Maria’s Bakery

This place is now closed, unfortunately :-(

Update: CLOSED SINCE JUNE 2011!
I love Maria’s. Been coming to this place since I was little! A wide variety of buns from pineapple (My fav! Along with the hotdog one) to custard, to meat, etc. All at a very affordable price (sometimes you can get 3 for $ 1!) & not too sweet either. The price of the small cakes is a bit more reasonable than Shilla’s. There’s also egg tarts & Swiss rolls!
Also, I think they have the best boba/​bubble tea ever! They’re not like whipped slush with tapioca pearls — the consistency is like actual tea. So many different flavors~ Love love!

$ 10 minimum for credit cards. Man, this place looks barren at 8 pm on Sunday. I’m assuming that the lack of meaty buns was due to my visit’s timing so late in the day. I’m not a big enough fan of sweets to take them up on the Swiss roll deal, but I snagged the last taro bun and supplemented with a red bean bun, dry milk bun, dry pork bun, and a few other singles of whatever was left. The split dried pork bun had a bit of mayo in the bottom to balance out the need for moisture, and the sweeter treats had a much thicker top bun layer than base. I’ll try to visit earlier in the weekend in hopes of seeing some of the former glory I remembered this place having.

Maria’s is this tiny little bakery in a shopping center with A & J. They have amazingly cheap cakes (around $ 1.80 for each slice) and pastries that I can’t comment on. Their boba teas were just tapioca pearls and juice, not slushy with crushed ice, like I am used to, but that may just e a winter thing, as it was REALLY cold the day we went and I can’t imagine wanting ice in mine.
The cakes are great, as long as you are a fan of Chinese-​style cakes. I really liked the ones covered in toasted coconut. Their selection is more limited than other places, but there are still plenty of options.
I have been to other Chinese bakeries in the area and Maria’s is definitely the best.

The best BOBA drinks in the area. Their pineapple buns are good too. Their cakes are fine. I prefer the lighter Chinese cakes over the overly sweet American ones. There isn’t a lot to choose from as far as cakes but it does well for a small bakery.

Egg-​tarts, the only ones I’ve found in this area. I’m a bit picky on my egg-​tarts since I grew up in Hong Kong, from flaky-​crust to the pie-​like-​crust. This place serves up decent egg-​tarts, I’ll rate it a 6.5 out of 10. The only place that has better egg-​tarts (on this side of the river) is probably at China Garden’s dim sum, but I’m still new to these parts and would be glad to be corrected.
They have a few other baked goods, the coconut tarts are a bit sweet, but still delicious, the coconut-​filled buns were pretty good too, the swiss rolls were perfect, not too dry or too wet. I’d skip on the meat filled buns unless you know they’re fresh. The variety is not huge, but that gives me a reason to go to Shilla for other varieties.
The only problem I have is I seem to always buy more than I can finish before they get old.

Egg Tarts! Finally a place that sells delicious egg tarts. I’m glad there’s a place other than Dim Sum that sells egg tarts. Overall, good egg tarts and pork buns. I remember coming here as a kid to grab snacks with my parents. The place is a little run down, but who can argue with the food they have? I’m going to end it with, the food is great and the egg tarts are even better. Definitely going back here.

why am i not excited about these egg tarts like my fellow Unilocalers? b/​c my mom used to make them ALL the time and they are thhhhe yummiest egg tarts EVER!
now that she doesn’t…i’m a little more excited about them!
All in all, I agree with everyone else — the freshness of the buns/​pastries really varies… but also, the place just ALWAYS looks empty/​barren even though it may be the most packed it’s ever been! this is because they honestly just don’t have much merchandise for the size of their room. Their bubble tea is only average, but with bubble tea spots lacking in virginia, this really hits the spot when you’re craving some!
I wouldn’t all of a sudden be like I want maria’s bakery RIGHT NOW like I do for other dessert shops, but if I’m here for the supermarket (never) or a&js (never) I would probably come here. haha but realistically, I’ll come here with my mom if she needs/​wants to do either one of those things!

My fiancé was really in the mood for some baked pork buns so we decided to eat at A&J and get some food from here to go. Unfortunately, we really didnt enjoy half the buns we got.
Lotus bun was good, very surprising, but good.
Coconut bun was delicious, just what I expected.
Taro bun was good, but could have been a bit better.
Roast Pork bun was not so good, i think this was a personal taste issue combined with the fact that the meat was very fatty.
Minced pork bun was in my opinion disgusting. The texture was like hair and very very unappetizing.
The beef curry bun was good, but very skimpy.
All in all, this meal was about 7 bucks and not terribly bad for how much we paid. The buy 5 get one free didn’t hurt either.

This place is my favorite bakery of all-​time. It also happens to be part of a chain (the bakeries can usually be found in large US cities). The best cake in the world is their fruit cake (sponge cake [that’s not too sweet ] with fruit baked right in the middle of it and whipped topping). Mmmm…

This Chinese bakery is okay. It’s good enough to stop in if I am shopping at the Happy Go Supermarket, but it’s not good enough for me to make a special trip for.
They have pretty good bubble tea (of course nothing compares to the original Tien Rien), but they no longer make the hot tofu with ginger sugar.
The pastries are pretty good. That is, if they are fresh. They have a bad habit of leaving stuff for the next day (I usually stop by on Sunday mornings right before they open and see day old bread inside), then I later see a truck come by to stock the shelves with more bread. That’s a nono in my bread book. One time, my friend had to tell me to put back my cha siu bread because the bottom had green mould on it.
So why the three stars? ⁴⁄₅ times the pastries are good and they know how to make good tea and coffee bubble tea. Just beware of that ¹⁄₅ time.

Like the other Unilocaler Donald P. mentioned, «Yeah, Egg Tarts. Finally!!»
Why is it so hard to find egg tarts in Virginia? Now I know I was spoiled, since living in the Bay Area, egg tarts can be found everywhere. This place has excellent egg tarts, just the way I like it. The egg custard is not too sweet, and the crust is flakey but not greasy.
Also, did I mention that they had Powdered Cream Cheese filled Buns, which taste exactly like the ones I had in Taiwan when I visited few years back.
The breads here are really tasty, and prices decent. I love this place!

FINALLY!!!
Found a place that sells Egg Tarts.
Just for that I’ll say we are fans.
But honestly the store looked a little barren to me. With only one display island in the middle of the store and a few tables and chairs set up in the back, this place strangely looks like it’s missing something. At least some modern décor could really bring this place to life.
The baked goods selection was rather unimpressive too. We’ll probably be back for the egg-​tarts which were good, but probably nothing else.

Dear Maria’s
Even though you are sometimes bi-​polar with the Bubble tea, one day you’re perfection the next too watery… I will still return to claim my 6^th free bubble tea after redeeming my stamped card that you so frugally have re-​used; not even on the pretense of being green (always keeping it real, Maria… who cares if those cards have been passed around more than a cheap hooker? You still save at least 30 bucks a month).
Love,
Me

Everytime I stop by A&J’s, I always have to make my run to the bakery.
It’s a MUST! I’ve been to a few Chinese bakeries and they’re all okay.
However, this one is relatively cheap, offers a decent selection of goodies,
and most of the things I bought were quite delicious.
The bubbles and the bubble teas were good, but it does seem to have a bit too much simple syrup. (at least they use simple syrup)
My only issue with this place is that they have a $ 10 minimum for C/​C
transactions. Sometimes, it gets a bit annoying especially when
you go in there for a few things you were craving and end up
having to buy more than you need or want.
Nevertheless, I get my money’s worth and have never complained.

So I found out that this was the bakery I went to yesterday after A & J’s. FIVE STARS for having yummy bubble tea drinks! Sigh, too bad I moved further away from it, because the bubble tea here was great. But word on the street is that there’s another one in Rockville, so I will have to go exploring…
(Note on credit cards: They have a sign that says minimum $ 10 purchase to use a card. I would almost take away a star for this, but the tea is so good…)

«A chinese bakery! WOW! I haven’t seen one of these in the Northern VA area yet! Let’s go check out what they have!»
The place was a bit run down, but the selection was still there. There was definitely a decent variety of buns and little cakes available. Though all the baked buns had a slightly darker brown color than I am used to… so in my head, it looked like everything was overcooked. This deterred me from wanting to get too much, in case they really were overcooked. I ended up getting a pineapple w/​custard bun and a bbq pork bun. The cashier was quick, before I even told her what I had picked up, she said «$ 2.42». Impressive!
Both buns were delicious, I had them for breakfast the next morning. I guess if I’m back in the Annandale, I wouldn’t mind stopping by if I’m in the mood for another bun or two.

This is the store I lived across from 20 years ago in Hong Kong. I thought they ran out of business and was replaced by Maxim or St Honore, but not too sure.
But this day I went there, bought a BBQ bun, Curry Beef bun, egg tart, and wow, it taste exactly like how it was 20 years ago. I lived in San Jose before, so to be fair, this is not nearly as fancy and clean as the ones on the west coast, but it’s got this «local bakery taste» from Hong Kong that’s not found anywhere else.
It is kind of ironic because I just looked it up and it looks like I have visited their shop almost exactly 20 years after they shutdown (my research told me they closed their door Apr 30, 1998). I now suspect they are probably run by the original owners who fled to the US after the store closed their doors suddenly 20 years ago
Still, I don’t care — it is really authentic and down to earth, and it’s exactly the way it’s supposed to be. Many people think Hong Kong pastry are all fancy, but well, they are not. Just plain simple and tasty, a east-​meet-​west experience.

Definitely a run-​down version of its sister bakery in Rockville. The baked goods were decent, but their boba/​tapiocca ball drinks were pretty disgusting (imagine a watered down syrup with 6 tapioca balls).

this bakery is small, but the price is a bargain! i especially love thier pineapple buns, assorted cookies (in a box), egg custard, and their raisin/​cranberry bread. i’ve never tried their cakes because the decorations don’t appeal as being delcious, but their breads and pastries are delicious and well-​priced.