Sweet Hut Bakery & Cafe — Restaurant in Duluth

I made a stop at this Sweet Hut before I drove home from Atlanta. I bought a massive haul of goodies from their impressive selection because frankly, there's nowhere to get baked goods like this in my hometown, and I've been wanting to try this kind of food forever.

Located in a large strip mall, this Sweet Hut is quite impressive in size and the sheer volume of offerings. You can get savory food as well as entrees in addition to their pastries, cakes, and boba tea, but it was too early in the morning for me to feel up to all that. I hope I can visit again for another try.

Each item on the display has a fairly detailed card describing the pastry and what it's made of / filled with, which was great for total neophytes like me. They're beautifully arranged and plentiful.

The staff was prompt in their service and quite friendly.

Here's all that I got, with my thoughts on each thing:

A red bean moon cake. This was my least favorite item. I enjoyed the subtle sweet earthiness of the red beans (a first for me), but didn't like the egg yolk inside at all. It just wasn't for me, but that's okay. I think it could maybe grow on me if I kept trying it. The outside of the pastry was very soft and enjoyable.

Traditional moon cake with lotus and sunflower seeds: one of my two favorites! Perfect level of sweetness, super buttery outer shell, nice crunch from the sunflower seeds. Would get again and again.

Violet: my other favorite! Mind blowingly soft and pillowy bread with balanced sweetness from the mochi and taro. Beautiful purple colors, too. A very unique dessert.

Custard bun: probably my third favorite item. Again, insanely soft bread with creamy sweet custard inside. The bread reminds me a bit of a yeast roll in the level of sweetness. My only critique is I could've used a little more custard inside.

Rocky road bun: good flavor, but unfortunately pretty dry. There were a couple bits of chocolate that were a little waxy, too. I think it would be good with some coffee or something though.

Chocolate Hokkaido cupcake: I really liked the little dollop of chocolate mousse/cream/icing on top. I thought it would be shot through the whole cupcake but it was just on the top. Cupcake was a little dry without it. Not as sweet as I was expecting.

Lastly, coffee milk tea to hydrate on the road. Perfect sweetness, good serving size, right amount of ice. Not a super intense coffee flavor. Really enjoyed it! I should've gotten it with boba but I just wasn't feeling anything other than coffee so early in the morning.

I had an absolutely thoroughly enjoyable time getting to explore new foods through Sweet Hut! I'm not sure when I'll be in the Atlanta area next, but I definitely want to make another stop to try...

This was my 1st time visiting Sweet Hut. The staff was super helpful and very personable. My adult son and I wanted some Boba milk tea. With so many options in Duluth(you could throw a stone from my house and hit at least 10-15 Boba tea places) I "googled" best Boba in Duluth and Sweet Hut came up high on the list. So we stopped there and I was surprised by the amount of baked goods that they have! Everything looked delicious but we were on our way to an appointment so we didn't have a lot of time to browse. We ordered 2 Creme Brule Boba milk teas and added extra Boba for my sons tea. While my son was waiting for our teas, I quickly browsed around at the baked goods and selected a custard filled sweet bun for me. My son has Celiac so when I got to the register to pay for my item, I asked if they had any Gluten-Free options. To my surprise the lady behind the counter and register reccomended the Gluten-Free brownie and offered to grab one for us. While she went to get the brownie, the other lady opened a binder with a list of all their items which had a Gluten-Free section and she told me which items were available for my son! I was so appreciative of that little kind gesture. Kudos to the great customer service and staff training by the owners. Now on to the food and drinks. The Creme Brule Boba was really great. The Boba was super fresh with a nice soft texture that firmed up as the drink cooled. My son likes harder chewy Boba so he thought that it was ok. The flavor was really good. My sons brownie was good with a nicer chewy texture and my son he was happy to have a baked item. The custard filled bun was just ok. The bun itself was nice, super soft and slightly sweet. The problem for me was the filling. I was expecting a silky custard inside but instead the filling was thick and sort of congealed. The flavor was nice but I wasn't thrilled with the consistency of the filling. Bottom line-the Boba was very good to excellent and the baked goods that we tried were good. I would definitely return to try other baked goods because they all looked amazing and I really wanted to try the fresh fruit tart, but we were sort of rushed to get to our appointment! So don't hesitate to...

Walking through the door, the first thing I noticed was how lively the atmosphere was. The space was bustling with a mix of people—some on their laptops, others chatting with partners or groups of friends. The location is convenient, though there’s a bit of traffic passing by. Luckily, there’s a paid parking lot right across the street, making it easy to find a spot. Just be sure to leave the lot on time to avoid getting a ticket.

Once inside, I noticed that some shelves were running low on items, but a staff member was steadily restocking them. Being my first visit, we decided to try a variety of savory and sweet pastries. Our picks included the pork roll, spring onion cream cheese doughnut, chocolate Nutella bun, gluten-free double chocolate brownie, and the strawberry vanilla sweet roll.

The Nutella bun was incredibly rich, with a flavor almost like dark chocolate. While delicious, it could benefit from a lighter element to balance the richness. On the other hand, the strawberry cheesecake was fresh, creamy, and absolutely fantastic.

However, the pork roll was a letdown. The filling tasted like powdered pork, which wasn’t very appealing. I ended up eating around the pork and focusing on the roll itself because their bread is undeniably out-of-this-world good.

I couldn’t help but notice the hotdog pastry on display, which looked incredible. If I return, that’s definitely on my list to try. Speaking of which, I also spotted a few customers with burgers and chicken sandwiches that looked and smelled amazing. Next time, I’ll make sure to try their hot food offerings.

This place left me with mixed feelings. While their bread and pastries are exceptional, some of the fillings didn’t quite hit the mark. My advice? Be adventurous and try a variety of items rather than sticking to just one. You might discover something you love unexpectedly.

Overall, my experience here was great, and I’d recommend giving it a try. Whether you’re here for a coffee date, a study session, or just to explore Japanese and Korean pastries, this place has something unique to offer. Step out of your comfort zone and enjoy! Sure, there might be some hits and misses, but the overall experience will...