By Summar Ghias
Chances are, you’ve heard of the LA cupcake shop Sprinkles before – or at least you should have after seeing the mini mounds of goodness make a guest appearance on Entourage. Regardless, the newest and first location to reach the Windy City caused quite the ruckus for ritzy Gold Coasters ready for a mid-shopping snack.
Candice Nelson and her husband founded the original Beverly Hills cupcake shop in April 2005. Since then, the cupcakes have acquired a celeb following with notables including Tyra Banks, Katie Holmes, Oprah Winfrey and Russell Crowe.
The Chicago outpost had certainly generated enough necessary buzz. Not only was the line ridiculous on its second Sunday afternoon in business (my cousins waited for 45 minutes as I perused through a nearby Urban Outfitters sale rack), but people were ordering the cupcakes by the dozen.
I call myself a red velvet aficionado, only because my obsession with the flavor has led me to numerous bakeries across the country. Having heard the hype about Sprinkles’ version, I was expecting greatness. And while I did like the cupcakes a lot, the frosting was a bit too sweet for my taste. That said, the cake itself was moist deliciousness.
I’d like to try some of the cupcake shops more seasonal flavors, like the chai latte and pumpkin. But next time I’ll reserve my trip for a random weekday, hopefully without all the lines.
Anyone else try the cupcakes here? What did you think?
Restaurant Info:
Sprinkles Cupcakes
50 E. Walton St.
nr. Rush St.
312-573-1600
Gold Coast, Chicago
I felt the same about the red velvet, the cake was moist and flavorful, but the frosting was too sweet and I couldn’t really taste the cream cheese as much. My favorite cupcakes in the city are flirty cupcakes, the traveling van. You’ll loveee their red velvet!!
Shy you need to check out Mahvesh’s at home cake creations… she’s a budding culinary artist 🙂 http://www.facebook.com/nhaqsiddiqi#!/photo.php?pid=34633980&id=39500150&ref=fbx_album
I can’t click on the link! But you should send me pics!!
Omg this is torturous…I didn’t wake up to eat today either!
Lol Mahvesh, my cousin and I went on the hunt for that tease of a traveling van when they vaguely said they were in Naperville on North Central’s campus…we looked for half an hour and couldn’t find them! FAIL. Maybe I’ll catch them on an actual intersection in the city at some point.
Also, Shy, fine, this would have been one instance where having a Twitter account would be useful. There, I said it.
Molly’s is by faaar my favorite Chicago cupcake place. I went to Sprinkles in Cali and was definitely disappointed in comparison to Molly’s.
Haha Nada, they’re kind of amateur but I try lol. I’ll send pics Shyema!
Summar, they were on 95th and 59 for 30 min and sold out! You can follow them on facebook too if you dont have a twitter. They should hire me as their spokesperson.
No no, we’re trying to get Summar ON Twitter, Mahvesh! Don’t give her outs!
Nice manicure Summar 😉
Oh and nice story too, but of course!
I loveddd the red velvet!