A recent stop at The Pastry Corner in Cibolo, TX warranted a word or two…
Before I dive into my review of The Pastry Corner, I’m going to briefly mention why I even tried it in the first place… If you want to skip over all of that, you can jump straight to the short review here.
I’m trying to be a better friend. Not so lackadaisical about maintaining friendships. I’ve been coming to terms, over the past year, with how much I use my productivity as a boundary in getting too close to people.
And around the holidays, I really have every excuse to maintain that distance…
Kids. Birthdays. Parties. Christmas. In-law visits. Baking. Cooking. Maintaining a relatively clean house and a manageable backlog of laundry. This lady STAYS busy.
But…I’m trying to be a better friend.
So, when one of my girlfriends invited me out for pastries and coffee at The Pastry Corner TWO DAYS BEFORE CHRISTMAS…I bucked myself up, averted from my social anxieties, and put my productivity on pause. Kinda. I figured, well, maybe it’ll be another review to write. Kill two birds with one stone, right?
Content creation and flourishing friendship. I can make time for that. Lucky for me, we had a great time, stimulating conversation, AND The Pastry Corner was worth reviewing!
Seeing Cibolo
The 25-minute backroads drive to The Pastry Corner from New Braunfels allowed for scenic hill-country views. I’ve made the country road drive to Universal City on occasion and had, up to this point, considered Cibolo more of a passthrough town than a worthwhile stop.
The Pastry Corner is nestled just off of a rustic, little historic downtown main street. There isn’t a whole lot to see, in truth, but the location has its charm. And, really, after our Pastry Corner visit, there’s certainly a draw to this particular area now.
In fact, as I understand it, there have been significant strides made in restoring downtown Cibolo. I noticed that The Kindling, The Rooted Fork, and the 1908 House of Wine and Ale are all within walking distance of The Pastry Corner. I’m excited to visit Cibolo again to try each of these establishments as well!
The Pastry Corner
My friend and I arrived just after 9 AM (opening) on December 23rd, a Saturday morning. We found parking a short jaunt away, and as we got closer, the charm was quickly evident. It’s a quaint, refabbed home turned cute cafe bakery.
We JUST beat the breakfast rush to The Pastry Corner. Moments after getting in the line to place our order, the queue behind us began to stretch. That being said, patrons had their orders taken in an expeditious manner, and the line moved efficiently. IYKYK, it reminded me of the Czech Stop bakery in West, TX. Always a line, but it moves smoothly and quickly.
The only issue about the queue, I’d say, is that there isn’t much standing room indoors before the line has you out on the porch. Even then, it’s a covered porch, so some inclement weather protection at least.
The space is functional, plenty of indoor and outdoor patio seating. Cafe tables and chairs, a big, cushy couch with accent rug and coffee table… The overall aesthetic is cozy, warm, and welcoming. A wealth of natural lighting, paired with the cute decorative accents, beckoned us over to sink into the couch…
Paper-Thin Lamination
We took our Pastry Corner order over, sat down to wait for our coffees, and marveled at our pastries. We ordered Strawberry Cruffins, an assortment of Danishes–both sweet and savory, a Blueberry Scone, and I snagged a couple Portuguese Cheese Tarts to take home to Nathan.
I could easily ascertain the texture of the Danishes long before taking my first bite…
From the moment I saw them in The Pastry Corner bakery case, I could feel their apparent flakiness, the delicate crisp of an untold number of expertly laminated layers. Tempting me, teasing me… And then, at last, my curiosity was sated and my fantasies were realized as I sank my teeth in deep…
OHMYLAWD, they KNOW Danishes at The Pastry Corner!
Easily, some of the best I’ve eaten. We tried a Blueberry Cream Cheese Danish, as well as a couple more savory selections, like the absolutely divine Spinach Feta Danish. The flavors are on point, but I’m honestly the most impressed by the texture. Speaks volumes to the technical know-how and experience of the baker.
Quick side note: all the above standing, neither of us were impressed by the scone. Underdone, lacked much flavor, but, personally, I’m not a huge scone fan anyway. The Cruffin was fun. I enjoyed a bit, took the rest home for Nathan and the toddlers to try. Very sweet, not super memorable, but not bad by any means.
Speaking of Paper-Thin…
This issue felt somewhat incongruent to the overall atmosphere and artisanal quality of the baked goods at The Pastry Corner. Perhaps it’s a minor gripe, considering that it didn’t impair the food quality itself. However, it did impair the eating experience…
Plating. More specifically, paper plating. First thing out of my friend’s mouth as we sat down was a comment to this effect: For as flaky as their pastries are, you think they’d give us bigger plates…or, at least, sturdier ones.
Fair enough. We received our drinks in legit coffee mugs, but everything else? Single-use, disposable, paper plating and plastic cutlery (that made easily cutting the pastries neatly in half damn near impossible).
We were able to utilize a metal diner serving tray to carry our order easily enough to the coffee table. But the lack of support from the plates themselves left much to be desired. Awkward posturing, hunching over the coffee table to gorge ourselves it is!
A Latte Laughs & a Mocha Moustache
While there, satisfying ourselves with scrumptious pastries, we also tried The Pastry Corner seasonal coffee specials. My friend ordered the Christmas Cookie Latte, and I got my favorite holiday mainstay: a Peppermint Mocha.
I cannot speak to the sweetness of the latte, but I was pleasantly surprised by the mocha. It wasn’t overly saccharine like some coffee drinks are. The coffee was certainly strong enough, the peppermint came through nicely, and that FOAM. Suffice it to say, it was SOOO good that you should have serious FO(a)MO, and get to The Pastry Corner to try it!
It’s thick and velvety. The foam bubbles don’t dissipate the second you take a sip… They stay on your lip. Like a grown-up milk moustache. A caffeine crumb-catcher. A mocha mouth-brow. There was just something sumptuous and luxurious about that mocha foam. Highly recommend.
The Last Crumbs
Just some final thoughts on this cozy Cibolo Pastry Corner:
I honestly cannot wait to go back. There’s room for improvement everywhere you go, and sure, some of the options there wouldn’t be the draw for me. HOWEVER, I haven’t had a single, local, delicately flaky pastry that can hold a candle to The Pastry Corner Danish.
A while back, I wrote an article comparing the Downtown NBTX bakeries. So I’ve had my fair share of baked goods and pastries, believe me. There are bakeries SIGNIFICANTLY closer to us than Cibolo.
BUT, from all of the goods I’ve experienced in a 15-mile radius, The Pastry Corner is the only go-to for me if I’m looking for a perfect Danish. And great coffee to go with it.
Nice little bonus: I’d been looking for a while to get my hands on some Aero bars and couldn’t find any anywhere. They were selling some at The Pastry Corner.
Mamasaur was a happy customer.
Order Up: The Pastry Corner
Pros
FLAWLESS DANISHES. Satisfying tarts and Cruffins. Cute, restored, historic house-turned-cafe-bakery. All their pastries are made in-house from scratch. Artisanal breads. Frequently rotating flavors and creative specials. Strong, delicious coffee drinks, not oversweet, with incredible FOAM. Variety. Fast service, even when busy. Plenty of seating, indoors and outdoors. Calm, inviting aesthetic.
Cons
Plating could use improvement. Upgrade from paper and plastic, single-use, disposable dishes and cutlery. Not a fan of the scone, but could’ve been a one-off. Limited business hours, so not an easy visit to fit in for me and Nathan, definitely not for a date. Pricey, but comparable to most local bakeries I’ve been to. (Paying for quality–just don’t pay the $3.25 for an underbaked scone). Closed MTW. Only open Th-Su, 9A-3P.
Update:
Nathan and I made some time for an after-church treat for Orson and Nova (10/20/24). We left grieving wasted calories and, overall, immensely disappointed with the experience and quality of offerings.
The 3.5 star rating is as generous as I can be now. Anything higher would call my credibility into question if a reader had an experience like we did.
May just be that The Pastry Corner is not a place to visit in the afternoon, and that’s why there were barely any offerings. But if there’s a time you should avoid a restaurant, you probably just shouldn’t visit the restaurant.
We won’t be returning.