Anyone ever visit Carlo's Bakery?

[Kim&Chris]

My niece LOVES that show, so as a little birthday gift I promised her we'd visit the bakery. It's about an hour drive for us.

I'm guessing that Buddy Valastro is probably rarely there, and if he is, he probably doesn't meet & greet? He's the main reason she wants to go, so I'd just like to prepare her.

Also, do visitors generally have to stand in a line to get in?

 

[jel0511]

My niece LOVES that show, so as a little birthday gift I promised her we'd visit the bakery. It's about an hour drive for us.

I'm guessing that Buddy Valastro is probably rarely there, and if he is, he probably doesn't meet & greet? He's the main reason she wants to go, so I'd just like to prepare her.

Also, do visitors generally have to stand in a line to get in?

We've been there several times. You very rarely see anyone from the show, as they are usually upstairs. The lines can get VERY long, really doesn't matter whether you're there during the week or on the weekend. The lines can get up to 6 hours to just get inside, that's usually on a nice weekend day. My husband had to wait for over 2 hours in the rain to pick up DS's birthday cake (he also LOVES the show) on a Wednesday afternoon!!!!!

 

[Kim&Chris]

We've been there several times. You very rarely see anyone from the show, as they are usually upstairs. The lines can get VERY long, really doesn't matter whether you're there during the week or on the weekend. The lines can get up to 6 hours to just get inside, that's usually on a nice weekend day. My husband had to wait for over 2 hours in the rain to pick up DS's birthday cake (he also LOVES the show) on a Wednesday afternoon!!!!!

Yikes. LOL, what did I get myself into?

 

[DisneyAndRedSox]

On New Year's weekend we met a friend for Sunday brunch a few blocks up from it. The line was several blocks long and it didn't look like it was moving at all.

You could not pay me to wait in a line that long, and unfortunately there are no Fast Passes!

 

[kieras nana]

i love this programme,we first watched it last year,whilst on holiday in florida,but it is on over here, in the uk now.
when we revisit new york next year,we are definately paying the bakery a visit.glad you have mentioned the wait times though,as this year,we have an 8 hour layover in new york,so wondered if we could use,that time to visit,but you have convinced me,to wait until next year,when we have more time.
can't wait:cool1
tracy

 

[jformica]

We live in NY (2 hrs away) and took the kids this past March. You have to get there early in the morning (it opens at 7 am). If you can get there before 8:30 you'll have a short wait (5-15 minutes) but if you get there after 8:30 you'll be waiting for an hour or two. If you go on a weekend forget it. We love the show but quite honestly we won't do it again because you don't see anyone (they are upstairs) and it's pure chaos. We can "scratch it off the list" though.

 

[marcyinPA]

We went last August. It was a rainy day, and we got there around 10 am. The line was a block long. We waited a total of 2 hours (an hour outside, and an hour inside).

The day we were there, Buddy was there, but he didn't come downstairs. He did pop his head out the window and wave to everyone though. We saw Mauro in the bakery...he was doing a cake consultation. We also saw one of the sisters. I forget which one.

The inside of the bakery is small. Like tiny small. It gets very crowded. Nothing is priced. You just order one of these, one of those, a dozen of that...and then they box it and give you a price for everything. We spent about $45 on a few things, and another $40 on "swag"...t-shirts and mugs.

Watch your parking in Hoboken. A parking ticket will run you $45. I know this because I got one. It was street cleaning day. Who knew? I never saw a sign, and all of the other metered spaces were full. I guess they made money on tourists that day!

I'm glad we went once, but I don't feel like we need to go again. Love the show, but honestly, the baked goods were average. I can get better here at home.

 

[daisax]

My sister went. Buddy did lean out the upstairs window and wave to the fans in line at one point.

She brought me back a cupcake that I wasn't impressed with, but it had spent two days in the car so I can't truly judge them on that!

 

[Art 1]

I wouldn't wait a minute to get in the place, that's crazy.

 

[CurlyGirl]

Not worth the wait -- and the wait can be a looong one. There are better bakeries in the same neighborhood!

 

[Parkers_girl]

We waited about 2 hours to get in, and another hour once inside. We got to see Mauro, Mary and Buddy! We saw a few cameras going up and down the stairs so I assumed they were filming that day. It was exciting to see the outside, and what we could see of the inside. It was a very tight space with a lot of people jammed inside so it was kind of hard to move around and really be able to look at anything.

 

[LuvOrlando]

One of my closest friends went, spent over $100 and was unimpressed. She said it looked pretty but there are better Italian Bakeries around. She was especially disappointed by some kind of fondant confection she bought.

 

[melmar136]

I took DD last May, Memorial Day weekend (the Fri before) because we were going to NYC for the weekend. We got there around 2 in the afternoon, lucked out on parking up one street and around the corner, and only had to wait about 15 minutes in a small line outside.
The bakery itself was so crowded inside that I couldn't really see everything. But, we wound up with a cannoli (best one I've had), a couple of great brownies, and a huge choc dipped strawberry. Wasn't as expensive as I thought it would be....cost us more to go thru the Lincoln Tunnel (twice cause I got lost!)
We only saw a couple of the sisters.

If she REALLY wants to see Buddy, he is on tour....we went in Jan in Springfield, MA but he has lots of dates coming up... www.buddyontour.com
It was cute, he talked about how he started, brought people up on stage to decorate cupcakes, did a Q&A...

 

[NEVERENOUGHWDW]

We used to get Carlo's every Sunday because my family (grandparents) lived on Bloomfield Ave. in Hoboken.

Since the show we have only been there 2x and both times the lines were ridiculous and baked goods have suffered. blahhhhh

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

Like the others have said - GO EARLY!
My GS troop was going into the Intrepid one day and conned the dad that was driving to stop at Carlo's. He got a spot half a block away and we were the first ones they stopped to wait outside. That was fine with the girls as Taylor Lautner was in line behind us. Yes, it was him. I had 10, 11 and 12 year old girls. They were content to watch him. The cakes were now a distant second. And yes, they begged me to speak to him. He was kind enough to pose with the girls.

Anyway, we also got our picture taken with the oldest sister. Can't remember her name. The one cousin's son was there. He looks just like his dad.

We've been there in the past and have seen Buddy, Mary and Grace. They really do work at the bakery. And if you are buying anything, buy the crumb cake. I believe it is truly the best thing in their display cases!!

 

[disneylovin24]

My niece LOVES that show, so as a little birthday gift I promised her we'd visit the bakery. It's about an hour drive for us.

I'm guessing that Buddy Valastro is probably rarely there, and if he is, he probably doesn't meet & greet? He's the main reason she wants to go, so I'd just like to prepare her.

Also, do visitors generally have to stand in a line to get in?

I went a couple months ago. Got lucky, Buddy stuck his head around the corner and waved to the crowd for a few minutes but that was it. My aunt is a big watcher of the show though and she recognized everyone that waited on us!

The line was inside when we got there but it filled up the whole place (it is a small place). By the time we left though it was out the door. We did wait for a hour though and that was with the line inside the door.

Im assuming most the pastries he sells right there are mass made because of how busy they are and how they taste. Everything we got did not taste that great at all! The cakes inside were very cool to look at though. I would say despite the wait it is worth it to go once just to see it and say you have been there but I dont think they get too many 2 time costomers!