Carlo’s Bakery

An okay bakery. Not impressed with the lobster tail that everyone raves about. We ordered a cake and it came out beautifully, I would have preferred for it to taste better. There is so much hype/​media behind this establishment I just expected a little more.

The rainbow cookies and black and white cookies were both not great. I was particularly disappointed with the rainbow cookie I tried. It was dry, and I couldn’t taste any almond paste. Rainbow cookies are my favorite cookies. They’re supposed to be moist and slightly dense with a pronounced almond flavor. The black and white cookie was too soft and sweet. I wasted too many calories on these not-​so-​good cookies. The cannoli store next door has black and white cookies that look way better and are half the price.

Today we went to a cake decorating class and we thought we were going to get a learning experience on decorating! Well we were wrong! We thought maybe we would learn a trick or two on how to decorate but the girl, yes girl (HS or young college aged), who was teaching the class made a cake worse then the 10 year olds in the class. They did way better than her! She would teach us how to do something when we were on the step before so no one was really paying attention bc we were all busy doing the step before! If someone messed up, she would say it’s ok make ur own cake! Which is great, but show us how to do it right!
Definitely wasn’t what I thought it was going to be! Definitely not worth the money we paid either!

So surprised by the other reviews as everything I purchased was so fresh and yummy. I tried the American Neapolitan, Black and White Cookie, Blueberry pie, Lobster Tail and a cream filled donut. Everyone who tried it at my house was very impressed. They are on the pricey side, but what bakery isn’t these days.

Was so disappointed. I went there while on trip just the purchase pastries. I arrived an hour after opening and there was little to no pastries. There was no lobster tails and one chocolate covered cannoli. I was so upset that I had taken my daughter there on our way back to Maine.

Went with a friend about an hour before closing. The floors were filthy, the tables weren’t cleaned, the counter help was literally a young teenager who looked extremely miserable and was not exactly helpful. Moving on, I ordered the crumb cake and my friend ordered two cupcakes. I took a bite of the crumb cake and it was stale! I told the ‘kid’ and he said, ‘yeah, it doesn’t seem too fresh.’ Gave it back. My friends cupcake was frozen! Again, she told the kid and he kind of agreed. The other cupcake she tried was just as frozen. Without a doubt, this place is simply awful. I’ve had better bakery items in mom and pop bakeries in the area. I would be afraid to order anything from here. Seems like they freeze the unsold items and resell. Just a guess but would never go back. Ended up going to a Starbucks and had a delicious fresh crumb cake and scone.

My 10 year old gave the cupcake a grade of a C.
Kind of hard to mess up a cupcake. Carrot cake lackluster. Nothing here stood up to a CB wedding cake I had a few years ago, it’s a shame.

I thought this was the equivalent to a grocery store bakery… nothing to write home about. My cupcake was unmemorable– not sure what the hype is about.

Honestly so disappointed. Of course this place is so hyped because of the show, everyone knows that. I’ve eaten at many bakeries, and honestly this was the worst. It’s saddening because I had such high hopes. I got a cupcake & a brownie and I didn’t finish either of them because they were so flavorless and dry.

If you like over priced stale pastries then this is the place for you. The cakes in the window tho are nice and pretty but doubt they taste good. Also tried the expresso, was very weak and not very good at all.

We used to watch «Cake Boss» all the time, we liked it and when we learned that Buddy would be opening a shop in Red Bank, we were happy.
But then we went in there and ordered some Danishes and coffee cakes for take out.
On the way home, we reached in and took our first taste of Buddy’s pastries and were we ever disappointed… talk about stale, if we weren’t half way home already, we would’ve turned around and got our money back.
Extremely overrated, won’t ever go back there.

Ok. The consensus is all carlos bakeries business is fueled by hype stemmed from the Cake boss. When you walk in everything looks yummy, pleasing to the eye. I definitely feel like i want to try everything. I’ve tried a variety of cupcakes, tarts, pecan Danish, and cookies. I would say it’s hit or miss whether you would like the pastries or not.
I would rate the cupcakes as nothing to write home about. They are nicely decorated but the icing is too sweet and cake is dry. The cake flavor is good.
The other stuff is good not great. The prices make you think it’s not worth a repeat order.
In addition to the pastries, they do custom cakes. I’m sure they are great and expensive, but from the displays you’ll get your money’s worth.

This place is very overrated, the cakes are nothing special at all, cake mix from a box taste better than this. Also had a cannoli, its a shame how terrible it tasted. Too overrated, go to a real bakery.

Ordered a beautiful sheet cake with handmade flowers. The cake frosting was supposed to be buttercream and tasted like sugar –so sweet we barely ate. The French cream later was not noticeable and skippy on the raspberry preserves.
I will bake my own cake next time –and just order them to create flower art.
Really a huge disappointment for an 80 th birthday

I brought my Midwestern mother here and introduced her to the cannolis. It was love at first bite. Friendly service, bright, clean atmosphere, and beautiful (not to mention tasty) baked goods!

We got in around 2pm on a Friday. No line what so ever. Had the place to ourselves. Nice to be able to try Buddy’s recipe without dealing with the busy-​ness of the Hoboken shop. We each got a cupcake for $ 3. Mine was caramel and just lovely. We stopped as part of our road trip for as seen on TV spots. You can go across the street to Jay & Silent Bob’s if you’re into the sane kind of road trip ;)

I tried the cannoli and I still can’t believe that I paid cash money, only to spit them out in a napkin. The shell was thick and hard. The filling was, for lack of a better word gross. There were hardly any chocolate chips and the cream tasted like it was out of a can. What a disappointment.
I give it two more months.

Yuck yuck yuck.
They made such a big deal when they opened that cake boss was coming to Red Bank, and a year later, people still don’t want them here! Luckily, it’s not as much of a tourist attraction as it used to be, because it made enjoying the great little town of Red Bank unenjoyable with heavy traffic.
The desserts are sub par at best. The service is slowwwwww and rude! I would give 0 stars if possible. Overall terrible expirence needless to say I will not be returning.

Holy slow and expensive, Batman! It should almost be mandatory that Buddy himself be there in person, holding court, and giving out free autographs to justify all the work it takes to get your order fulfilled here.
Thank god the product was good because we seriously waited for f*cking ever to finally get it. The shop was bustling when we arrived on a busy Saturday afternoon during the Red Bank Street Fair, but the lines weren’t that long. Still, it took at least 20 minutes from the time we ordered for our cookies, cakes, and coffee to be handed over. And there was only six of us.
Maybe it was my fault. Perhaps if I said we were going to eat in they wouldn’t have felt the need to package every single item up like an expensive Christmas present, complete with the bondage of strings and ties and bows. It’s a nice but unnecessary touch if you’re going to eat everything right there. Just throw it all on a plate, give me some napkins, and we’ll be good to go next time around.
Judging by some of the comments there seems to be just a tad bit of irrational hate for the place, maybe due to all the celebrity fanfare surrounding it. It’s definitely a good bakery. Everything was fresh. Everything was delicious. And while expensive, I wouldn’t say it was outrageous compared to what you’d pay at any other bakery.
Oh well, to each their own. It was nice to stop in and enjoy a few treats on an otherwise hot, summer day.

Service/​Friendliness: ***/****
FRIENDLY service but slooooow. I’ve been in here about four times this week– don’t judge– and even during a weekday around 3pm, there is only two available bakery attendants to assist for cakes. It took about 10 – 15 mins for me to get an already made crumb cake. That’s what happens when someone ahead of you has an assortment of pastries that needs individual wrapping. I really don’t care about my pastries being wrapped in a box with the cute little red/​white string, I really just want to have an express line where I can pick up a crumb cake or a single item and go!
Critique of Food:
Crumb cake: My.
.far. I asked for a crumb cake and I got the entire sheet! Not to be confused for an individualized portion-​sized «Crumb Bun», but for $ 10.95, it really isn’t that bad of a deal for a large cake. Serves about 6 – 8 people or makes 4 really large servings. I’ve already eaten ¹⁄₃ of it myself! I would have to describe it as a coffee cake with extras! From watching an episode on Crumb Cake from Cake Boss, the bottom of the cake are scraps from remains of pound cake then the topping is mixed with brown sugar, butter, the «crumbs» and some secret ingredients (could it be vanilla? nutmeg?)– creating this nutty, salty-​sweetness to it. All topped by white powdered sugar. Goes extremely well with coffee!
Strawberry Tart: Similar to the chocolate tart [insert sweet cream], top with a fresh strawberry and voila, their strawberry tart. I was hoping for maybe a little bit… more effort here. The tart can be a bit too crunch and dry for my liking.
Lobster Tail: I love, love, love the texture of the outside shell of this pastry. Crunchy, flaky, and with a bit of the sweet cream, it’s a perfect combination. I always scoop out the extra cream and give it to my fiancé, you know, with an upcoming wedding and all.
Linzer Cookie (Raspberry): Another one of my faves. I love the tartness of the raspberry jam inside the shortbread. The shortbread is softened and isn’t crunchy or dry like some other shortbread cookies can be. I just wish they would lighten up on the powdered sugar a bit.
Raspberry Tart: Also another one of my faves. I do love that raspberry filling!
Choice Pick (s): Crumb Cake, Lobster Tail, Strawberry Éclair, Raspberry Tart