Rustika Cafe and Bakery: Original West U — Restaurant in Houston

I have an upcoming birthday at the end of November and wanted to order a really nice cake for the occasion since I have family coming from out of town. My son-in-law had recommended Rustica to me since he had ordered a cake last year. I went on their Website to see what types of cakes and flavors they had available. I called approximately 2 weeks ago and spoke with a woman. I told her that I had a few flavors in mind and asked if I could come in for a cake tasting. She said “absolutely”. I had asked for 4 flavors, chocolate mocha, chocolate coffee buttercream, banana caramel rum & amaretto. I asked her what the cost of the tasting and she said there wasn’t one. We discussed the pricing of the cakes and sizes and I jotted down the information. I was quoted $58.00 for a cake that fed 10-12p. I told her that I would be coming down in a few days later with my daughter. When we arrived, my daughter went up to the counter and ordered an em piñata, cookies and a bottle of water from the young lady behind the counter. She had told her we were there for a cake tasting. The owner had come over to speak with my daughter and said he didn’t know what she was talking about. My daughter came over to the table where I was sitting with my grandson. The owner approached us and said “we don’t do tastings“. I explained to him I spoke with a woman earlier in the week and said she would have the samples ready. I told him the flavors and he said “we don’t have those available. He seemed quite annoyed and walked off. My daughter had walked up to the bakery case and had noticed a plate in the fridge with 4 mini cakes covered with Saran Wrap. The owner reappeared with 2 slices of white cake. One of the slices had whipped cream, sliced bananas and caramel (no rum), and the other had buttercream and chopped almonds. When he realized the samples were made, he apologized and said no one told him. We tasted the samples and were quite disappointed. Both chocolate cakes were tasteless and stale. The “almond cake” didn’t taste like almond and the buttercream was hard, the banana cake turned gray on the top. The sample he made with the bananas was tasty, but was missing the rum. We decided to order the Banana Caramel Rum Cake. He asked us how we wanted the cake decorated. We said it was for a birthday and wanted pink and yellow flowers, and the top to say Happy Birthday Gigi. The owner quoted my daughter $89.00 for the cake and had her pay for it upfront. When I arrived home, I looked at prices the woman had quoted me and realized there was a $31.00 difference. I immediately called the bakery and spoke with the owner. I didn’t let him know who I was at first. I asked him for prices on cakes. He quoted me $58.00. I told him I had just been in there and my daughter was charged $89.00. He told me that the $31.00 was for DECORATIONS!!! We didn’t order fondant or fresh flowers, just buttercream rosettes!! At that point, I felt taken advantage of and told him I would like to cancel the cake. He said he would not refund the $89.00 and that we could have a “store credit”!! Now mind you, this cake was ordered a month in advance. I told him that was unacceptable and he said “too bad, your not getting your money back”!! I told him my daughter would dispute the charge. He said the bank would not allow it. My daughter called the bank and explained the situation that the owner was rude and dishonest, and that we didn’t receive anything from the bakery. I wouldn’t recommend this bakery to anyone, just because of the way the owner had handled the situation. I found a wonderful bakery called For Heavens Cake. They were very accommodating and made us some beautiful samples. I’m happy to say we ordered a beautiful cake for &60.00 and didn’t charge us for...

When you're writing a review with tears down your face, you know it's BAD.

Worst customer service and most heartless business I've ever dealt with.

Ordered a cake online on a Monday for Father's day. Called 10 minutes after placing the order and spoke to the owner, Leo, as I wanted to change the frosting type. He takes down my info, gets my credit card info (which he says will be charged immediately).

Next day, Sarah calls me to discuss my online order. I'm confused. Tell her I already discussed it with Leo and gave him my credit card info. She says she has no information. I'm at work and can't spend another 20 minutes going over the details, so I ask her to call me back once she speaks with the owner. She calls me back an hour later to tell me "everything's fine. I have the info. Please don't worry at all. Our owner took the information home with him." Good to know my credit card info is off at someone's house...

I'm frustrated at this point but hoping the cake tastes good as it's for Father's Day and my dad's fave - pineapple coconut.

Friday arrives - my pickup is for Saturday. I call to confirm my pick up time since I'll be leaving early on Saturday from San Antonio JUST to pick up this cake prior to closing. They say sure come before closing.

Get to Rustika. I tell a woman named Jennifer I'm here for my pickup. Confusion ensues. THERE IS NO CAKE. "I think we made a banana rum cake instead." I show her my email confirmation that clearly says "pineapple coconut" as I can't even fathom how something like that happens. She offers me other fruit cake options, speaking to me with such condescension that after she leaves my side to go call the owner, I'm in tears. I ask to speak to the owner over the phone multiple times and he refuses to speak to me.

Most important thing to note - NOT ONCE, does anyone apologize. A simple "I'm sorry" goes a long way and clearly no one at this bakery has the common courtesy or human decency to apologize when they make a mistake.

I pick a lemon raspberry cake substitute, and at this point I'm told $42 and asked for my credit card. What? I've already given my credit card info and was told multiple times my card was charged at the time of order. And now you're asking to charge me again with a 3 buck discount? That's your way of rectifying the situation???? Jennifer then tells me the owner told her if she just gave me the cake without charging me, she would be fired.

It's good to know that rectifying a mistake at Rustika means offering a 3 dollar discount, not apologizing EVEN ONCE, refusing to speak to the customer, losing their credit card information, and allowing them to leave cake less and in tears on Father's Day weekend. I will NEVER give this place my business. Stick with Dessert Gallery or Whole Foods. These people are heartless. Jennifer then on my way out goes "have a great day!" as I walk out in tears. Wow. Also she tells me the owner will speak to me.... tomorrow at 8 AM. That makes sense - speak to me a day after I need the cake I ordered. Not the day of when you can actually apologize and right a situation.

Trust me and don't deal with these people. For them to not even apologize once for a mistake they clearly made is shocking to me. My family and I order far more expensive cakes from multiple places around the city, and this was going to be the first time I tried Rustika. We were all so excited to try the cake and celebrate Father's Day and they essentially ruined a family dinner we were all looking forward to. Heartless, unprofessional, rude, discourteous - none of the words you want to give business to. Stay away...

I have ordered a birthday cake from this Rustika Cafe twice. The first time, they messed up the decor I had showed them in person how I wanted it done. The second time around for the second cake, they completely messed it up all the way from the decor to the flavor. I met with them twice in advance & specifically told them in person how I wanted the decor & the flavor. Even had a cake tasting prior to the birthday party & told them which one I wanted on both tiers. Was told they didn't have the crushed peanuts I wanted inside the cake so I even made the long drive in taking them that. The day of the party comes around & my husband picks up the cake. In the middle of rushing, we see the cake until he gets to the house. The cake is pink around the name with pink ribbon around the bottom of the first tier & the letters were also in pink. Call them to ask about the huge mistake & they simply tell me they would have the chef call me the following day. Like that's not enough for the day, I'm asked to go to the bakery with the cake so they can fix it. Once there, they showed me the form of the written order with all the details I had previously given them & it was clear to see the cake they had made was completely different. In the photo you can tell they did it in a rush & just placed everything on top of the pink that they had previously put on the cake. The inside of the cake tasted like peanut butter & as you can see both tiers were the same flavor. In person I had asked for the top tier to be chocolate & the bottom to be the other flavor I chose from the ones I tasted. The last photo with the name Caitlin is how I told them to make it with of course the several details I specifically told them what to change it to. This messed up cake from the outside in cost me close to 400. Both times for both cakes I chose them because I love how they make the flavor I chose for both cakes. For the same reason I disregarded the long distance as well. Having made huge mistakes in two special occasions of ours is more than plenty for me to never go back to them. I hope others can learn from my horrible experience with this bakery & use their money elsewhere. They gave me no refund whatsoever & the baker/manager wouldn't even show her face when I asked to...