The focus on sweet treats is obvious when a customer walks into Celebrity Café & Bakery as Manager Jessica Barnett, along with the rest of the front-of-house staff, greet everyone who walks through the doors.
Before reaching the counter to place an order, customers see a table of Celebrity Café fresh products, such as cake, cookies, cupcakes and signature Celebrity teas of assorted specialty and seasonal flavors.
The display case at the counter features a range of cookies, cupcakes and individualized pies with different frosting and caramelized designs.
Co-owners Brian and Brittany Livingston said they took ownership of the cafe in May with the goal of bringing the restaurant that “lost its way” back to its once-sweet success.
The Livingstons took over operational control of all four locations of Celebrity Café in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, including the Frisco location in October 2014.
Then the couple bought the company in May.
“It’s a great brand that has a lot of emotional attachment to people in Dallas-Fort Worth,” Brian said. “And it kind of lost its way. The food quality declined, [the restaurant] wasn’t a really friendly place to come in, and we saw pretty quick that we could quickly change that and continue to grow it. I wanted to take over the ownership early on rather than later.”
Brian’s wife, Brittany, said she was excited to enter the workforce again and to be spending time with her husband.
The Livingstons have hired new management, new front house staff and trained decorators.
They also gave the restaurant a major face-lift. Before the cafe had an outdated look, and they wanted a brighter and more inviting atmosphere, Brittany said.
The walls are a shade of pink with a chocolate-brown molding. The Livingstons said they wanted the restaurant to look as sweet as their treats and staff.
They are also using fresh ingredients and new equipment to make sure the meals, especially the pastries, remain fresh hours after being made.
Celebrity Bakery has also moved away from being an average bakery to one that creates designer-quality specialty cakes for all occasions, Brian said.
The bakery menu has a variety of items from sugar cookies and cupcakes to pies and cakes.
Cakes include custom designs of cartoon characters, the Statue of Liberty, superheroes and top-tier cakes.
“We’re a custom bakery. We’ll do anything you can imagine as long as it’s not offensive,” Brian said.
The most popular dish is the cranberry chicken salad ($8.99) and sandwich ($8.59). Both plates include chicken, apples, dried cranberries, pecans, lettuce and celery tossed in a honey Dijon dressing.
The couple said they plan on moving to another location after their lease is up to be closer to the new developments in Frisco and to be more open to the public.
But as of right now Brian and Brittany said they want to continue to be involved with the community to let people know about the new and improved Celebrity Café & Bakery.
“We’re doing good stuff and our business has tripled since we’ve taken over,” Brian said. “Our internal motto is ‘Celebrity is Back.’”