Kolache Shoppe - Heights

"This kolache haven will lean into the pumpkin craze through October with $6 spiced pumpkin cream cold brew drinks topped with pumpkin-flavored cold foam and spiced pumpkin lattes made with Boomtown espresso, fall spices, and condensed milk. However, diners who want to try the exclusively seasonal pumpkin cream kolache must venture to the Pearland location. The kolache awaits, layered with sweetened cream cheese, spiced pumpkin puree, and crumbled graham crackers." - Brittany Britto Garley

"Kolache Shoppe—not to be confused with The Original Kolache Shoppe—has four locations around town. It feels like each shop sells hundreds of different kolaches with so many buoyant little balls of baked dough packed into the pastry counter. Apart from stellar seasonal specials, like biscoff latte or s’mores with a giant torched marshmallow, the quintessential sausage and cheese bread-to-filling ratio is too high, so it eats more like a roll than a kolache. But if you want variety, Kolache Shoppe has any kind you can conceive." - chelsea thomas, gianni greene, julie takahashi

"For a Mardi Gras-related fix, Kolache Shoppe is offering two new kolaches in February. It has a king cake kolache with cinnamon cream cheese and pecans, iced with an almond vanilla glaze and colored sugar. It also offers a boudin klobasnek with pork boudin made by La Boucherie in Spring. The specials are only available on weekends in certain locations, so check out its website for details." - Lane Gillespie

"Breakfast expectations are far exceeded at the Kolache Shoppe window, where hearty kolaches come in flavors like savory smokehouse venison and pork sausage or sweet lemon cream. The one-stop-shop serves Boomtown Coffee to round out its breakfast service, even offering Vietnamese cold brew." - Brittany Britto Garley, Megha McSwain

"Kolache Shoppe, a beloved Houston institution for Czech-style pastries, just debuted its second location in the Heights. The nearly fifty-year-old bakery just threw open its doors this morning at 1031 Heights Boulevard with 30 kolache flavors in tow. The new stand-alone outpost offers 1,200 square-feet of space at the Heights Central Station, with a drive-thru window on deck and a full-service espresso bar that slings Boomtown Coffee. Kolaches take center stage, of course, with a custom made kolache case by Cory Wagner of Dumptruck Design in the Heights. The glass, white steel, and reclaimed wood case “acts as a modern ‘frame’ for the pastry panorama,” according to a press release. Modern geometric riffs on Czech art adorn the walls. Butter-infused kolaches popular at the shop’s Richmond Avenue location made the trek to the Heights including breakfast varieties featuring eggs, bacon, cheese, and brisket. There’s a klobasniky made with Kiolbassa Polish-style sausage, plus flavors featuring cottage cheese, apricot, poppy seed, or Nutella, and even a vegan option. The new Heights location also offers a full-service coffee bar serving up espresso drinks as opposed to solely drip coffee found at the Richmond location." - Alaena Hostetter