After a divine vision and a lifetime of inspiration from her entrepreneurial parents, Gloria Taylor traded real estate for the restaurant kitchen to open Apple-licious Bakery Bistro, a soul food spot built on faith, family and second chances.

The self taught home cook said God called her to open not just one, but seven locations for Apple-licious Bakery Bistro, where people in need could find both employment and hope.

“I'm not just here for myself, right, if I fulfill my purpose, then someone else gets to walk into this, because I'm making room for somebody else,” Taylor said. “So I've hired people that need a second chance, because guess what? Here you have room to grow.”

The apple themed bakery & bistro opened in July 2024 and is operated by Taylor, her three children and a small staff.
The apple streusel pie ($7) is made with fresh honey crisp and Granny Smith apples. (Jovanna Aguilar/Community Impact)
The apple streusel pie ($7) is made with fresh honey crisp and Granny Smith apples. (Jovanna Aguilar/Community Impact)
Diving in deeper

Despite several setbacks Taylor preserved to fulfill her calling to open Apple-licious Bakery Bistro, an apple themed restaurant fully inspired by a vision God gave her in 2019, she said.


Though her restaurant plans were postponed due to COVID-19, financial challenges and Hurricane Beryl, Taylor opened Apple-licious Bakery Bistro with only $20,000.

Today the restaurant is thriving with customers fascinated by Taylor's home cooking and ability to create a vast amount of apple themed dishes.

The eatery boasts a serene granny smith apple themed atmosphere with indoor seating as well as an outdoor patio.
The Famous Pulled Pork Sandwich ($16) is smoked in applewood in a meat smoker in the back of the restaurant. (Jovanna Aguilar/Community Impact)
The Famous Pulled Pork Sandwich ($16) is smoked in applewood in a meat smoker in the back of the restaurant. (Jovanna Aguilar/Community Impact)
On the menu

What fascinates people most when visiting the restaurant is their consistency in staying true to the concept of including apples in every dish.


“Absolutely everything has an apple component or flavoring, and even our meats that we serve are smoked in apple wood,” Taylor said.

At Apple-licious Bakery Bistro customers can find honey crisp and granny smith flavored pastries from cheesecakes to pies and 20 different gourmet candy apples as well as breakfast tacos, apple wood smoked pulled pork, quiches, sandwiches, soups and salads.
At Apple-licious Bakery Bistro customers can find a variety of candy apples including pecan turtle, kit kat and caramel flavors. (Jovanna Aguilar/Community Impact)
At Apple-licious Bakery Bistro customers can find a variety of candy apples including pecan turtle, kit kat and caramel flavors. (Jovanna Aguilar/Community Impact)
“My favorite cookie is our apple streusel cookie. It has a sugar cookie bottom inside and we take our diced apple pie apples and note we don't buy any type of apple pie filling. We make all of our filling in the house, from apples, not cans,” Taylor said. “So we use a combination of the honey crisp and granny smith apples, and everything is freshly made. It has sugar cookie sides, and we put that apple pie into apples, and then we take a streusel crumble that has heat chocolate toffee inside of it, and we put it on top, and we bake it together.”