Cakebuds Bakery and Ice Cream Shop in Johnson City

I ordered a sculpted stihl chainsaw cake for my son's Birthday because my son is in tree service and stihl chainsaws are his absolute favorite thing. When I went to pick the cake up, I was blown away! It was Above and beyond my expectations! The chainsaw was so realistic. The detail was Amazing!, all the way down to the warning and manufacture stickers on the chainsaw and the saw dust on the blade. The 2 logs were an added treat that made it even better! The service I received from the beginning was top-notch. Timmy responded to my inquiry very quickly and answered my questions. The talent that he has is unbelievable! Everyone that ate the cake even said it was delicious too, not just a cool looking cake. I have already recommended cake buds to several people, and will continue to recommend cake buds. Thank you so much for the awesome customer service and product! And by the way my son was blown away! He absolutely loved it!

*edit to reflect the actual cost because of my typo- it was $70 plus tax**Also, please look at how they speak to customers and keep this in mind before you place an order… I never asked for a free cake, I just wanted a good quality cake. As for the woman being kind, I took a voice recording of my encounter and I can happily provide that to anyone that would like to see how “kind” she was.I am so highly disappointed in cakebuds bakery…. I ordered a custom anime cake (Demon Slayer- Giyu) for my daughter’s 12th birthday. This is the first birthday that we have been local and with family for over 7 years and she wanted a custom cake. We decided to go with cake buds- huge mistake. We placed our order over a month prior to the party and paid over $70 for this…. When I called them and told them that not only was the quality unacceptable, it was also not what I specifically ordered, the young blond woman offered no solutions or apologies- actually she tried to tell me that because WE picked such a dark color, it was our fault that the color bled into the white drips and we needed to bring it back tonight to get a refund. When I asked to speak to a supervisor or a manager, she told me I’d have to wait until Monday, but that they would tell me the same thing. Yes they gave us a refund after we gave them the cake back but that doesn’t change the fact that I now have no cake for my daughter’s birthday party that is in less than 24 hours. If I were you, I wouldn’t trust them for a special event such as a birthday party or wedding because they will not try to fix it or help you and their pictures do not represent the quality of cake that you will receive.

I ordered a gender reveal cake for my twin sister and her husband and it came out perfect! I live out of state so I could not be there in person to discuss ideas for the cake. However, Timmy was emailing with me and was kind and knew exactly what to do to make the image I had in mind come to life. Katie was super sweet and showed my sister extreme kindness when she handed her the cake during pickup. My sister started to cry happy tears because of how perfect the cake came out. We’ll be ordering from here again for the baby shower in May!

Cakebuds helped design a Pickleball theme birthday cake for my husband’s 60th birthday. They took all my ideas, photo inspirations and even the party color theme and came up with a perfect cake for the event. It was also delicious. The buttercream icing was superb! They were easy to work with and it was fun to give them the ideas and see them create a cake that was ideal for the occasion. Thank you Cakebuds for helping make this birthday party special!

***Please note: I am only leaving this review after attempting to have a conversation with the manager on THREE different occasions about our experience. I have an email confirming that they would call me the following day to 'discuss' our negative experience. It has been 10 days since they responded, and still NOTHING. I have emailed again asking when they will reach out to me (NO RESPONSE) and yesterday I called and was 'assured' I would receive a call back (NO CALL BACK). I have given them every opportunity to own up to their mistake, and they have failed to provide any customer service.***Please see my original email below regarding our order.I'd like to share our experience on November 06, 2021 in relation to the order requested via this previous email.My mother and I were very excited to use your bakery for a baby shower, as we have been following along with your success for quite a while. Unfortunately, we were disappointed with the service that we received. We are NOT seeking a refund, but simply sharing this information with you as feedback.Based on our conversation and the email below, we expected a beautiful cake...simply put 'over the top.' As most of your cakes are always show-stoppers. We did not give a budget whenever ordering from your business, as we did not want to limit your creative freedom. We provided detailed photos and examples in hopes it would spark questions/conversations to really understand what we were looking for. We did not receive any feedback/questions from your team that would otherwise question the information provided. We were simply given an amount and no further communication occurred.Our expectations:1. Two tiered cake with a white base and pastel rainbow color top tier filled with butterflies and flowers, along with a verse printed similar to the style of the cake below.2. Top tiered cake pops at over $2 per pop ($51 total for 2 dozen) in pastel colorsWhat we received:1. Two tiered white cake with minimal (at best) butterflies and flowers, very basic, (3-4 total I believe), and wording that was piling off the cake within an hour. The lack of creativity was not in line with your normal standard., see attached photo of what we received.2. Cake pops thrown in a box for transport, not individually packaged, see attached photo of what we received.Our question:1. If the design was dependent on the price, then why were we quoted only $115? We would have accepted a higher cost, if the design was not going to follow your normal creative nature. We were never consulted or steered in a direction that made us feel otherwise concerned in the cake being plain.2. If cake pops are simply thrown into a box for transport, it is not a concern that should be mentioned to customers. Unfortunately, we are not bakers nor experts in your field. We were not asked nor made aware that the pops would arrive in this style. Again, if it is more costly for them to be individually wrapped this should be communicated/questioned when the order was placed.As stated above, we were really looking forward to your product being the 'star' of the shower. We are disappointed that we now feel like we need to rush to find additional flowers and butterflies to match our theme of 'blooming flowers and butterflies to symbolize new life' as mentioned.Please understand that we do not take sending this type of email lightly, in fact, it's a first for me. I wanted to share our experience in hopes you would understand our confusion in how you 'brand' yourself versus what we received. Unfortunately, I live 3 hours away so I was unable to be at the pickup. Which made this situation even more confusing, as I made my mother ensure we ordered from the same Cake Buds that we in fact follow on social media, because of the difference in style we received.***As a small business owner, I am disappointed in the lack of concern from Cakebuds. We had high expectations coming from a well-known company, but after this experience we are completely confused by what we received vs. their social media "brand."

These ARTISTS made a cake for the 1 year anniversary of the Michael Waltrip Brewing Company in Bristol, VA.It is an amazing 3D replica of the 100 year old building the Brew company is located in. You can see inside the cake building, and it even contains furniture !I have seen "art cakes" before, and I never have seen one so realistic in my life. Usually "art cakes" look nice, but are stale and without much flavor.This one was the exception, it was fresh, moist and tasted DELICIOUS !If you are looking for a cake for a ANY occasion, Cakebuds Bakery and Ice Cream Shop can't be beat !!!!!!

I have only positive things to say about Cakebuds. I went to them first time about a year ago for a friend’s birthday and they made a delicious gluten free cake. Ever since then, Ms. Tammy has been nothing but amazing in taking my cake orders and their cake designer is absolutely phenomenal. I will come to them and ask for the strangest cake ideas and am always very happy with what I pick up. I once asked for a cake with a “soup” theme and they make a soup bowl to put on the top as decoration. Also, their attention to detail is unreal! I would highly recommend Cakebuds for anyone who wants a beautifully designed cake that tastes just as good as it looks!!

These guys are the best of the best!My cakes/cupcakes look identical to the inspo pictures I provided. I am so beyond pleased with the results. They look & taste amazing! I will never go with any other company now for my cake needs. They are phenomenal!

Purchased a make ahead sheet cake for my daughter’s 2nd Birthday. My normal cake lady was booked and Cakebuds had sent me a coupon on Black Friday, so I ordered a cheap sheet cake online. It looked beautiful, but as others have stated, the icing tastes like straight butter. Super disappointed 75% of it is going in the trash. I’ve had cake pops and cupcakes from here in the past and they were great.

I had ordered a cake design for my daughter’s baby shower. We discussed the vision i had and encouraged creative license on the result. We, and everyone in attendance, were blown away by the wonderful and beautiful design, but also the flavorful, moist cake (spice) and the cream cheese icing. My daughter and her husband were thrilled. I would recommend Cake Buds for any and all cake needs in the future. THANK YOU!

Cakebuds is the best! Ordered my mom a birthday cake the morning of, and they delivered right on time the best carrot cake she’d ever had (the whole thing was a surprise, and they even included a birthday card when I asked!) I asked them to use almond buttercream frosting and it was super light and creamy—mom and everyone in her office loved every bite! 10/10 recommend for personal or office treats and delivery is very punctual and good flavor!Edit: ordered a Mother’s Day cake and while the flavors were nice and the presentation was amazing, the ratio of frosting to cake was very high. It would be great to have more cake and less frosting!

I would give Cakebuds Bakery and Ice Cream shop negative stars if I could. I live in NC and had a cake delivered to my 70 year old father in law in Tn. The cake looked like a homemade cake that kindergartner wrote on. It even had fingerprints in the icing!!! I was completely embarrassed. When I called to complain, I was told that they would go back and pick up the cake and "fix it" Seriously? I just paid 70 dollars for a cake that looked liked it was made out of a box cake mix, and their response is to inconvenience my 70 year old father in law by coming back to re-do his cake. To add to my frustration Im getting married on the 24th and had placed cake orders as well as other baked goods w Cakebuds for the event. I requested everything to be cancelled. I didn't want to take the chance that this wold happen on my big day. The response I got was " the manager is in Europe, we will leave her a note"This place is unprofessional on all levels, please get your bakery items from somewhere, Walmart would have been a major improvement over the cake my father in law received.

My parents and best friend ordered a cake to surprise me with for my sweet 16 and it was perfect! The cake was gilmore girls themed and everyone at the party loved looking at all the different decorations and choosing which one they wanted on their piece. It tasted absolutely amazing!!! I wouldn’t have changed a thing! Thank you cake buds!

Hello, I wanted to send my gratitude for a tremendous job that was done on the guitar cake you made for my husband’s 50th birthday. Some thought it was an actual guitar. It really was too pretty to eat, but we did and the taste did not let us down. It was so good! Thank you for a wonderful job on the whole cake. I highly recommend your shop.

Absolutely swindled two newlyweds on this tiny, barely decorated cake, and then asked for more for delivery (which they charged an extra $70 to go about 26 miles). Cake was delivered in a cardboard box and was found to have entirely wrong flavor on top layer. I cannot imagine how this cake would be worth the $300+ you charged even if you dipped it in gold. Shame on you.

Large variety of options available daily. I have never tried something that did not exceed my expectations. I have ordered several special occasion cakes from here and each one has been more impressive than the previous! I highly, highly recommend!**edited to add a photo of my most recent order!**

I have ordered 4 cakes from Cakebuds and I will never go anywhere else! Their strawberry cheesecake is heavenly (I’ve ordered it twice), a peanut butter chocolate cake for my husband’s birthday, and our three-tiered wedding cake (funfetti, turtle, and marble) which everyone RAVED about. Their service has always been wonderful; they even called to double-check our order for our wedding cake, ensured to bake it separately as my husband has a coconut allergy, and drive it two and a half hours to Hickory, NC. I’m proud that this business is part of our downtown and I highly recommend them for any of your dessert needs.Dietary restrictions: Very accommodating of food allergies

This was my first experience with Cakebuds. I ordered the mini cake and 6 roses for my daughter's birthday. I knew nothing of the shop, but hoped it would be special. Cakebuds exceeded my expectations! The cake was lovely...and so yummy! The roses were beautiful! The price was reasonable, and the delivery was friendly and timely. I will definitely be using them in the future. Thank you for helping me make my daughter's day so special from 200 miles away!

Was coordinating a wedding and the bride and groom ordered their wedding cake and grooms cake through Cakebuds! I have done MANY events and cake time usually is dreaded. The prettier the cake the harder it is to serve! Not very often does it look great and taste great! However all I can say is WOW! 🤩 The detail in the cake was incredible! And the taste and texture of the cake was INCREDIBLE! It cut beautifully! Panic set in day of the wedding when the bride had delivery date confused! Their bakery was closed on this day! However, the owner was quick to respond and put our mind at ease that the cake was on route to be delivered! Highly recommend!

Cake Buds catered the cake for my wedding. Firstly, I want to say that the cake itself was fantastic. It was delicious and exactly as we imagined. We gave them photos of the flowers for the wedding and they matched them up very well on the cake. Delivery went smoothly and without issue. However, the customer service leading up to the wedding was horrible. I called a month before the wedding to make my final payment on the cake and my card was charged THREE TIMES (~$300 every time), the lady on the phone stated it was an error with the system. The next day, I received a call from Cake Buds that the payment didn’t go through. This resulted in a long back-and-forth with my bank stating the money was pulled and Cake Buds saying they didn’t have it. I ended up refunding through the bank and bringing in cash to pay for my cake. This was a huge inconvenience because they have the same hours as my job so I had to leave work early to pay for my cake.Needless to say, that is not something you want to have to worry about a couple of weeks before your wedding.

Do you have a sweet tooth and sometimes just get a hankering for a fancy confectionery delight? Do you have a refined palate and are impressed by culinary artistry? OR........Maybe you prefer the icing on your cakes to be flavorless and have the texture of molding clay that has been stored in Sahara-like conditions. Maybe you prefer for a cake to be wretchedly-devoid of moisture and flavor?If the later is to your specifications, then CakeBuds is the spot for you. If you are unsure which of these categories will best suit your expectations, just ask the staff. They will be happy to spend an additional 20 minutes of your time telling you how wonderful they are and give you an unsolicited "education" about what cakes are supposed to be like and how hard, thick, icing is normal and how you CLEARLY are just stupid and have never had a quality cake before. Oh and don't forget, how their owner has won awards on national t.v. for creating edible sculptures (I had no idea about this until I bought the cake and cupcakes so it increased my expectations which was NOT a good thing.) So,if you are looking for a cake that has the exact appearance of a hound dog, and tastes like one, too, you know where to go. OR.....If you are a person who had a Mom or Grandmother who made homemade cakes from scratch that were so light, moist, and scrumptious that they still tease your memory from events long ago or maybe you just have eaten cake once or twice in your life and don't need anyone to explain the difference between dry and moist cake nor the difference between solid-to-the-touch and smooth, creamy icing (No, I didn't give the cake a test "feel" before I purchased it make sure the icing didn't have the consistency of clay.), then do not go to this establishment for your special event cakes.P.S....Go read their reviews like we should have done before making a purchase. You will find that many customers have had the same experience of receiving a product of unacceptable quality and then being insulted by the staff when they bring this to their attention.

After a very busy last few years I finally was able to get to Cakebuds Bakery and I was so pleased that I got to meet Tim Norman and Angela Bowes and even got a sweet smile & waive from Tim's dad hard at work in the back. What a fabulous bakery run by wonderfully talented and enjoyable folks! You can feel the love and joy that goes into their cakes and cupcakes the minute you walk in. Before I left, I snapped up a salted caramel cupcake, thinking I'd eat it after dinner. Yeah well... I made it a whole 15 minutes down the road as I could swear it was calling my name. So, to recall a famous line from years ago "I'll be back!"Parking: Park in the back and go in from parking lot! 😀

Delicious confections. We bought 1\2 dozen cupcakes. It was hard not to get more! If I tell you they were scrumptious, I wouldn't be lying!! Also, they have yummy Blue Bell Ice Cream - the best ice cream in the country - per their ads. And it was delicious too. The clerk was a bucket of knowledge. I apologize, I'm not good with names. We will definitely go back when we're in Johnson City again! PS, they also won on the food network.

We had to get some cupcakes made for my daughters birthday party. I emailed one of the employees a few weeks ago & the timing & mannerism was a great experience. I picked up the cupcakes yesterday & they were perfect! I honestly didn’t know they would turn out SO GOOD. I will definitely be going back for ANY cupcake or cake needs. These people go above & beyond for their customers & it shows! Thank you Cake Buds for beautiful Harry Potter cupcakes & a great experience!!

We've ordered a few cakes from here and they've always been awesome- look amazing and taste amazing! Today, I had to go in to order my son's first birthday cake. The owners dad and another employee were so kind and sweet. My son was asleep in his stroller and there's steps to get inside so they graciously offered to help me get the stroller up the steps and said when I was leaving, they'd help me with the stroller again. The lady taking the order was very friendly and knowledgeable. We are blessed to have this business in Johnson City!

First let me say I am not trying to bash anyone, the staff at Cakebuds has always been friendly and easy to work with...this is why I have given at least 3 stars and not 1.The past 3 birthday cakes I have purchased (buttercream, traditional cake, no fondant.) have been very dry and bland in taste. This is very disappointing, because the cake presentation is incredible. You can tell the staff spends extra time making a beautiful cake. Unfortunately the taste is not on par with the aesthetics, like I previously stated its dry and bland. I would understand the cake being dry if it was bought a day or two before consumption, but we have always gotten our cakes the day of the event.I will say they have incredible milkshakes, and we appreciate the large straws over the skinny ones.Until things change, we will most likely purchase a Food City or Publix cake, they are always moist and just the right amount of sweet.

We got a cake from Cakebuds today. They didn’t have a box that could even fit it. So my boyfriend brought home a TINY cake in a box that was too small. The roses in the icing were smooshed. Weird that they would sell cakes that don’t fit in their boxes. Birthday partially ruined. Honestly I want a refund, but it’s hard to navigate that when they can’t even put a cake in a box that fits.

They made an adorable custom sculpture cake for my child's birthday. They were very accommodating and it was ready to pick up when they said it would be. It was a bit pricey in my opinion for a cake, but considering it is a custom cake, I know more time is required to produce it, and since we don't throw huge parties and spend a ton on other decorations and things, we thought it was fairly reasonable and well worth it. The staff were very courteous over the phone and asked some good questions about what we wanted in our cake's design. I gave them a picture of another cake that we liked, but told them they were free to just use that as inspiration and come up with something unique if they wanted to. They ended up doing their own thing and it turned out wonderful (and better than the picture) and if it didn't have my kid's name and age on it, I would post a photo. The cake tasted amazing and was very moist. If I had one criticism, it would be that a smaller portion of the cake was overly rich/dense. It looked as if it was either under baked or overly saturated by something to help it hold together in this one area, so I'm not sure if that was by design or not, but overall it was excellent and there was plenty of perfectly baked—and moist—cake (and rice crispy treats) for everyone to enjoy and we had plenty of leftovers to snack on the rest of the week, so I guess we got our money's worth. I would definitely choose Cake Buds again in the future for this. Thanks to everyone on staff who helped make our child's birthday an even more special one.