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    Cake Boss in The Woodlands

    Big crowd waits for hours to meet Cake Boss Buddy Valastro at kiosk bakery opening

    Eric Sandler
    Feb 19, 2017 | 8:21 am

    The line started forming at 2 am. By 8 am, hundreds of people snaked through The Woodlands Mall: all of them eager to get a taste of the newly opened Carlo’s Bakery kiosk and to meet Buddy Valastro, better known as the Cake Boss for his staring role in the TLC reality series.

    Announced earlier this month when Valastro’s brother-in-law, Carlo’s head baker Joe Faugno, came to Houston to present a cake at Taste of the NFL, the Carlo’s kiosk serves a “greatest hits” mix of pastries, including cookies, cannoli, and the signature lobster tail, a flaky puffed pastry filled with French cream and a touch of Bailey’s Irish Cream.

    Carlo’s already has both a full-service bakery and a kiosk in the Dallas-area. Valastro tells CultureMap that the success of those operations inspired him to search for additional opportunities in Texas.

    “We knew (The Woodlands) was going to be a great place to open a bakery, but seeing all the turnout today, all the fans from all over, just such a humbling feeling,” Valastro says. “We’re so excited to be here. Every time I come to Texas the fans just make me feel so great.”

    Baking in the Houston area can be a challenge, but Valastro says they mitigate those concerns by preparing the raw ingredients in New Jersey. Everything is baked fresh at the kiosk, and Valastro supervised final touches ahead of Saturday morning’s opening at 8:30 am.

    “I want people to have the same exact quality they have in New Jersey,” Valastro says. “I want people to realize this is not a fast food model of what I do. It’s the same cannoli or lobster tail you’d get in Hoboken.”

    Speaking of the lobster tail, Valastro didn’t hesitate to name the pastry as his favorite item Carlo's serves. “That’s my, 'if I’m going to the electric chair what would be the last dessert you’d ever'? It would be one of those,’ he says.

    Of course, Valastro is no stranger to Houston. He performed a theater show here in 2011, and taped two episodes of Bakery Boss, his Kitchen Nightmares-style turnaround show, in 2013 at Drew’s Pastry Place and Not Jus’ Donuts.

    Given that track record and Saturday morning’s turnout, it should come as no surprise that Valastro and his team are scouting locations to open a full-service bakery in the Houston-area. Doing so would allow customers to purchase the show-stopping cakes that are featured on Cake Boss.

    “By coming to The Woodlands and feeling things out, I think that will tell us where to go,” Valastro says. “I love Houston. Such a great city. Seeing the reaction from the fans here, it’s so heartwarming. It’s amazing.”

    ---------

    Debbie Haseltine contributed to this article.

    Buddy Valastro came to The Woodlands for the opening of a Carlo's Bakery kiosk.

    Carlo's Bakery The Woodlands Cake Boss Buddy Valastro
      
    Photo by Debbie Haseltine
    Buddy Valastro came to The Woodlands for the opening of a Carlo's Bakery kiosk.
    chefsnews-you-can-eatdessertscelebritiesopenings
    news/restaurants-bars

    Immersive, speakeasy-style tiki bar brings the underworld to Montrose

    Eric Sandler
    Jun 24, 2025 | 6:00 am
    Endless Bummer tiki bar
    Photo by Sergio Trevino
    Houston artist Neon Thrash (Brian Dibala) created the bar's interior.

    This year has already been a good one for Houstonians who enjoy well made cocktails, as new bars such as Starduster Lounge, The Kid, and Augustine Lounge have given the city some intriguing new drinking dens. Other recent openings, ranging from Brennan’s refreshed bar to Latin American-inspired Botonica, demonstrate that the trend won’t be slowing down any time soon.

    Add veteran Houston restaurateur Chris Cusack to the list. Known as a co-founder of the late, lamented Heights restaurant Down House and for his intergalactic pizza and cocktail spot Betelgeuse Betelgeuse, Cusack is preparing to unleash a speakeasy-style, immersive tiki bar on Montrose.

    Called Endless Bummer, it’s currently in a quiet soft opening ahead of a grand opening on Wednesday. July 2. Cusack collaborated with Houston artist Brian Dibala (aka Neon Thrash) to transform a 700-square-foot room at Betelgeuse’s Montrose location into a 50-person space that’s equally inspired by tropical destinations and purgatory.

    “Our original thought was along the lines of, ‘How can we make this special?’ and ‘What unique experience can we create that will be unlike other places in Houston?” Cusack said in a statement. “I had known Brian a little bit from mutual friends, his work at Meow Wolf, and a design project we worked on several years before. I reached out and it was really an instant click where our ideas lined up and he really took it from there.”

    Fittingly for an experiential bar, patrons enter through an unmarked entrance that’s accessed by using a code they’ll receive when booking a reservation on Resy (limited walk-ins are also available). Once inside, people will sit at either one of the cozy booths or the 10-seat bar. Either way, they’ll be surrounded by vignettes and other artifacts curated by Dibala. Just like Meow Wolf, the room has a few easter eggs for those will to explore.

    “I was so lucky to get a chance to bring one of my dream bars to life, and even luckier to get to include several other Houston artists to really make it magical,” Diabala added. “Houston is having a big art moment and hopefully, with this project, we're able to show people what the artists in this city are capable of creating.”

    Just as the decor is anything but traditional, Endless Bummer puts its own spin on familiar tiki drinks and other classic cocktails. The drinks have a strong emphasis on presentation, as in the Pistachio Mai Tai, which is flamed tableside, or the Silver Surfer, which has a LED light dropped in that sparkles like a star (please don’t drink it). Other options include a Brown Butter Rum Old Fashioned and the This Sunset Should be Illegal, a mezcal-based riff on the Tequila Sunrise.

    Endless Bummer will be open from 5 pm-12 am Wednesday through Saturday. As noted above, reservations are recommended but not required.

    Endless Bummer tiki bar
      

    Photo by Sergio Trevino

    Houston artist Neon Thrash (Brian Dibala) created the bar's interior.

    openingsendless bummer tiki barnightlifecocktails
    news/restaurants-bars
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