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    La Paletera

    3.4 (29 reviews)
    Closed 10:00 am - 9:00 pm

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    a car parked in front of a restaurant
    Edgar V.

    When I feel the too-often heat misery of Houston, I think of hotter places such as Ecuador, Death Valley, or the Sahara Desert. Call it heat schadenfreude but it makes me feel a little better. Stopping in here after striking out for great fried chicken at Dodo's, I wanted something icy and sweet in the growing dusk of a sultry August evening. This stretch of Bellaire Boulevard is in the heart of the barrio; further west, it forms the heart of New Chinatown while further to the east, it forms the heart of upscale West University and the city of Bellaire. Since Westheimer Road, Richmond Avenue, and Bellaire Boulevard parallel each other, each shows you a different kaleidoscope of neighborhoods as you drive down its endless ribbon of asphalt. This visual diversity is one of the things that I like most about our city. The shop's décor is an energetic medley of tropical colors - nothing riotous but nothing sleepy either. Colorful muted tables with aluminum chairs are scattered throughout and a decent-sized patio facing busy Bellaire is offered. Various posters announce what they have: paletas (Mexican ice cream bars), fruit cups, snow cones, and ice cream are the primary choices but non-ice cream snacks are available, too. The paletas are in a floor-case at just the right height to tempt kids and kids at heart - a sign announces a whole laundry list of flavors for 99 cents each. Some are water-based and others are cream-based. A small sample of the delights are coconut, mango, leche quemada, cajeta membrillo, fresas con leche [strawberries and cream], lime, and banana. The friendly counter lady provided big spoonfuls of samples of coconut and the mango before my selection - in my evil head, I thought about just eating my fill of samples then leaving but my better angel said that it wouldn't be right. The coconut was a severe temptation since it was really good but the mango offered just a wisp of being a healthier option and I went with that. Unfortunately, I spotted the paleta case after I had secured my waffle cone with a regular sized scoop of mango ice cream ($2.49 inclusive of tax). After asking the counter lady if they made all of the good cold sweet stuff on premises, she informed me that it all comes out of their factory in San Antonio. So, we have a budding challenger to our Texas champ, Blue Bell Creameries, in the bucolic burg of Brenham. All we'll need is Bobby Flay rolling up in his "Throwdown" trailer and his pasty-faced self. There is plenty of room in this city for multiple ice cream vendors - and, believe me, I'm willing to eat as much cold creamy delight as there is heat in this city (translation: a lot!). A return trip to La Paletera is in order to make sure that I'm doing my part.

    Pistacciao
    Crystal K.

    One of my favorite things about houston is discovering little gems like this paleteria. The place has a nice variety of ice cream flavors and extensive menus that's divided between the Popsicles made with cream and water. I got pistachio. The Popsicle had a nice balance of sweetness and a bit of nuttiness. My only problem was no one spoke English I'll definitely come back to try more of their flavors

    Yum yum yum!!
    Bijal K.

    Yummy ice cream flavors. Love the cafe y oreo! Their cones are legit dipped in chocolate. Las raspas are our fav but we couldn't resist ice cream so we will try the snow cones next time! Until then, adios ky friends!!

    a woman sitting at a table in front of a restaurant
    Butters B.

    Great selection of fruit cups, paletas (popcicles), and creamy ice cream--some of the best I have had. Very thick and creamy, also the paletas are awesome! I recommend pecan or coconnut. Also they sell fresh juice, I love the mixed fruit! So good and fresh :-) Makes me so happy...

    MangoChamoy, cookies and cream, and bubble gum natural icecream

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    1 year ago

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    11 months ago

    came at 8:50 and they had closed the doors already. they always close 10-15 minutes before closing time.

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    7 years ago

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    2 years ago

    I wish they could have regular horchata every week ): it's so bomb not everyone likes strawberry horchata /:

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    3 years ago

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    3 years ago

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    17 years ago

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    11 years ago

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    8 years ago

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    14 years ago

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    7 years ago

    The ice cream is decent but the best are the mango mangoneadas omg sooo good employees aren't nice though.

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    12 years ago

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    16 years ago

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    5 years ago

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    8 years ago

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    12 years ago

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    8 years ago

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    9 years ago

    The staff didn't speak much English besides that hurdle the ice cream was amazing rich not too sweet and just right.

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    7 years ago

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    10 years ago

    Great place for some Mexican treats. The service was great, and the atmosphere was calm. Ill definitely be coming back here.

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    12 years ago

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    7 years ago

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    10 years ago

    Always very tasty and good quality. The fresa con horchata is amazing and I always add Chile and lime on my number 24.

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    15 years ago

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    9 years ago

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    Review Highlights - La Paletera

    The fresas con crema are great too.

    Mentioned in 2 reviews

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    Royal Roastery - Houston - Modest store front.... But larger than expected on the inside!

    Royal Roastery - Houston

    4.4(269 reviews)
    2.4 mi

    Royal Roastery is a roastery offering freshly roasted nuts, baklava, Turkish delight, ice cream,…read moreknafeh, desserts, Arab drinks, juices, and shakes. When I stopped by on a weekday evening at 9pm it was packed. They had stations setup throughout the store to order different goods, which helped to alleviate the rush. Knafeh ($6) - They offered 2 types of knafeh, one with cheese and one with custard. I went with the one made with Nabulsi cheese and topped with shredded phyllo, and soaked in sugar syrup. It was warm, crispy and delicious! Karak tea ($5) - This milk tea drink was made with aromatic spices, primarily cardamom, cloves, ginger and cloves. I was happy to see they used whole milk instead of evaporated milk. The drink was incredibly rich and creamy and tasted great. Turkish delight ($18 / lb.) - This was extremely fresh, soft and chewy, made with cornstarch, sugar, nuts. Some of the varieties I tried had chocolate and/or fruits. The baklava here was fresh made with layers of phyllo dough, chopped nuts, and held together with some honey. The nut offerings here included, almonds, walnuts, peanuts and a few more. Overall I was impressed with everything they offered here with the exception of the nuts, which I thought were just ok. I'd definitely return if I was in the area.

    The desserts here are fun, unique, and very different from what you find at most places. My only…read morecomplaint is the lack of labeling for many of the products. For example, with the Turkish delights and ice cream selections, only a few items are labeled. For most of them, you have to guess the flavor or ingredients. When I asked questions, there was a language barrier, and the staff member behind the counter was unable to clearly explain what the items were in English. This can be especially frustrating for customers with food allergies or dietary restrictions. In the U.S., I would expect all flavors and ingredients to be clearly labeled so customers can make informed choices. Even if staff members are not fluent in English, having accurate labels for flavors and ingredients would greatly improve the customer experience. The desserts themselves are excellent, but better product labeling would make the experience much more enjoyable and accessible for everyone.

    Photos
    Royal Roastery - Houston - So cute!

    So cute!

    Royal Roastery - Houston - Biscoff kunafa, yummy!

    Biscoff kunafa, yummy!

    Royal Roastery - Houston - Taoqi Mango Ice Cream

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    Taoqi Mango Ice Cream

    milk + sugar - red bean & mochi

    milk + sugar

    4.6(821 reviews)
    5.2 miMontrose
    $$

    Got the following flavors: carrot cake, rain or shine, city that never sleeps, and yum cha…read more I really liked their carrot cake. Honestly, can't go wrong with any of their flavors. Love the creativity and highly suggest sampling all of them They will typically have at least 1 non dairy options, but for all my lactose intolerant people out there, I found it super interesting that they also SELL LACTASE at the front checkout !! Never seen this before in my entire life and I feel that this is so helpful and also kind of funny

    We were craving a late night dessert after leaving East River 9 so we stopped at milk + sugar…read more Overall, great service but not much to be impressed about. Side note you'll need a code to use their restroom. I ordered the split cup of Strawberry Almond Cheesecake and Dulce de Horchata. I felt that the portion could've been slightly more generous than below the rim of the cup, but I suppose the price is reasonable. I guess it's hit or miss like at Marble Slab. The cheesecake flavor was okay not overpowering, which I would've preferred more than the almond and strawberry. I think I wasn't impressed with it because the server scooped more of the graham crust than ice cream. I'm pretty sure that's another reason I didn't particularly care for their cheesecake. The horchata was nice with hints of cinnamon and with the split cup made it taste even better.

    Photos
    milk + sugar - Yum cha

    Yum cha

    milk + sugar - Seasonal flavor Ube

    Seasonal flavor Ube

    milk + sugar - Ice Double Scoop - Dulce de Horchata & Rain or Shine

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    Ice Double Scoop - Dulce de Horchata & Rain or Shine

    Popfancy Dessert Bar - Meatballs, Taiyaki with ice cream, Ochaco's Cherry Blossom Latte and a strawberry cream sandwich

    Popfancy Dessert Bar

    4.1(325 reviews)
    4.0 miChinatown, Sharpstown
    $$

    Popfancy Dessert Bar: You're here for K-Pop, the desserts are the bonus…read more Let's be honest about what this is. You're paying for the K-Pop Demon Hunter pop-up aesthetic, the upbeat vibes, the fast service, the themed menu. The desserts? Solid. The Pinky Up Parfait hits. One scoop of cappuccino ice cream comes generous and tasty. Nothing disappoints. But nothing revolutionizes dessert either. This is good execution in service of a limited time experience, not destination-level pastry work. And that's fine. That's exactly what a pop-up should be. The real draw is that everything works together. Vibe, music, service, and desserts that don't let the side down. It feels fun, not gimmicky. That's harder to pull off than you'd think. Bottom line. Pop-ups don't stick around. If the K-Pop theme is your thing and you want solid desserts in a fun environment, go now. If you're just looking for great desserts, permanent spots do it better.

    I'm surprised I have not reviewed this place because we have been here multiple times and each time…read morewe've liked it. This is not a place you go to just have lunch or something.This place is an experience. Some adults might find joy in here (like I do), but my children definitely did, and that's worth it. They came here with the same excitement that they had for disneyland so I'm really happy about that. We all liked the harry potter experience and some different anime type experiences as well that my children liked. The foods and drinks are on theme and although it's not cheap, it's definitely not as much as Disneyland. We came on the weekends, but during lunchtime, and I can see how they might be really busy during the dinner rush. Sometimes you might need a timed entry to go in, but thankfully, we have not since we've been going. I will say that it's quite small and gets cramped really fast. I just think the experience of it all is a really cool and I'm happy we have fun places like this around us in Houston.

    Photos
    Popfancy Dessert Bar - Video cassettes for retro arcade cafe theme

    Video cassettes for retro arcade cafe theme

    Popfancy Dessert Bar - Strawberry Parafit ice cream

    Strawberry Parafit ice cream

    Popfancy Dessert Bar - I'm Melting (ice cream sandwich)

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    I'm Melting (ice cream sandwich)

    Eat Cake  - Lemon-Blueberry Cake

    Eat Cake

    4.0(136 reviews)
    7.9 miThe Heights
    $$

    10/10 would recommend and I'll definitely be going back. My big back self LOVED this place. It's a…read moregrab and go shop but the cookies will still be warm and the cakes will still be delicious! You can buy all the cakes by the slice or preorder a full cake. Just from the smell walking in I could tell I was gonna love this place. They have upbeat music playing and the lady was so nice. She answered questions and made suggestions. The price was not bad either. I got 4 cookies and 1 cupcake and my total was $31. These aren't little cookies either. They are big and you get them warm! She didn't have to warm them up she just handed them to us warm! They were the perfect amount of crunchy on the edge and gooey on the inside. All of them were amazing! The cupcake was for my mom and she said it was amazing too. I live on the other side of town but will be making a trip back whenever I need a fix!

    Y'all be hyping places up. Where to begin? I walked in and nobody was around. I walked around for a…read moregood 30 sec to a min and then finally someone showed up to greet me. I decided to go for small just to try it out first vs get a slice and pay $15 which in the end it didn't matter cus it came out to $12 for 2 items I got. The cupcake I got was cookies and cream but it just taste like reg store bought cake. You know the type that it's "chocolate" but there's not much choc flavor to it. The cream cheese frosting was like eating melted grease and added nothing to the rest of the cupcake. I ended up taking a bite and dumping the rest. I got one of their brownies but gave that to my husband so he could eat it at work. So can't really talk on that.

    Photos
    Eat Cake
    Eat Cake
    Eat Cake  - Partial interior display case

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    Partial interior display case

    The Baker's Son by Valerio's - Piaya Ube

    The Baker's Son by Valerio's

    4.6(195 reviews)
    4.1 miMedical Center
    $

    So my coworker would always bring ube bread for me to work and I finally got her to give up where…read moreshe goes. She told me to go to the bakers son and make sure I go early because they do sale out and people buy in bulk. I entered with intentions of only getting the ube bread but $40 and 5 items later I went slightly overboard. They have so many items and they all look delicious. The customer service was great and prices were really good. Now to the items, the ube bread is phenomenal, soft, sweet, flavorful 10/10. I also got a biscoff bread sandwich (I'm forget the name) which had the softest and most perfect bread I've ever indulged in. Now to what the employees recommended and the absolute star. The ube Swiss roll. Omg, it was phenomenal. 20 out of 10! It was perfect in every way. I live 30 mins away but will make sure to keep The Bakers Son on a must go place weekly!

    I've heard a lot and seen many posts about The Baker's Son in Houston. The videos and pictures made…read moretheir bread and pastries look delicious and very promising. Since we were already in the area after breakfast at TJ's Filipino Cuisine, we finally got the chance to stop by and try their baked goods for ourselves. We arrived early, so the bakery wasn't too busy yet. The bakers were busy prepping more goodies in the back while my cousin and I browsed all the Filipino baked goods we really miss from back home in the Philippines. They even had suman, sapin-sapin, biko, and other kakanin, which was nice to see. I specifically looked for the chicken empanada, and my cousin wanted to try the ube white chocolate chip cookie. We also saw different kinds of siopao and planned to come back later to buy some before heading back to San Antonio. We tried the ube white chocolate chip cookie first, but honestly we weren't totally satisfied. It tasted more like a regular white chocolate chip cookie with purple coloring and didn't really have much ube flavor. I also tried the chicken empanada. My cousin didn't like it because it was sweeter than expected--we were both expecting it to be savory. There seemed to be caramelized sugar in the outside of the pastry, which probably added to the sweetness. I still like it, though it was definitely sweeter than what I'm used to. Red Ribbon's chicken empanada is still my favorite. Later that day before leaving Houston, we came back for the siopao we planned to take home. We finally decided to just buy a couple pieces for ourselves, heat them up in the bakery, and try them fresh. When we saw the price for a four-pack, we were honestly disappointed. It felt expensive for the size. The siopao wasn't huge, and while I like the dough, there wasn't much chicken filling inside. For the portion, taste, and quality, it felt overpriced. Overall, it's probably not worth making another trip back for us. We did enjoy the cassava ube suman, and I like the chicken empanada, but not enough to drive all the way to Houston just for those. If I live nearby, I might come back to try other baked goods, but based on this visit, I'm not sure the rest would impress my palate. I still give them credit for cleanliness and customer service, although we did notice fruit flies on one of the shelves and reported it. The staff was friendly, and the bakery itself was welcoming. At the end of the day, since they're a bakery, the expectation is great-tasting, quality, mouthwatering Filipino breads, pastries ", and kakanin. While some items were enjoyable, overall it just didn't quite live up to the hype for us.

    Photos
    The Baker's Son by Valerio's - Front counter with lots of yummy food

    Front counter with lots of yummy food

    The Baker's Son by Valerio's - Halo halo

    Halo halo

    The Baker's Son by Valerio's - Inside

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    Inside

    La Paletera - desserts - Updated September 2026

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