League City Cafe Bakery — Restaurant in League City

This review is long overdue, but I wanted to get it out there anyway.

For my 50th birthday, in October 2021, my husband wanted to do something extra to mark the occasion, and part of that was taking me to Rustika Cafe Bakery in League City, Texas and letting me order my own birthday cake. We met with a young woman (unfortunately I do not recall her name) who assisted us and she was very kind and helpful. After discussing options and whatnot, we placed our order. On the celebration date of my birthday my husband picked up my cake without a hitch. It was boxed and completely ready for him when he arrived at the bakery. All was great. At home we celebrated my 50th with a small handful of family & friends, and before long it was time to cut into the cake, and believe me- we were ready! I mean, look at it, it looks amazing! And it does. The cake looks stunning! “Ta-da! The End. That is all” is how I WISH to end this review - on a positive note because, let’s face it, who likes a “Debbie Downer”, especially one reviewing a bakery, a bakery that has high ratings at that. Not I. But I am a “word of mouth” consumer who depends on public reviews just like you do, so it would be unethical of me to not bare it all. So let’s get down to it, shall we? Why only three stars? OK, so I mentioned the employees were great, the order processing and picking up was top-notch smooth, and the cake looked excellent, and matched how I ordered it, That can only leave one thing. Have you figured it out yet? 😞 Not a single one of us wanted a second slice off cake. The cake was tall so we cut off approx 5 slices, and then we cut those five slices in half. None of us ate our entire serving of cake. None of us. Guys/gals….it simply did not taste good. And I haaaate saying that because I love ALL bakery’s- everywhere- love them! And I honestly don’t know if I fault this bakery, or not, because through the years I’ve eaten A LOT of cakes and one thing I’ve noticed is that anytime I’ve bitten into a special ordered cake, like mine, my tastebuds are not thrilled. It’s either “Nope. Doesn’t taste good”, or barely pass for “It’s OK”. I don’t know why this is the case with fancy cakes, or specialty cakes, or over-the-top extravagant cakes or however you want to refer to them, but I suspect it’s because of the amount of product that goes into making them. 🤷🏻‍♀️

So anyway, that’s my sad review. And I hate that it’s not a four or five star rating review because I know that pulls down their overall score. But this bakery has tons and tons of other high esteemed remarks, so I’m confident they’ll be fine, and that my tiny feedback in the internet-sphere won’t impact them. And I hope it doesn’t, at least not negatively, because I want them to thrive, and grow, and succeed beyond measure. 😊👍🏻

For quick reference:

Occasion: 50th birthday celebration Celebration style: Simple/casual. Family & friends Company: Tweens (pre-teens), adults, senior adults Race/Ethnicity: Hispanic family,...

Very kind staff, but I won’t be back.

I’ve been to this location and the one in Friendswood. Both locations struggle with staff it seems but while the other location is able to make up for it with an experienced staff, this location just struggles.

PRO’S: 1.) LOCATION. This little coffee and baked goods spot is a short walk away from some fun items down the street like the walk-in garden used for wedding shoots and the Big Kahuna ice shave shack. The whole neighborhood feels very cute. 2.) KIND STAFF. That’s pretty much it, they are very kind. 3.) BAKED GOODS. This is the one thing I know we’ve had was good.

CON’S: 1.) INEXPERIENCED STAFF. This one feature alone has made us determined to not come back. The staff is too inexperienced and unable to keep up with demand that our orders, however simple they get, are always wrong. The staff always seems more concerned with getting an order out/done then getting it right. 2.) COFFEE? We have yet to have the coffee we’ve wanted or ordered so it’s hard to make a good judgment here. I’m an americano drinker but sometimes I’ll just have a Mocha Latte, and my wife has similar orders with oat milk. If we’ve gotten what we ordered it was always super weak so don’t know if I can say if I’ve had the coffee yet. 3.) ANYTHING NEEDING MADE. With the limited experience and limited kitchen this piece suffers a lot. The staff is always rushing so much that the items that get to you loook rushed, and that’s after waiting 30 minutes to get it which leads to the last item… 4.) WAIT TIMES. Ultimately, I would be happy to wait out and ask for someone to fix an order if there was an issue, but the last couple times of waiting over 30 minutes for simple orders and still not getting what I asked for is just too much.

Ultimately, the other location in Friendswood needs to have a sit down with this location and or find some more experienced help soon. It would be a shame to see this place suffer more in bad reviews. If you’ve got time to spare and are a patient person try this place out, if you’re in a rush and need your order right this means first time, I’d...

I very rarely write reviews, and typically if I have an issue I either let the employees know or just don't worry about it -- it's coffee and dessert after all!

Sadly, I think I may possibly have had my worst coffee today. I ordered a Cortadito with Almond Milk (I wish I could still drink real milk) for $4.25 today. I also ordered a cookie and took that with me to sit and wait for the coffee. What I received was definitely not a Cortado/Cortadito. I was asked if I want the coffee and milk separate or together, to which I responded together is fine. I got a 10oz styrofoam cup filled to the top with very hot almond milk -- too hot to drink. I couldn't even taste the coffee in it -- however I did see a hint of coffee color, so I know it was poured in. Imagine a 10 oz hot cup of Almond Milk -- let's just say there are better things to taste! There simply was way too much milk to be classified as a Cortado. It couldn't be classified as a Macchiato, nor a Flat White. I took a few sips and wanted to be able to drink it, but couldn't -- it tasted like chalk.

There simply was way too much milk in the drink. I did let the person who made it for me about the ratios being off. I got a response about the milk versus foam being off, but I told her that it's not a milk/foam issue, it's just way to much total milk period. You couldn't taste the coffee at all.

This is the first coffee I have ever paid more than $3.50 for that I took only 3-4 sips and ended up having to throw away. It wasn't drinkable -- there was zero coffee taste. She never asked if I wanted another one. I should have just got an espresso shot, would have been better. I didn't want to be rude and just leave it on the counter, but I probably should have because I threw it away in the trash outside.

Stick to the basic coffees I suppose. The employees were friendly, so I'm not sure what happened.

On a positive note, the chocolate chip cookie was good! I enjoyed...