Carlo's comes to The Woodlands

Cake Boss Buddy Valastro sets opening date for kiosk bakery in The Woodlands

The answer to the question, “Where can I get the best cannoli in The Woodlands?” is about to get a little simpler. Carlo’s Bakery, the restaurant at the heart of TLC’s popular show Cake Boss, will open one of its new kiosk bakeries in The Woodlands Mall on February 18.

Unlike the company’s full-service bakeries that sell the show-stopping cakes featured on reality TV, the kiosks focus on approximately 20 grab-and-go items like cannoli, cookies, and the signature lobster tail, a flaky puffed pastry filled with French cream and a touch of Bailey’s Irish Cream.

“About a year ago, we came up with this concept of the kiosk model for malls,” head baker Joe Faugno tells CultureMap. "The mall business has changed a lot over the years. They’re using culinary to bring people in. I guess they’re fighting the Internet. We’re a good fit for that.”

Of course, the opening will get a little celebrity heat. Faugno, in town to attend the Taste of the NFL as part of last weekend’s Super Bowl festivities, said someone from Carlo’s, perhaps even Buddy Valastro, the Cake Boss himself will attend the opening.

Houston who desire to purchase one of Carlo’s signature cakes should take heart. Faugno says the company also plans to open a full service bakery in the Houston, just as it did in Dallas last year, but they're still scouting for the right location.

“We’re looking for the perfect spot, that’s what it comes down to,” Faugno says. “We have a team of people. We look into this very carefully. We want it to be good for us and good for the community. We’re going to do some research. I think what we see when we open in The Woodlands will tell us where we’re going to be.”

Hopefully, that wait won’t be too long. Judging by the enthusiastic response Carlo’s has received in Dallas, Texans have an appetite for the bakery’s sweet treats.

“If you told me what was going to happen two or three years ago, that we’d have this kind of reception in Texas, I wouldn’t have believed you,” Faugno says. “I’ve been to Dallas I don’t know how many times since it’s opened. It’s a pleasure to come to Texas. It’s like coming home.”

Joe Faugno tells CultureMap Carlo's wants to open a full service bakery in the Houston-area.

Taste of the NFL Joe Faugno Cake Boss Carlo's

Photo by © Chuck Cook Photography

Joe Faugno tells CultureMap Carlo's wants to open a full service bakery in the Houston-area.

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ps, we're closed

Houston's most pretty-in-pink restaurant quietly closes in Upper Kirby

Photo by Jenn Duncan

You'll see a lot of pink at PostScript.

PostScript, Upper Kirby’ posh pink restaurant, has quietly closed, CultureMap has learned.

Although the restaurant is still accepting reservations on OpenTable — and is, as of this article’s publication, listed as open on both Yelp and Google — reports circulated on social media this weekend that it had abruptly canceled diners’ Mother’s Day reservations. In addition, its dining room in the Shops at Arrive mixed-use development has been emptied of furniture.

PostScript opened with considerable fanfare in February 2024. Owners Veeral Rathod and Obi Ibeto, brought their experiences as partners in the Dallas-based GAP Hospitality to the project, which operates establishments such as XOXO Dining Room, Lyla, and Drai’s Dallas. Particularly inspired by XOXO Dining Room, they created an ode to pink that included pink exterior and interior walls, a pink quartz bar, and a pink grand piano. “Push for Champagne” buttons added to the lively spirit.

Chef Bryan Caswell created the menu. Best known for his pioneering Gulf Coast seafood restaurant Reef that closed in 2019, Caswell’s menu included fried chicken with hummus, oysters three ways (raw, roasted, and fried), a sushi roll, and the double smoked pork chop that was a Reef staple. A doughnut topped with caviar became a customer favorite.

Since Caswell was only consulting on the project, he left a couple of months after opening. Latuli, Caswell’s new Gulf Coast-inspired restaurant in the Memorial area, is expected to open soon.

CultureMap has reached out to PostScript via email, phone, and Instagram message for comment on the decision to close the restaurant. We will update this article if they reply.

PostScript’s closure follows that of Cru, which ended a 13-year run in December 2024. On the other hand, Kira, a sushi hand roll concept from Houston’s Comma Hospitality that’s also located in the development, is thriving, having earned the No. 4 spot on Texas Monthly’s list of the state’s best new restaurants. The development is also home to beloved Indian restaurant Pondicheri, an outpost of the steakhouse chain Eddie V’s, and top tier Houston shopping destination Tootsie’s.

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