Smallcakes — Restaurant in Columbia

TLDR: If you intend to sell your product at a premium, the flavor should knock your socks off. At $5 per cupcake, which is more expensive than most well known bakeries in DC, these lack depth and soul.

I visited this store on a Friday, 12/2/2022 at around 11:45 AM.

The storefront exterior is simple and there's a very modern feel to the interior of the store. It definitely feels like it was made for social media, which isn't a bad thing. They sell cupcakes and ice cream, though I was surprised the inside didn't smell much like a bakery. It makes me think the cakes are baked off site?

Aesthetically, the cupcakes look stunning. They're large and the frosting looked very boutique. I love supporting small businesses and especially bakeries, so I chose two "simple" cupcakes to see how they do with the basics.

The cakes did seem fresh, but unfortunately, that's where the positives end. The flavor simply isn't there. The Cookies & Cream was uninspired and the chocolate cake tasted similar to what you expect in a grocery store. The frosting was nicer and had a decent texture, and wasn't too sweet, but it's not nearly enough to compensate.

The Red Velvet suffered a similar fate. The cake tastes muted and artificial. The cream cheese frosting was too sweet and completely overwhelmed the cake.

If this were priced at $2-$3, I would give this 3/5 stars. But at $5, it feels like the business is more worried about luxury branding and social media hype than putting out a good product. I can't justify paying top dollar when there are better quality baked goods nearby.

That said, I'm willing to try this place after they've had more time to settle and maybe get their bearings and potentially find a more inspired baker or pastry chef to elevate the cupcakes to the...

UPDATE (10/12/2022): Owner responded to my review (below). Thank you for addressing the credit card surcharge issue and I will definitely return now (and will probably bring a few friends!). :) (The Peanut Butter Cupcake was amazing!). Re-rating from 4 stars to 5 stars.

ORIGINAL POST (10/9/2022): This business finally opened so I stopped in for a cupcake. The people who worked there were friendly and offered to let me to try some of the different ice cream flavors (which were good). Everything looked delicious.

I ended up buying a peanut butter cupcake and it was phenomenal. However, it was $5 for the cupcake, which is pretty steep. I was okay with that though, and knew that before I went in to buy it.

What aggravated me was that there was no signage anywhere saying I would be charged a credit card surcharge fee on top of the already expensive price. The only way I knew that was after I paid and there was a small notice on the receipt. When the employee rang me up, she told me my total was $4.97, and that was what I expected. So to see that I got charged this 3.5% surcharge after the fact and was not told or notified about it anywhere in the store frustrates me a lot. Just know that they have not put up anything to let consumers know about this, and if you choose not to get a receipt, you...

No idea what these other reviewers are talking about, these were excellent cupcakes. If these are mediocre I'd like to know what this S tier food they claim to eat is coming from. And what's with the 4 star favorable reviews with no explanation? But I digress.

We tried the lemon drop, caramel chocolate, vanilla and chocolate, and black velvet cupcakes. All of them were stellar. None of them were neglected in favor of the more flagship cupcakes, every one of them were bangers.

All of the frostings and ganache were wonderfully smooth in texture, with just the right amount of air and sweetness incorporated. Pronounced flavors contrast nicely with the sponge cakes. And speaking of...

The cake was the true star of the show. Incredibly soft, tender, moist, ready to fall apart in your mouth. Excellent flavor to stand on its own, but easily gives way as a base for the frosting.

And since I'm sure some of you readers are wondering, how does it compare to Georgetown cupcakes? In terms of quality, just as good, perhaps even a little better. Sometimes Georgetown has some average cupcakes, whereas the entire lineup here is consistently bussin.

So yes, come here and get these cupcakes. Yes they cost more than the 24 pack from Walmart but you wouldn't gift those to anyone, you...