Restaurant Review: Sugarbaby's

After much anticipation, Sugarbaby’s finally opened its doors this past summer. As a rule of thumb, Houstonist always likes to give these big openings a bit of time to iron out wrinkles before we come in. In the meantime, we had images of a Houston version of Magnolia Bakery in NYC and Sprinkles in LA. And when we finally walked in, it took us a bit to take in the interior - all black, white and pink with accents of sage green. This is a decidedly different interior décor than anything we’ve ever seen in Houston and we…actually…liked…it! Though, after some thought, it really is an ultra feminine space: great for girly birthday parties and puppy-dog-lovin’ dates with your smoopy woopy.

Their menu indicates six permanent flavors (The Old Fashioneds) and a number of flavors that change monthly (The Sugar Chic Line). On the day Houstonist went, we didn’t have many flavors to choose from - did they run out of the majority of their cupcakes by three in the afternoon? The prices range from $2.75-$3.25 a pop (that's more than the cost of a six-inch Vietnamese sandwich, plus beverage!). Our expectations were growing by the minute.

We opted for the Va-Va-Vanilla, Velvet Rouge, White Chocolate Macadamia and a little mini cheesecake. All our treats were wrapped with love in a cute little pink box. A group of four tasters went to work on our cupcakes. The opinions were unanimous: the cakes were way too dry, the flavors were ho-hum, and the prices were borderline robbery. The buttercream frosting tasted mostly like confectioner sugar and the mini cheesecake was unmemorable. Needless to say, we were all disappointed. Sugarbaby’s touts high quality ingredients (like real vanilla beans and gourmet chocolates) but we couldn’t taste the quality over the dryness of the cake.

Fortunately, Sugarbaby’s has a few things going for them. The cream cheese frosting on the red velvet cupcake was amazing. Cupcakes are trendy right now, so they’ll be able to ride that wave until they can improve on their cake recipe. They serve Dean & Deluca coffee and have other artisan chocolate treats. And it’s a really cute space in a really great location. However, when your sweet tooth’s a-yapping, you and your wallet are better off going somewhere else. We recommend the Dessert Gallery (one of our favorite cupcakes in town), the cakes at Empire Café (try the chocolate or strawberry cake). Or, surprisingly, go to your local Krogers and buy a sheet cake. We’ve served these at parties and everyone raved about the fluffiness of the cake and the lightness of the icing. And it’s CHEAP!

The final verdict: Hopefully, Sugarbaby’s will find a way to add some moisture to their cake. And once they extend their hours it’ll be a much better dessert spot for the after-dinner crowd. Though Sugarbaby’s is cute, pretty, chic and trendy, your taste buds could give two flips and your kids will be wondering why you can no longer afford to send them to college.
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3310 S. Shepherd
713.52.SUGAR
10am - 6pm Tues-Sat. Evening hours coming soon.