Big Apple Cafe and Bakery

OMG carrot cake cupcakes! key lime cupcakes! macaroons with the most delicious chocolate drizzle, yummy coffee cake, peanut butter buckeyes… ok i did not eat it all at once but i could have! cute interior and lovely people. i can’t wait to go back and try something else!

we’re in town for a week and have been here twice since the hotel doesn’t offer breakfast. they have a nice variety of bagels, but limited amounts of them so when they sell out, I guess they just sell out. However, I asked if there was any way possible I could get a type that was already sold out in the case and they were VERY accommodating (I understand that probably would not be the case in high season!). The bagel spreads are interesting — not just the usual plain or veggie but some real complementary spreads to the types of bagels they offer (my husband got something like jalapeño cheddar). The bakery items looked beautiful, but all we got was bagels and coffee, of which they had 4 different types of roasts, which was nice. We sat inside both times (there are only 2 small tables and counter seating, so 6 people total can sit — most get carry out). The owner, Kim, and her daughter (who served us the first day) are super friendly. I know there are times when all I want is a good bagel, and this will definitely be my go-​to place for that when I’m in town!

Where should I start? Ate this morning at the Big Apple. My experience was filled with stale bagels, expired cream cheeses, and terrible service. I realize it is the off season but the service and questionable products were unacceptable.

Ordered 2 cheesecakes last minute and the fine folks at NY bakery and deli came through for me. They weren’t sure if they’d have time, but they made it happen. And by the way, they were absolutely sinfully delicious. Thanks so much to the gang at NY bakery for all you did to pull this off.

I’ve been looking for a good lox bagel in town since having one in NY, and this place did not disappoint! The salmon tasted fresh, the bagel was great, and you gotta love the cream cheese, capers, and onions! I will definitely be back, I’m just upset that I didn’t find this place sooner.

Coffee Flavors are very good. Bagels — Not the best. Appear to be bulk purchased as after toasting, inside was still «gooeyish inside. Iced White Moca had to be thrown away, as it was nowhere close to the product description and price. Was hot coffee and cold water and cream — not blended together and certainly not iced. Overall — Quality does not justify the Price of what we had. Note — This review is only for what we had. The other items being sold certainly looked very good. Our bagels did not.

Please check your cake before you purchase, and I would recommend ordering it very much in advance.

Just found about this place not too long ago and their desserts look so good. I tried their bagel and cream cheese and girl! They do not skip out on the cream cheese they pack that thing on. Cinnamon buns were delicious. They have cookies, pastries, cakes, pies and what’s really awesome is you can order and customize your own gift basket and they make wedding and birthday cakes also. I found out that they actually have breakfast sandwiches for pretty a price good price. I ordered a sausage egg and cheese on a hard roll and it was soo good. Next time I will for sure try it on a croissant but no matter what you get it on its just a flat fee of 350 so that’s pretty good. If I’m ever early for work I’ll for sure stop here for breakfast rather than some quick fast food.

Great bakery in Carolina Beach. Bagels and lox are fantastic. I also ordered a peanut butter and chocolate cake from the Big Apple that was excellent. Cool theme and good service.

Ordered a surprise cake (Peaches and Cream) for wife’s b-​day during our trip to Carolina Beach. It was ready as promised, looked beautiful, and was delicious!
Also made it in time to pick up some tasty bagels for breakfast before they ran out, also tasty. Not a lot of places to sit if that’s in the plan, wasn’t a problem for us.

Work right down the street and am furious with myself for not finding this place sooner. Best bagels in the ILM/​CB area sourced straight out of NY.

Great find. Wish I lived in town! Friendly and courteous staff too. Bagel from NY baked on premises.

Kimberly and team have baked us wonderful cake pops (in our logo colors) and unique cakes ‘to order’ with flair and creativity. They taste even better than they look! Their Death by Chocolate cupcakes are melt in your mouth! I have taken the cupcake sliders (pi below) to many meetings and boy are they well received — major conversation starters that make people giggle. A creative, yummy way to break the ice is priceless.

It was overall alright. The food was as expected, nothing over the top. The thing that was sort of a turnoff was the worker that helped us. She was rather rude when we were trying to use a coupon. Also the canolis were expensive. $ 2.50 for a 2 inch canoli was sort of pricy.

Warning — this place does not offer gluten free baked foods!
Never got to try this place. Was directed here by gluten free reviews online.
Unfortunately they do not have anything gluten free worth eating. A couple frozen gf cupcakes is about it. Not hating on them but if you are gonna offer gf baked goods offer them.

I adored this place, and the people who work here are great.
Originally, my grandmother and I stopped in this bakery to pick up one of the burger cupcakes and some other desserts; unfortunately, they didn’t have any for sale that day (we were told they haven’t really been selling, which I don’t really understand, so they don’t regularly offer them anymore). One of the baking staff came out from the back kitchen and offered to make me one the next day though, and my grandmother and I agreed to come back and pick it up between noon and 1pm — as well as some extra cupcakes, since it was actually going to be my birthday (and, instead of a cake, I was much happier with the idea of individual cupcakes for my grandmother, aunt, uncle, and myself). That day though, my grandmother and I both grabbed coffees, while I also got a red velvet cupcake for myself (SO good), and my grandmother got her signature apple «pillow», as she called it… which is more croissant like, but rectangular, but filled with apple.
When we arrived the next day before 1pm, we discovered the bakery staff person who offered to make the burger cupcake had actually forgotten — BUT! She said that if we could wait 10 minutes then she’d have it ready. Since my grandmother and I had to go to the bank anyway, we ran to the bank and came back. When we got back to the bakery, the baker was so apologetic that she gave us two burger cupcakes (for the price of one — aaawww). My grandmother and I picked up two more cupcakes (Death by Chocolate and a Reese’s Cupcake), and another apple croissant-​like dessert to bring back for the low-​key birthday celebration.
Needless to say, everything was delicious… and I’ll be sure to stop back at this bakery when I visit my family in Carolina Beach again in late summer. With delicious desserts, bagels and lox, fresh baked focaccia, and other delicious options? You can’t go wrong.
Also? Their coffee is delicious. That doesn’t hurt either. :D

I can’t believe this liitle jewel has no reviews before now. It is fairly new, just opened about 8 months ago, Feb/​March of 2013 located in the same strip shopping center as Michaels Seafood. We stopped in to try out some of the goods while vacationing in Carolina Beach & we definitely weren’t disappointed, in fact the treats we got the first visit were so good, we made a 2^nd stop to try some of their other goodies. I’ll probably be stopping on the way out of town to take a few back home with me also. Everything we tried was delicious, my little nephew went crazy over the «Hamburger Cupcake», I went crazy over the Pumpkin Cheesecake. They have a big selection of all kinds of stuff like bagels, fresh baked breads, cheesecakes, cookies, pies, muffins, pastries & you can even get coffee or a smoothie & have a sit down. What a great find while at the beach, I will definitely visit any time I’m in town.