’t get mushy but you will have to wait a while especially if there are people ahead of you. One lady ordered half a dozen minis ahead of us since they were out of the regular size and we ordered one of each, and it took like 15 – 20 minutes to get our puffs.
They are not like Beard Papas. I figured out what they are like. They are similar in texture to the Brazilian cheese balls that your get at Brazilian BBQ places or the Korean tapioca bread. It’s chewy and not like your average cream puff pastry.
They give you a free puff sample. I wasn’t a fan of the cream cheese ones. They tastes very artifical. The blueberry syrup was too artificial for me. The green tea almond was way too bitter. The matcha filling was too strong. I did like the chocolate filled ones. The coffee one wasn’t that great. And I did like the yogurt strawberry.
We ordered 12 minis ($ 12) which was one of each, not including the two samples we already tried. But when we got home, we noticed that we got 15 pieces and it wasn’t one of each! We were missing the blueberry yogurt and possibly a couple others because we had duplicates of like 4 different ones.
They’re new so I guess they’ll work out their kinks. But I specifically told the guy twice as my friend already told him once that we want one of each minus the strawberry yogurt and blueberry cream cheese. I sensed uncertainty in his body language so that was why I repeated it twice. And he said he understood. But Obviously, he did not.
It would be nice if they sold coffee or espresso drinks. They only have the bottled juices and soda.

Second time I am reviewing this place! (: Came here earlier this week and the place is super cute! They have this new wall decal on the side. They gave out free samples and they got it from the back! (: Loved it! The small cream puffs are delicious! There are so many flavors that I want to try them all!
I especially love the «WELCOME» sign as you walk in because it has lights and everything on it. They also do a Unilocal check-​in too! Perfect for me then!
The girls who work there are really nice and sweet. They were kind and nicely asked if I been there before and offered me samples. They also described me each flavor they had and what was on the outside and inside of it. If it wasn’t so far, I would go there more often and tell ALL my friends to go there as well. Maybe next time when I head to the mall, I’ll stop by to buy some for my family and friends for a party.

Gotta give it to the owner that this place is cute! Courageously situated across the street from Beard Papa’s…Puffalicious offers a variety of flavors for their puffs. We got to taste some free samples upon entry… and they were actually pretty good!
I’m a sucker for dessert and almost rated this place a 4 star… but I gotta stay fair with my 3 star review. Although the flavors and consistency of the puff is pretty good, I still feel Beard Papa’s takes the cake. The texture of Papa’s puffs are more airy and consistent. There was just something about Puffalicious’ puffs that weren’t too convincing. I liked them… I would go back, but with that said… Beard Papa’s would still be my first choice.
Also, one of the guys working the front that day seemed unaccustomed to customer service and didn’t make for that great of an experience. Nice guy… just sorta pushy :\
Also, sanitation seemed to be a slight issue as 2 of the guys working the front weren’t wearing gloves and I never saw them wash their hands. One of the guys was even leaning on the display case, while conversing with another customer, with his bare arm/​arm hair inches away from the puffs in the display.
Puffalicious, you guys gotta pay more attention to stuff like this… it’s not the first time sanitation has been brought up by reviewers.

The place is new and is run by some young yuppy entrepreneurs. The puffs are good quality and they serve it in nice mini pieces.
The place definitely needs to serve some good coffee and create an ambience that makes it a bit more hipster type to attract business and the locals in Arcadia.
The puffs are good and I hope that the quality will remain as they grow. Nothing kills a business more than inconsistency in their product and service.

January 17 2014
Going to check this place out today!
So, I can say that this place is unique. Unique? How are they compared to Beard Papa? Well, gather ’round my darlings, and I shall explain.
First, once I took a bite into the puffs, I was confused. Why? Well, as a puff eater and puff baker, myself, the shell is supposed to be flaky with a bit of a crunch. Puffalicious doesn’t have that. What is so refreshing about this place is that they have their puff shells different. It’s chewy in the inside, and a bit crunchy on the outside. Their puff filling selections range from these five flavors: chocolate, vanilla, green tea, yogurt, and taro. I love the toppings they place on the puffs.
The puffs, trust me, tastes best if it’s super cold. Right when you bite into the puff, I was told to bite where the filling hole is located. Right when you bite into the puff, the crème filling would gush out! Oh Myyy!
You can’t really compare their puffs to Beard Papa’s puffs. They are both categorized as puffs, but they are not the same in texture. Beard Papa has only two flavors. If you want variety and something new, give Puffalicious a try. What will you really lose? No matter what, it’s all an experience. After my experience, my bf and I have decided to come back another day and give their large puffs a try. My favorite puff is the one with the white chocolate with almond topping with chocolate filling. I have never tried taro pudding puffs, and now I’m in love. The yogurt puff… it’s another favorite of mine… especially when it’s super chilled.
Thanks Puffalicious for opening my eyes to a different take on puffs!

Yum, a friend bought me some today and I bit into them right away! (after snapping pictures… and instagram’ing) They just looked so yummy!
Taste? Great! Not too sweet but pretty sweet. Much better than beard papa’s. I like them a lot. I ate more than my shares worth… If my friend buys me more, I’d totally eat them again! 5/​5, will eat again!!! Please buy me more!

I came in here again earlier this evening while my husband and I were taking our youngest daughter out for a walk. As we were headed back home, we passed by Puffilicious and someone from the shop approached us at the entrance about coming in and trying samples. Our 2−½ year old wanted to go in, so we said, «Okay, sure, samples sound good.»
The sample that we tried was a mini, some kind of red jam looking thing on the top with vanilla filling. The flavor was okay but the puff itself was terrible in texture. My daughter took the first bite and the poor thing could barely chew it off. She yanked so hard the puff nearly came out of my hand before a piece broke off in her mouth. I tried not to look horrified as the guy was just standing there watching us.
It was a special today of buy 3, get 1 free. So we ordered the original vanilla, a strawberry cheesecake, a chocolate cookie crumb and a white chocolate nut w/​chocolate filling.
The guy took our order and said it would about two minutes as an Asian girl with long dark, free flowing hair went into the back, evidently to fill our puffs. A few minutes later, we were set to go. It seems like I should give a review of the puffs but with what happened after we ate them at home, it seems almost unnecessary.
My poor baby! I felt so bad that she got the chocolate cookie crumb one. She’s very obsessed with keeping her hands clean when eating things that are gooey or sticky, so she was having a hard time trying to eat the puff. So my older daughter tried to help her and suddenly she yelled out, «Omigoodness, stop! Don’t eat it!» and proceeded to pull out (Can you take one wild guess?) a long, black hair. «Mommy, there is a HAIR in this one. OMG, that’s so disgusting.»
«Are you sure? It didn’t come from somewhere else?» I asked her, really really wanting to give this place the benefit of the doubt. I knew it wasn’t one of ours, though. I have red hair, my little girl light brown hair.
«Uh, Mommy,» she said, speaking really slowly as if she was trying to make me understand, «I pulled it out from INSIDE the filling. It came from INSIDE the puff. See all the cream covering the hair?»
F-​ing hell. She was not exaggerating. So I said, «Okay, fine. You know what? It’s okay. Things happen. We’re not going to freak out. This is no big deal.»
Do you know what happened after that? No, because you’re not going to believe it. From the exact same chocolate cookie crumb puff, my daughter freaked out and yelled because she found yet ANOTHER long black hair. This time she didn’t even bother. She just took it completely away from her sister whom was trying to get another bite.
I took a photo of the puff with the hair coming out of the cream (which I’m pretty sure they reported because Unilocal took down the picture). I’m not joking about this. I feel bad for this place because I actually wanted them to succeed. But seriously, this is gross. You are serving people food and have zero common sense with sanitation. You’re not even taking the proper food service precautions with hair. Why would you send someone with long black hair, NOT TIED BACK WHATSOEVER, to touch the food? This is how you end up losing customers. We will never, ever come back.

I was excited when I heard Puffilicious was opening — I had seen the store in the process of opening while driving down Baldwin. However, I didn’t know it would only be cream puffs — I thought they would be selling cakes, macarons, and other dessert items. But because of their 15% off special during the first week of opening (30% off the first two days … sadly I missed it!), I decided to take advantage of the deal and give this place a try.
What I like about Puffilicious is the storefront. The store itself is very modern-​looking (quite like the many storefronts that are opening up around the city) with a few tables and high chairs, lights, and a big «welcome» plaque on one of the walls. Very bright and airy and clean, but they can take advantage of the extra space! However, because these are cream puffs, I don’t really see people sitting and eating a cream puff at a table. The people working here (or the owners?) are also really nice and friendly. It shows their enthusiasm for their business in the way they greet the customers and quickly ask if you want a sample, make small talk, etc. I ended up trying two samples, which was nice. I do agree with Flor that when I got the samples, I felt so awkward as he watched me eat it … they basically tasted the same because I couldn’t really savor the flavor without feeling self-​conscious!
So what I think can be improved? The cream puffs are all behind a glass window (similar to Lette Macarons or Sprinkles cupcake). There are mini cream puffs and regular sized cream puffs. The prices are already really expensive from the get-​go. I wanted to come in to take advantage of the discount, but with the 15%, a box of six mini puffs was still $ 5.45 — price of a Subway footlong! Almost one dollar a puff, which is really outrageous and not worth it at all! One regular sized puff is $ 2.60!
Are those cream puffs worth the price? No — I tried the Oreo chocolate, yogurt, green tea, taro, vanilla with blueberry on top and chocolate filling. My mom ate the cream cheese blueberry, which she said was good. But of the ones I tried, nothing stood out to me or was particularly special. I do like that the puff itself is a little more dense and gives it more consistency. I compared it to the Costco ones, and Puffilicious has more flavor in the bread. However, Puffilicious’s filling isn’t anything special and tastes pretty generic. The vanilla, chocolate, taro were okay but the green tea tasted odd, especially with the almond and sweet vanilla crust on top. That one was my least favorite.
I think they need to rethink their concept (have better cream puffs — maybe have patrons create their own?) or introduce other desserts or drinks (boba, macarons, cakes, etc) because I don’t see this place doing well on just selling these cream puffs alone.
tl;dr: friendly workers, really nice storefront. Need better concept — cream puffs are really not worth the price, especially when there is a Beard Papa’s across the street. Parking in the lot behind the store.

It’s 15% off this entire first week of their opening!
They have quite an interesting take on cream puffs. My only prior experiences with them are from Beard Papa’s and the ones I’ve made myself. Puffilicious has interesting flavor combinations that are definitely worth trying.
My favorite by far is the green tea almond, the matcha filling is quite delicious. Their other customer favorite is the cream cheese oreo, but I wasn’t as fond of that one. The tart flavor of the cream cheese topping clashed with the vanilla filling in a strange way, but the Oreo bits on top were a nice touch.
There’s parking in the back, but the lot gets full during lunch/​dinner hour, so try street parking on Fairview Ave.
They accept credit cards!

(Review based on 3.5 stars)
Came by here with my husband and a friend an hour ago since we were having lunch down the street at Orchid Thai. I actually did not know that today was going to be their grand opening, just saw the sign driving down Baldwin Park and just thought I would check it out after lunch.
Anyways, their grand opening was supposed to happen at 2 pm today but they were a bit behind and didn’t open until 2:45 pm. When we walked in, one guy greeted everyone with a tray of mini cream puff samples to try of all the different flavors they current have to offer right now. And since this is their grand opening, today and tomorrow, they are currently offering 30% off all items (which made me want to purchase half a dozen to bring back home for my family).
The flavor I tried was the green tea filled mini cream puff and the chocolate filled mini cream puff. I agree with my friend and that I wished these were a little bit more delicate, kind of like Beard Papa’s (down the street and also at the Santa Anita Mall). But these are still pretty good. I really liked the green tea filling. When I took a bite, a lot of the cream just came squirting out on one side (thank goodness I always pack extra napkins in my bag because I was wearing part of that green tea filling on my left cheek). The filling wasn’t too overly sweet and the chocolate filling tasted just fine. But I prefer milk chocolate over dark (there was a dark chocolate glaze on top). Also this cream puff was a bit more chewy than the one filled with green tea. Perhaps it’s a consistency problem, but this place is new so I forgive them on this one.
Since this place just literally just opened, there are some bugs they still need to iron out. Like when I tried to pay with credit card, they were having some trouble running it through, so I ended up paying cash instead. Also I had to wait for them to make some more cream puffs since they didn’t have enough for the order I asked for. For a total of 6 (with the 30% discount, plus tax), it came out to $ 11.60.
Pricing for this place is as follows:
Individual cream puff $ 2.60
Box of 6 $ 15.20
Box of 12 $ 30.50
Mini cream puff
Box of 6 $ 5.90
Box of 12 $ 11.10
Soft drink $ 2.50
By the way, this place is located in the same strip mall as Lu Garden (which is 2 doors down). Specifically, they are right between a spa and a karate place. I think it would be a good idea if they started to offer drinks (they do offer bottled water, bottled Starbucks, bottled juice, etc) like boba or something. Also this place is a bit small, with only 3 tiny wooden tables. But this place is more of a to go kind of place though.
Overall, a nice little place (plenty of street parking and also in the lot in the back). Not sure if I would come back anytime soon though because the pricing is a bit high (before the current 30% off discount).