PEARLAND, Texas – If you’re planning to make a drive to the city of Pearland to visit the viral dessert shop, The Puddery, then you may want to double check if they’re open before heading out.
The Puddery, located at 5517 Broadway St. suite, is known to serve desserts in a cup.
The shop was recently visited by popular food critic Keith Lee, and since then, has been receiving lines of customers wrapped around its door.
Lee said he spent $36.07 on his order of desserts and had an amazing customer service experience. The day after his visit, the business was flooded with new customers after his review. The Puddery even changed the name of one of its dessert items from The Oreo Croffle, which is a croissant waffle, to The Keith Lee Croffle.
When Lee tried The Oreo Croffle, he said, “I’m not even a sweets person (but) this is immaculate. I love Texas. I love Houston.”
The TikTok review received over 2.2 million likes and 11.6 million views.
When Lee tried the Strawberry Banana Pudding he was highly impressed. His wife even asked him, “Is it better than mine?” and Lee responded, “Yes.”
He said the quality of the Strawberry Banana Pudding is a 9.2/10 and that he rarely ever rates a dessert that high.
“I ain’t going to lie, for them to not be out the door, I am actually speechless,” Lee said. “I don’t say this often, out the door! I’m talking about around the corner. This place in my opinion, the best dessert I ever had in my life.”
Lee waited on the owner of The Puddery after trying the desserts and asked to tip her $2,000. He said she truly deserved it.
The business has popped off so much, it seemed to have closed for a couple of days because of the “Keith Lee effect.”
On Instagram, The Puddery posted that it will be closed until Saturday, Dec. 9, to ensure it is providing the best service and needed a few days to prepare.
The social media post read the following:
“Due to the Keith Lee Effect!!!! 😂 Sorry guys, but we are closed until this Saturday, Dec. 9. We want to ensure we are providing you with the best service possible so we will be taking a few days to prepare. Thank you for you patience and understanding.”
In a previous post, the owner of The Puddery, Janel Prator, said her business was impacted positively and her life has since changed.
“Every since he posted that review, my business has not been the same. It has been a total complete whirlwind,” Prator said in the post.
She said people did not realize it was just her working at the shop through the holidays and handling shipping, stating it was a “one-woman show.”
When her business got really busy in the past, she would bring in her daughter to help -- but as of recently, members of the community that she did not know stepped in and volunteered to help Prator with its new found popularity.
Prator thanked everyone for their support and patience, saying the lines were long and wait times were longer than usual.
Initially, Prator said she could not afford to hire people to help with the store but now, she is hiring.
Earlier this week, Prator said she started experiencing chest pains, thinking she may have pulled something in her chest. On Wednesday, she streamed herself on Instagram to discuss the temporary closure while she sat in her vehicle outside an urgent care.
Prator said she needed to get checked out at the urgent care and needed to regroup and take care of herself so she can be prepared for the weekend.
To keep up with the shop’s latest updates, follow on her Instagram or Facebook.