Caramelo Bakery

This place is fantastic. The baked goods are all incredibly fresh, cheap, and delicious.
My birthday cake came from here. It was Tres Leches. My Mexican friend tried it and said it reminds him of his mother’s. There was not a crumb of it left. It was truly incredible, and it made my birthday extra special.
Other highlights include various buns and bread products that are stuffed with cheese. Also, so many different types of cookies. Every single one I tried was delicious.
I love this place. Get the tres leches cake. Get a basket and try a bunch of different cookies and buns. A basket full of baked goods will probably run you $ 10 if you REALLY fill it.

DO NOT EAT HERE — THEY SERVE RAW POULTRY.
My coworkers and I ordered lunch from here today and WOW, I had the worst experience with this place. Wish I could give zero stars.
I ordered a breaded chicken sandwich with a side of fries for take out. It was delicious until ¹⁄₃ of the way through, I bit into raw chicken! I examined the rest of the chicken breast and the entire middle of the breaded cutlet was not cooked. I called the bakery to report this, and the person on the phone was very nice and agreed to prepare another sandwich. However, when I went into the bakery to return the chicken, the cashier took my tray, went to the back, came back out and told me, «we only replaced the chicken. We left everything else the same.»
I explained to her (ALTHOUGH SHE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN) that the raw chicken had touched everything in the sandwich and that it was all contaminated and that it all needed to be replaced, not just the chicken. She went to the back of the bakery and a man I assumed to be the cook came out and told me he could only replace the chicken because only the chicken was raw. I told him, Sir, this is cross contamination, you CAN NOT just replace the chicken because it has touched everything in the sandwich, it is all contaminated. He became argumentative with me, and told me, «well, you ate the chicken, so you are contaminated too.”(THIS IS NO JOKE, HE ACTUALLY SAID THIS TO ME). I responded, «well, if I am contaminated and get sick, then it is this restaurant’s fault for serving raw chicken». I repeated that he needed to replace my entire order as it had all been contaminated by the raw chicken, and that they could get into serious trouble with the health department by doing this sort of thing. The cook told me that his boss would get mad because another woman came in a few months ago complaining of the same thing. Then he just waved me away and told the cashier to replace my entire order.
I could not believe the treatment I received in this place, but what really was outrageous was how blatant they were about not following safe food handling practices. A lot of people could get food poisoning or Salomonella from improperly handled food. My coworkers and I will never eat here again because of their poor customer service and poor food handling practices.
Hopefully I do not get food poisoning from this place. Customers: Beware.

I’m a sucker for pastry cream, custard, or anything with a sugary white center.
Which is why when I went up to counter and saw this truly honey-​golden-​brown donut-​looking sub roll of a pastry, where if you look closely, you’ll see was split and layered with custard; my heart melted a little bit.
Likely of disease, but at the time it felt reminiscent of love.
I asked for this baby arm sized contraption in addition to two waters. At first, I thought she was gonna get me 2 glasses of tap water, but after I had paid 4 dollars, which I assumed was for the mini-​cake sized donut– she told me that the bottled water was in the ice cold refrigerator standing next to the door.
Was it good? Yes
Was it soft? Yes
Was the custard delicious? Oh, surely
Whilst looking at cases bursting full of $ 1.00 frisbee sized cookies, and large counter refrigerated cabinets brimming with layered cakes glazed with neon frosting, so bright that you could wear a single piece of this cake running in pitch black darkness and be safe and sound, you might not realize that this little bakery is also cooking up tamales, empanadas, and saltenas. Where they find the time, I have no idea.
Empanadas are savory and quite tasty, but noticeably a bit old.
Tamales are respectable and would be welcome in most Latino households.
Tres leches cake here, of Unilocal’s Self Guided Wheaton Culinary Tour fame, is perfectly wet with balanced sweetness, served cold enough to replace lemonade on any of the upcoming brutally hot days.
Parking is quite limited in front. You might want to venture around the corner to Elkin st for more bountiful options.

Caramelo has some of the best cake I have ever tasted! I came to this bakery after my boyfriend wanted me to check out a few local bakeries for our son’s 1^st birthday party and from the moment I stepped in, the smell alone had me convinced! The inside is very clean and neat & the woman i spoke with, Maria, was very nice. They have 2 books for you to look at with ideas for cakes and a huge display case of yummy looking desserts right at the register. I couldn’t resist so, I bought one and only paid $ 2.94! I mean, these are huge pieces of cake! We went with a mickey mouse cake, ordered the day before and it was ready by 11 am the next morning Will definitely be back for more! Thank you, Caramelo!

Ohhhh yes. This place is great. It’s incredible how many baked good they manage to pack into this place. Everything you could want, plus lots of things you didn’t know existed but should want. 5 stars for the empanadas. They have chicken or beef. I had the chicken, and it was perfect and flavorful inside, with green peppers and peas (I think) and wonderful and crispy on the outside. I saw that another reviewer buys them by the dozen and freezes them, and that’s actually an awesome idea– I bet they freeze well.
We had tres leches cake, which my phone has insistently autocorrect to «leeches» several times now. It was very good, although it had a layer of strawberry flavor that I didn’t care for. Not sure if it was usual, or just a daily variation. I just didn’t eat that layer. We tried a croissant-​like thing filled with custard, which was amazing, and a sort of cookie sandwich with caramel and anise flavor (not my fave, since I don’t care for anise). They had literally dozens of other items, piled high, both sweet and savory, although heavier on the sweets. There were napoleons and pre-​cut layer cakes in 8 different flavors: chocolate, coffee, cappuccino (which is different from coffee, I guess), strawberry, caramel, «fruit,» Oreo, and others that I can’t remember. They also had a large selection of full sized cakes.
Nothing is labeled, and knowing some Spanish would probably be helpful, although the woman at the counter made a valiant effort dealing with my lack of Spanish skills. Not sure exactly what the prices were, but everything was extremely inexpensive. Two empanadas, tres leches cake, croissant, cookie, and two sodas cost me $ 11. I docked them a star because the seating area (3 tables) was unbearably cold, due to constant door traffic. It is probably much more pleasant in milder weather.

Pan dulce, alfajores y otras galletas, pasteles, empanadas, todo a buen precio, recién hecho.
Tambien ofrece desayunos y almuerzos.
El servicio es rápido, en una ubicación accesible.

Caramelo Bakery is pretty damn good and very cheap.
For Halloween I was looking for goodies to bring to the office. It was close by so I gave it a shot. I’m used to buying desserts in D.C. which are a couple of bucks more than the ones in Wheaton, MD. so I was expecting a certain dollar amount. I was very pleasantly impressed by the size of the desserts and the prices of them.
I ordered some tiramisu looking pastries that came in different flavors. I got the Oreo, Mocha, Chocolate and Caramel. They were a big hit in the office and some of them had to cut them in half because of the size. They were quickly devoured and the crowd gave it a thumbs up!
A big thumbs up.

The best empanada’s in Wheaton!

They have the best empanadas I’ve ever eaten. (I’m saying that as someone who’s lived in S. America.) I order some chicken and some beef by the dozens, keep them in my freezer, and microwave them as needed. Great for meals or snacks.
They also have many other goodies such as desserts.
I did need to speak a little Spanglish to place my order. They do take credit cards.

Always friendly service and a large selection of fresh baked pastries. I don’t know what you call them in Spanish, but try the cheese turnovers at the cashier’s end of the self-​service display. They’re not sweet, more a treat for lunch. We didn’t know what horciata was when we first tried it here, but now we’ve tried it everywhere and this is the best. (It’s a rice based drink that tastes better than a milkshake and sets you back all of $ 1.) For us, this is the real Wheaton.
One star off for a cramped dine-​in area that is partly used for storage.

As I recall, this store used to be a Dutch bakery, so I was surprised to learn of its transformation into a versatile Latin bakery. I was looking for Bolivian saltenas in Wheaton, and a restaurant refered me to this place. This bakery only had chicken saltenas, but they were pretty good. Their beef empanadas were also very good. However, I think I liked their customer service best of all. I had purchased 6 beef empanadas one rainy Friday evening, but when I reached home, I found that they had given me chicken empanadas. I took the empanadas back the next morning, and they gave me 6 fresh beef ones instead and an apology for the mix-​up. I didn’t really know what to expect because another place had told me some bad things about this place, but this bakery’s customer service was excellent and they backed their tasty products with a smile. It sounds like it may be a perro eat perro world out there among Wheaton businesses, but this one looks like it’s a top dog! :-)

This bakery is such a treat! I love their pineapple pound cake and their chicken sandwiches. I really enjoy all of the pastries here and the staff are all very friendly. I’d definitely recommend to family and friends. I’ve already brought people here from work and they love it. Good thing I don’t live close, I’d be eating a pineapple pound cake a day!

We picked up four different pastries last night, and I could tell if two of the ones we selected came straight from the oven that they would be nice and fluffy as opposed to hard and dry.
The pineapple pound cake was quite good though.

great bread, great pastries! Love the saltenas, bolivian patties stuffed w/​beef or chicken, potatoes, peas, olives, in a yummy sauce. Also love their beef and chicken enpanadas. I go by this place at least once every other week to stock up on their yummy gooods.

When I was on the hunt for an ATM in Wheaton, I stumbled upon this little bakery on the corner, just off Georgia Avenue.
I walk into this quaint and clean bakery and I’m not really sure what to get because nothing is labeled and there is no real menu listings anywhere. Oh well, carbs, glazes, sugars, icing… can’t go too wrong!
I see tongs to pick up the selected baked goods, but no plastic bags. Ahh, that’s because I’m supposed to pick up a straw basket and place my selections in there! Gotcha.
I opted for a lightly sugared croissant looking treat. I played it safe this time. At the check-​out I decide to ask if they had any tres-​leches cakes.
Si, claro!
Muy bien! She goes behind the counter into another refrigerator and places a sizeable slice of cake into a plastic container and tells me that both items will cost me only $ 3 and some change! What a deal!
I take a bite of the cake when I get into the car — delicioso! Moist and sweet just like tres leches should be, with a lightly whipped cream icing. What’s interesting with this cake though was that it has a strawberry shortcake twist to it.
This place is authentic, delicious and reasonably priced. I’m glad I don’t live too close however, because it could really start costing me!

Caramelo Bakery is a ray of sunshine on a rather dismal strip of Georgia Avenue in Wheaton, known for its diverse dining options.
This little shop serve authentic Venezuelan and Latin pastries. The quesillo, a rich Venezuelan flan was very good, but I absolutely loved their tres leches. They also had a large selections of cookies and muffins. The guava bread (or tart) looked appealing and convinced me to return to sample it on another day.
One of the other things I liked about this place was that it had a nice neighborhood feel. I can’t wait to return and sample other treats. The wedding and special occasion cakes look beautiful!