Sugar Bakeshop — Restaurant in Charleston

I called to place a cake order for a 50th birthday and was basically denied an order. I called Monday, August 14th and had to leave a message. I understand how busy you guys are, hence, me calling on Monday for a cake order on Saturday. Great cakes and my go to for birthday gifts. I never received a return call so I called back on Wednesday only to deal with a very rude young lady saying she could not hear me although I was calling on a land line phone, not one but two different land lines and then a cell phone and she STILL could not hear much of what I was saying but somehow it was my issue, not hers. okay. I proceeded to explain to her that I called on Monday and never heard back and she seemed extremely surprised that nobody returned my call even though i left a message on a voicemail that still referenced labor day weekend....but somehow i was lying about leaving a message. Anyway, i asked how far in advance did I need to place an order for a cake.....she replied 48 hours. But when I asked about placing an order for Saturday August 19, that was not enough time to place an order......So I'm not sure where i went wrong here......she said she could not take any orders from me at all. Hmmm.....guess I need to find a new baker for cakes......clearly. Nothing nice or sincere came from that phone call. I would understand it you were too busy but please don't tell me I need to give you 48 hours and then I give you 3 days (more than 48 hours) and you tell me nope...can't do in a very rude tone. Also, fix your phone. It was...

Cookies get 4-5 stars. Cupcakes get 2 stars.

The cake portion of the cupcakes lacked moisture...very dry overall. Icing was overly sweet on each. We visited on Monday morning shortly after they opened. They are closed on Sundays. The cakes just seemed too dry to have been baked that morning as they have claimed their responses to other reviews. If they were indeed baked that morning, then maybe overcooked??? Regardless, flavors need improvement.

We tried 4 separate cupcake flavors. The vanilla blueberry was bland. The only thing that tasted anything remotely of blueberry on that cupcake were the actual blueberries on top. They sadly were the best part of that cupcake. The chocolate cake cupcake with vanilla icing tasted minimally of chocolate and lacked so much flavor. I just expected a deep, rich chocolate flavor, but it was just bland and dry. The lemon curd and carrot cake cupcakes had better flavors overall, but the icing was just overly sweet and cakes still dry overall. The cupcakes were pretty but just were not worth $4 each, and we overall expected much better for the price.

The cookies were chewy and much better overall than the cupcakes. We had a ginger molasses cookie and an oatmeal raisin cookie. There could have been much more ginger in the ginger molasses, but it was still overall a decent cookie. The cookies were large in size and seemed to actually be worth their cost.

The person who helped us seemed very pleasant. The store was clean. But, I'd rather spend my money on better...

5 stars! (With a caveat) This shop has such a fabulous selection of cookies, cake pops, and so many colorful sweets! I was helped by a wonderful young woman who made the experience so joyful with her big smile and laughter as we picked out treats for my grandchildren for their weekend with “Mamamom”.

In my own enthusiasm I mistakenly made one step past the plexiglass divider, without realizing the faux pas I had committed. The manager/owner told me to step back, I am sure, due to health dept requirements. How embarrassed was I! But even after I did step back, and was well in front of the plexiglass, amazingly, it wasn’t far enough. I received even more quite strong directives from her. (Her previous career: drill sergeant) 🫡

A touch of warmth or a smile in that moment would have made the correction much easier. Plus, there’s such great PR value ($$) in keeping a pleasant atmosphere in a shop such as this. But who knows? She may have been having a bad day. The kindness of her employee, though, at the register, left me smiling.

I’ll certainly be back — and next time I’ll be careful to stay...