Casey’s Cupcakes

As reported in the OC Register, May 2014, Casey’s Cupcakes has CLOSED. Yay! Err, No I mean Will Wonders Never Cease…

Happened to be walking by Casey’s this morning and it’s closed. Closed as in gone. It may have been that way for a while as I’ve not been in the area for some weeks.
I have to agree that it was the cutest shop in town but, sadly, you can’t eat the décor which, I’m sure, would have tasted better.
The one time I went in and had a cupcake it really wasn’t good at all and much too pricey for what you got.
Oh well, let’s see what goes in there next…

I can see why she won cupcake wars! We tried three flavors: The luscious lemon, Carribbean coconut and the Cinnamon Sugar. All were moist and delicious. I found the cake to frosting ratio almost perfect. I also applaud them for using Butter and not vegetable shortening as so many places do. This place is worth going to for a cupcake or two or six :)

This place was very cute… and clean! Most of their cupcakes have WAYYYYY too much icing on it. I mean for presentation wise… yes they are beautiful…
The girl helping us was Chelsea … she was great. Good customer service and new everything in detail about all of the different cupcakes… After ordering 6 cupcakes so we could try them. she had recommended her fav… which was the Sassy Strawberry. which now. Thanks Chelsea. thats my fav too!!! SOOO yummy!!!
I also liked the confetti cupcake.
We ordered the Valentines special one., the two different coconuts. and the Skinny cupcake (which is the angel food cake w the strawberry ontop).
I didn’t like any of those. and i would never order them again… not my cup of tea. and some weren’t as moist as i would have hoped.
They also do kids birthday parties here… I dunno how. they don’t even have a restroom. what happens if someone needs to potty?
I also inquired about Speciality Cakes cuz it was my best friends bday coming up and I needed to get a cake…
They couldn’t find the iPad to show me pricing and designs… but when I got home and went on the website it showed different things you could get. but NO pricing.
So I called a different store and they went over pricing with me… which is a little expensive… and they told me they need a 48 hour in advance notice. and i think mind was like 30 hours or something like that. I mean it was only gonna be a very small cake for like 10 – 15 people… If it was my business. for those little things i would make an exception. Call the bakery and see how many orders they have … i mean who knows they could be dead in the bakery for specialty cakes at that time and need the business…
Anyways… all in all… Chelsea was great and I have a new fav cupcake

How could you not want to go inside? Everything looks pinkalicious! (They’re website reflects that as well.) It’s almost like Paris Hilton’s room only it’s not.
Reality star Casey Reinhardt sure hit a jackpot with this one. They have the prettiest cupcakes I’ve ever seen. I’m not a huge cupcake fan because I find them terribly sweet. Surprisingly I was able to finish an entire cupcake here without gagging. There’s a variety of flavors that you can choose from and all are beautifully named and decorated. I had the Carribean Coconut (scrumptious) and I highly recommend it if you want to taste something that’s not too sweet
The store also sells merchandise including Casey Reinhardt look-​alike dolls. I mean they’ve got their branding down to a tee. You can either take your cupcakes to go or eat inside while sitting on their glossy pink couches. They have bottled drinks that you can also order or you can simply ask for water and they’ll serve it to you.
The Filipino cashier (didn’t get his name) was very nice and friendly. He even took our picture.

I always stop here on my way out of Laguna!
First off, the Cupcakes are 5 star for sure!!! By far the best i’ve ever had. Blows out Babycakes, Sprinkles, etc.
Staff is a 1 star at best. I understand you have a crappy 8.00 an hour job. I wouldn’t want to do it, but you made the choice to do it, so regardless of how much you dislike your job, don’t take it out on us.
We went in last Friday (Oct 25^th 2013) and got the 6 pack. Since we are driving to SD and i don’t live with my girlfriend, i asked if they could put them in separate boxes. The girl said «Sure, but it’s 54 cents per box». Really? I’m spending over 3.00 on a cupcake, you really want to charge me 54 cents for a box? This isn’t the first time we asked for this, but it is the first time we were charged (Or going to be). After that she said, well we will just charge the 3.50 per (Regular price) (It’s 3.25 per if you do 6) so it’ll come out cheaper. I said forget it, just put em all in the 6 pack. Why would I get 6 and pay regular price? It’s like buying toilet paper in bulk. You buy 12 rolls at the bulk price, not the same as it would be for a single roll.
I understand they don’t make the rules, but come on now, how petty is that.
Maybe someday Casey will be there will i come.

German chocolate cupcake was very tasty. The place is also very cutesy in all of the pink. I wouldn’t go here regularly because I’d gain 100 pounds… but it’s really good for a treat for yourself :-)

Food: Very, very adorable looking cupcakes. Glitter, gumdrops, gold dust, sprinkles threw up on just about everything – and I LOVED that. I ordered the vanilla cupcake and the red velvet cupcake which had gold frosting and decorations on it. I was worried it would taste like metal since it was SO GOLD. I asked the worker if it tasted like metal and to be honest. He said it didn’t. It absolutely tasted like metal. I do not recommend getting the golden red velvet cupcake, no matter how cute it looks. Vanilla cupcake was… vanilla.
Price: EXPENSIVE. I don’t mind paying a bit more for a well made and tasty cupcake but I was really unhappy with my gold red velvet cupcake and unhappy about the high price I paid for metal in my mouth.
Atmosphere/​Service: SO PRETTY! It was heaven on earth for a girly girl like me. Pink and white everything. Candy displays and other decorations throughout the store. Could do without the portrait of Casey in the store though… I wasn’t a big fan of hers on Laguna Beach (lol).
Overall: Don’t know if I would recommend this place to everyone I knew who liked cupcakes. The extra money you pay is for the ambiance of the place and the luxury, I guess. if I ever go back, I will NOT get the same flavors I got the first time. I was disappointed.

Such a beautifully decorated place. It’s full of charming, child-​like whimsy. They do sell more than cupcakes. Our server was very friendly and upbeat. I was already jazzed about getting a cupcake, but he just cranked up my excitement with his enthusiasm and cheerfulness. They did have 1 gluten free option, which was good enough for me as I love all cake flavors. The gluten free option I tried was red velvet, it was delicious with great flavor and consistency. I sacrificed my gluten intolerance for a tiny bite of my mom’s sassy strawberry cupcake and it was also amazing. Comparing the flavors and texture between gluten-​free and non gluten-​free; they were both winners. Almost no difference between the density and both plenty flavorful. I’m looking forward to my next visit to Casey’s.

I’ve been to the original location in Riverside, CA at the Mission Inn and the one in Laguna Beach. The store is really nicely decorated in the most girly way possible but it fits the image.
The cupcakes are light years ahead of Sprinkles. I was actually involved with the Sprinkles company when they first launched and we built the owner a custom cupcake food truck for remote locations. She brought us TONS of free cupcakes over the course of the build and the guys at the shop found that the dense, dry, heavy cupcakes worked far better as projectiles and weapons in shop warfare. We literally tried everything she brought (these were hand selected by the owner of the company for us) and they were gross! Out of 44 employees at West Coast Customs, only 1 actually liked the cupcakes. I have also tried Georgetown Cupcakes and a few others and I haven’t been impressed… until we found Casey.
Her cupcakes are beautifully decorated and so moist and light compared to the competition. No overload of frosting and no dense, dry cakes. They are by far the best tasting cupcakes that my wife and I have ever tried! We are foodies and try to eat at the best restaurants in every town we visit… Casey has made our list of places to stop while in SoCal. I lovingly joke with my wife that I’m going to marry Casey someday… the cupcakes are that good!
All of the 1 and 2 star reviews are sickening. I swear that Unilocal needs to qualify these morons before allowing them to write such ignorant reviews.

2 Stars or less??? Are you kidding me? Without even TASTING a cupcake here, you HAVE to give it 3 stars at LEAST!
This place is like the Disneyland of all cupcake shops!
Everything is completely themed out from top to bottom, from inside to the outside. The owner of this place truly and obviously cares and has poured her heart out into the magical experience that Casey’s Cupcakes truly is.
It’s not always about just the flavor or mere presentation of the frosting on a cupcake. I can say that with confidence now that I’ve been to Casey’s.
The staff was jovial. My goodness– even the receipt was pink!
Alright, the cupcake that I tried wasn’t perfect. I found it to be a TEENY TINY TAD bit on the dry side. But I REFUSE to take ANY stars away for that.
I have been to countless cupcake establishments over the last 4 or 5 years. This one sets the standard for magic and quality. Every single cupcake place I’ve ever been to has had it’s off days in terms of cupcake moisture/​dryness.
I have to go back now and LOWER the ratings that I’ve given to other cupcake places based on this perfect 5 star rating.

This place owes me a star, seriously.
A friend and I stumbled upon this cute little cupcake shop on our way to the Pageant of the Masters. We were lured in with the Barbie-​esque décor and neatly displayed rows of cupcakes. We each ordered our own little treasure of sweetness and had a seat in their perfectly designed sitting area. I placed the neatly decorated box in front of me and started to eat with my eyes. I couldn’t resist sampling the frosting on it’s own so I dug my fork in deep.
After having my first taste, however, it became clear to me that Casey does not have a dead old grandmother whose frosting recipe has been passed down throughout the ages. Instead, Casey must subscribe to Sandra Lee’s blog and do it the «Semi-​Homemade» way which is to use canned frosting straight off the supermarket shelves. While the store frosting lowered my expectations of the cupcake as a whole, I was still secretly holding out hope that the cake itself would allow me to forgive the frosting faux pas, at least momentarily. Boy was I disappointed when this was not the case!
After allowing that dry bundle of carbohydrates make its way between my teeth, I was certain that the attendant must have accidentally served me one of their doggy cupcakes instead of a human cupcake. But much to my surprise, unlike Sprinkles in Beverly Hills, Casey does not have doggy cupcakes. Meaning, that dry over-​sweetened attempt at a pastry was truly intended for a human’s palate.
In closing, Casey, if you are reading this, you owe me $ 3.50 and a shot of cheap tequila to kill the wretched taste you’ve left on my tongue.

While a very cute girly pink everything décor store the cupcakes here are very below par…
Cupcake wars winner my ass, someone must have paid lots of money or something was rigged. Sorry I am not buying it… I just can not!
My red velvet cupcake was lacked flavor, the frosting was off the top layer was crunchy (Eww!), and the cake tasted stale… Worst red velvet cupcake ever!
I’m not concerned over the price as you often get what you pay for but not here at Casey’s Cupcakes…
Cupcake lovers keep on moving!

I dont know where all these bad reviews come from, but I had a pleasant experience. I have been wanting to try this place for a long time and I am happy I did. It exceeded all expectations 100% especially after reading the poor reviews.
Lets address the frequent complaints. The price. Casey’s price is average, maybe people are looking for a $ 1.00 cupcake but 90% of cupcakery shops charge anywhere from $ 3.25-$ 5.00 a cupcake. I’ve been to many in the OC and LA and every single shop is expensive if your cheap. It seems to me most Unilocalers are cheap and cry over a $ 3.50 cupcake.
Lets talk parking, plenty of parking when I went on a late Friday. The shop is nestled far enough back in the shopping center that ample parking was accessible. Even if the lot was packed park on the street and enjoy a 2 minute stroll to the water. There were people in line, but have you been to Sprinkles? That line wraps around the building, yet Unilocalers dont seem to mind. But here if more than 3 people are in line they have a hissy fit. They was plenty and plenty of seating unlike other OC Cupcake shops. I felt like I was in an old fashion icecream/​candy shop.
Merchandise was very pink and very cute not crappy at all. They had t-​shirts, hats, candies, cupcake jewelry, ect which would appeal to tourists or lovers of the show Cupcake Wars. The price was reasonable, this is not Walmart folks, expect to pay more. You know what is expensive? A box of cupcake mix, no frosting at the other place.
Taste.Again Unilocalers who come here may be comparing her cupcakes to Betty Crocker, but Betty Crocker left the building before most of the Unilocalers were born. Casey’s cupcakes are fantastic. I purchased 5 cupcakes to take home. Each cupcake was individually packed in its own spill proof box. I was able to eat one in the car on the way home as my husband drove. The ravishing raspberry lemonade cupcake was so good. The cake was moist and the center had a tart lemon filling that made my lips pucker in a good way. The frosting was sweet just the way I like it with sugar crystals along the edge.
Forget the haters this place is well worth it! On a sidenote Casey was there the day I went. She is a beautiful young woman.

i would give this place zero stars given the chance. The décor is cute — everything is super pink. The cupcake = bleh… taste like state store bought cupcakes: T Wish i could have tasted the winning recipes that won then cupcake wars but whatever flavors they had were not good… We had 7 people and decided to do a 6 pack of cupcakes because it was slightly cheaper. We all love cupcakes and we all agreed it didn’t taste good at all and we had sooo many cupcakes that we just threw away.
The boxes the cupcakes come in are genius but thats it. There’s also crappy merchandise that they sell around the store which I think they should cut down on and invest more in making their cupcakes taste edible.
would never go to or recommend to anyone: T

I have tasted cupcakes all over and this place is definitely one of my faves.
I have never gotten a cupcake there that I didn’t like. Although the flavors aren’t as creative as I would like, the do the basics well. The cake is always moist and the frosting is never stiff and dry.
I was a little upset that the logo and the cupcake style was very similar to my most favorite cupcake place (susie’s cakes). It almost seems like it is a copycat.

My boyfriend surprised me and brought home cupcakes from this place last night. Carrot Cake for him, Dark Chocolate for me.
The packaging is adorable. It’s like opening a present!
His Carrot Cupcake was much smaller than my Chocolate Cupcake. Not sure if there was a price difference, but I hope so since he received much less than I did.
I didn’t try his, but he said he liked it. Mine was chocolate overload! There is SO MUCH shaved chocolate on the top of the frosting. I could barely eat half of the top. The bottom of the cupcake was a bit dry. That could have been because he purchased it earlier in the day and we didn’t eat them until about 10 pm.
Overall I liked the flavor. I did need milk to accompany it though. Maybe one day I will stop by my boyfriend’s work and we can go try this place again and see if it’s any better when it’s fresh.

Average cupcakes with super cute pink packaging. Casey’s Cupcakes even markets bath products and coffee mugs. If they spent nearly as much money perfecting their cupcakes, I’d like them more. I love cupcakes and I really wanted to like this place. Her strawberry cupcake was just ok, nowhere as good as Sprinkles, but better than Frostings. You could barely taste any strawberry flavor. Very underwhelming. At least the cake was moist. The red velvet didn’t have a cheesy cream cheese frosting. It just didn’t do it for me.
The staff was really nice, but I don’t know how they’d not go crazy with that Cupcake Wars episode playing on loop all day, everyday. So you won Cupcake Wars, so what. The cupcakes aren’t nearly as good as they should be. Sad to say but the hype isn’t all that.

I’m a little perplexed that this place only gets 1.5 stars. Maybe it’s not the best cupcake in the world, but it’s way better than 1.5 stars. Maybe all the Sprinkles loyaltists are trying to hurt it’s reputation. I am a very loyal Sprinkles fan, but I have to admit, Casey’s is very close.
In fact, the owner of Sprinkles was one of the judges that voted for Casey’s as the winner of the Cupcake Wars on the Food Network. So that’s a pretty good endorsement.
I’ve been to the Casey’s in Riverside, and I can say after two visits now that your experience greatly depends on which cupcake you order. The german chocolate cake is fantastic. Honestly, better than any cupcake I’ve had at Sprinkles. The cake was far more moist, and the presentation is much more creative than Sprinkles’ always boring swirl.
However, other cupcakes have not made the grade. The red velvet is not as moist, and the frosting is not as cheesy as Sprinkles is.
Casey’s also appeared to have more unique flavors. (ie, Raspberry Lemonade, Ginger Ale, German Chocolate, Orange, etc) Casey’s flavors are also offered nearly everyday, where Sprinkles has certain flavors only available on certain days of the week. So if you have a specific flavor in mind, check the website before you drive down there. Casey’s is more predictable.
The only reason I still lean towards Sprinkles is because I am a big fan of the cream cheese frosting. If Casey’s incorporated that, I’d say it would be better hands down. But until then, I’m on the fence with these two places.

Casey Reinhardt just opened a second location of her cupcake store thats a little closer to home (versus Riverside). The new store is very cute — I don’t I’ve ever seen so many pretty young girls working at one time in a cupcake store, boxing up your cupcakes in adorably pink individual boxes.
I tried the Excellent Espresso, Razzmatazz Raspberry, and the German Chocolate Cupcakes. I had originally bought just the first two, but the girl behind the counter said the german chocolate ones weren’t set out yet but were THE flavor to get — «people come back just for the german chocolate». Oh heck, ring it up, too.
Excellent Expresso = not at coffee-​y as I was expecting, almost a little more Bailey’s-y with a firmer, more muffin-​like texture to the mild chocolate cake.
Razzmatazz Raspberry = I liked the suprise raspberry in the bottom of the cake which was lighter than the espresso cupcakes and very moist. The frosting was a little plainer to me than I was expecting.
German Chocolate Cake = **The Winner** This cupcake was delicious. Usually I don’t like german chocolate cake because it is too sweet, but this cupcake version was a perfect balance of sweetness. I liked the darker chocolate that was used along with additional chocolate chunks in the cake itself. It has lots of coconut topping and the cake was very moist.
Overall 3.5 stars! I’d like to try the lemon and banana cupcakes next.