Tierra Caliente Panaderia

This place is amazing! All I wanted was a slice of cake, and I was bombarded with a huge assortment of pastries. Everything looks so fresh.
When you enter, grab a tray and a pair of tongs. Then journey down the aisle of treats and select to your heart’s desire. Honestly, I have no idea what I picked, but everything was wonderful.
After choosing your pan dulces, you take your tray up to the counter. Drinks are also available in some coolers. There, they package up your goodies, and you are able to pay. The credit card minimum is about $ 5, so just be warned.
When I was leaving, I learned that you have to be buzzed out before you can exit. Unfortunately, I was stuck for a few minutes before being helped. Overall, I had a great experience and would definitely visit again.

Happened upon here craving desserts at the La Bala Taco’s a couple of stores down. I still remember the buttery fragrance when entering here. It was pretty busy the Friday evening that we went in there. Line reaching out to the door. Unfortunately, there’s not a single description of the pastries so you have to already know which is which from experience/​trial and error. Also, no price tags… I haven’t checked but you may want to see how the previous person’s items ring up and compare to your own. To think of it, I don’t think I ever got a receipt…
The pastries aren’t gorgeous looking; however, the flavor is fantastic for me. The flan wasn’t too sweet and wonderfully balanced rich and creamy. The strawberry shortcake is actually tres leches with glazed strawberries. I would have preferred it more if the strawberries weren’t glazed. The cake was wonderfully moist and not too sweet. Otherwise, I chose a bunch of other pastries that I didn’t know the name of and only one disappointed. It had a crunchy shell; however, because the center puffed up, I was expecting it to be filled with something. Unfortunately not. Only air. But, I don’t think it was their fault. Just mine for not knowing that it was not the filled type.

This is the absolutely best sweetbread in this whole Houston area. I give it more than five stars. Although the people are not as nice as other places, the bread totally compensate for it. I wish it was a little bit bigger because it does get crowded. And I also wish that all of the types of bread we’re always available because sometimes when I get there a certain timenot all the breads are up and that’s a bit disappointing

Variety, variety, variety!!! All sorts of Mexican baked goodies to satisfy all tastes! Very busy on a Saturday morning. We didn’t really know what was what, the patrons were more than happy to give us the low down on the pastries! Not to sure what the prices were, but for a bag full of goodies and coffee it was about $ 5! So I would have to say pretty inexpensive! They add cinnamon to their coffee, interesting and pretty good!

This place is sooooo good and really affordable. Everything ranges from .35-.85 cents. I always leave with a bag full for $ 3-​$ 5. The pineapple upside down cake is a must have. It’s always moist and delicious. I also like the chocolate eclairs. You pretty much can’t go wrong with anything, except I’m not a big cookie fan. I think Sat, Sun and Wed there’s a last outside that sells homemade tamales for $ 1 each they’re really good too! Las Balas tacos is int the same strip so I usually get a good cheap dinner from there and come here to get a yummy desert.

horrible

What a disappointment!
I have been frequenting this place A LOT lately in an attempt to try everything they have. Today, the three ladies in the store were COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY RUDE to me.
I came in specifically looking for this delicious sugar coated donut sandwich that is filled with custard — it’s one of my staples. When I saw something similar, but filled with cream instead of custard, I approached one of the ladies to ask if they had any custard filled donut sandwiches. Since they were talking amongst themselves, I started out by saying «Excuse me» and once I had her attention, she turned to me and asked if she could help. When I pointed to the donut case, she immediately said ‘No.” I hadn’t even asked my question yet! The other gal began to ask if I wanted the chocolate one or the sugar coated one but I couldn’t get over how they immediately said NO before I even asked my question! It was as if they didn’t want to be bothered. So I grabbed two of the cream filled donuts and headed to the register. The young gal took absolutely no care in placing them in the bag.
Honestly, before today, I would’ve told you that I loved this place. Their selection is good and except for a few purchases that turned out to be not as great as I expected, they still have some really good items at amazing prices. HOWEVER, this shop is in an area where panaderias are on every single block. So you can bet that after today’s lack of appropriate customer service, I will be taking my business elsewhere.
If you don’t care about how you’re treated, and you wanna check this place out, that’s fine. Grab a pizza pan and some tongs when you walk in, and go for the custard filled donut, the custard filled cone, the custard filled bun, the cream filled donut, the jam filled pastries, the napoleon cake, their regular sandwich buns, and the little refrigerated pudding cake cups. DON’T go for the cute looking gingerbread pig (not as sweet as it should be and the topping is waxy and gross), and DON’T go for the molasses cookies topped with sugar — they’re not molasses, they’re more like chocolate flavored cookies and they’re not good. And they have a credit card minimum of $ 5, so bring cash. Most items are less than a dollar.

To date, this is the best Mexican bakery I have tried. Their bread is really good quality. I wish they had a table or two with chairs to sit and enjoy your bread though.

What a find on a culinary trek through West Houston! We came here after lunch seeking a little something sweet. This bakery had lots of them! Pan dulce, conchas, empanadas filled with strawberry or lemon or apple, galletas with cinnamon sugar or powdered sugar or chocolate chips, cakes, donuts, fresh loaves of bread… Is your mouth watering yet? Should I even mention that we got postres for four people for the price of one cupcake at Crave or Sprinkles? Yup, cheap and delicious is the name of the game here. If you don’t know what something is, ask! The staff are very helpful. Feeling bold? Grab a tray and throw whatever looks good on it! It’s like a game you can’t lose. Don’t forget about the flan and tres leches tempting you from the cooler case.
Bring cash if you’re not getting a lot, as there’s a five dollar card minimum.
Personal recs: the dulce de leche filled, cinnamon sugar coated cookie, fruit empanadas, anything covered in powdered sugar, and the light and flaky cream cheese filled blintz-​type pastry (looks like a long, flattened un-​iced éclair). Honestly, I don’t think anything here would be a bad choice (except maybe that neon-​pink sheet cake. But heck, even that is probably good, just a little intimidating in its brightness).
I cannot wait to come back!

One can usually gather whether a Mexican bakery is good or not from the first step in the door. I had never been to authentic panaderias in the US before, so the smell that hit me as soon as I stepped in took me back to growing up in Mexico and visiting the panaderia every week.
I’ve visited this particular location of Tierra Caliente over a dozen times now, and each time I’ve found the employees to be very courteous and eager to assist. If you don’t see the piece of bread you came for, you can request it and they will tell you the corresponding wait time. One one occasion, they rewarded my friend with an free churro for his troubles!
Like any authentic panaderia, the prices range from low to reasonable. Each piece of bread I’ve bought has been under a dollar. The desserts in the refrigerator case cost more, but their prices are reasonable and listed above in a banner.
Aside from typical pan dulce, they also sell other desserts like cake by the slice, flan, arroz con leche, and jello. I’ve also seen chocolate-​covered cake in the form of a mouse and other desserts with coffee or mousse. I’ve had the creamy jello and the arroz con leche and they’re both definitely worth buying again. The chocolate mouse was $ 2 and the friend that I gave it to (a researcher who works on mice) loved it.
Next, their cake. The cakes that I’ve had from this panaderia have always been excellent. I ordered a quarter-​sheet cake (decorated and dedicated $ 30) for a friend’s doctoral graduation, and they gave me a range of cake flavors and marmalade filling choices. Also, they took my order one day before the event and it was ready the next day on time like they promised. Thinking I would end up having to take it home almost untouched after the party, I came ready with to-​go boxes to pawn off the remaining cake on people. Instead, the cake ran out because people got seconds and even thirds. I left the party thinking I should’ve gotten business cards from Tierra because too many people asked me where the cake was from. On a separate occasion, they were having a promotion and giving away big huge slices of tres leches cake to anybody that dropped by. We were surprised that even though the cake was HUGE (the size of a table or two), the random slice we happened to get was still super delicious with real strawberries and fluffy whipped cream, and moist but not sloppy layers… SO good!
Finally, I like that they keep up with the seasons like with bunuelos in the winter and a rosca de reyes in early January because it lets you know they are really on top of their business by changing it up constantly. I’ve noticed in other bakeries that bread looks cracked or not fresh due to low demand by the consumer but it will be there week after week. That is not the case at TC. Their pan dulce always looks fresh and well-​made.
If I had to list a con, I would say that I would like to see the price of each piece of bread on the racks, but it’s always so cheap that it never matters. I recommend this panaderia to anybody who appreciates authentic pan dulce, courteous service, or just wants to get free smells.