Sweetspot — Restaurant in Redding

SUBLIMELY TASTY OFFERINGS THAT REALLY HIT MY G-SPOT Loooved it! The nondescript storefront and unfortunate location not so much. But if you know where to look, you'll find this little gem. You will if you know what's good. A heads up: If you're wanting treats like donuts, sweet rolls, fudge, pie, cake, or any number of common homemade-type dessert items you may be a little disappointed. Exactly three smallish display cases house the entirety of their sugary selections, which include—during out visit, at least—soft cookies, chocolate brownies, fruity delicacies and more than a dozen flavors of gelato. Virtually all are top drawer when it comes to quality; you won't be disappointed with the flavor, or much of anything else. These are the kinds of fancy treats you buy by the dozen when you're expecting company from out of town that you want to impress. They also offer meal-based food items served hot, and we hope to sample some on our next visit. But at the end of the day, we fully expect that the sweets, as the title of the business would indicate, will be what brings us back to this cozy little spot again. One quibble: Things like gelato, while tasty enough in their own right, are mostly pretentious additions, I find. So exotic! So sophisticated! So...kinda lame. Biscotti, tiramisu and other hoity-toity Euro-delicacies all have their fan base here in the north state as much as they do anywhere else, sure, but one should never lose sight of one salient fact: this is after all the United States Of freakin'-A-merica; that kind of cutesy foreigner tripe don't fly among We The People. You can have your fancy Asian puddings and poofy French sugar pillows, or whatever; we'll take our snicker-damn-doodles over that sissy stuff any day, just as God intended, and we'll like it just fine, thank you very much! With that in mind, there's nothing quite like good old fashioned ice cream, in point of fact, and they'd be well advised to make the switch—to the high end stuff, I mean, the kind made in small batches, served in bowls, not cones—no toppings, no gummies, no greasy kid stuff—just pure, top shelf ice cream—truly “old fashioned” and not just in name only, the type of quality dairy product that makes Haagen-Dazs look like goats milk popsicles in comparison. You don't see enough of that in towns like this anymore, but wouldn't it be nice. That's just me. All in all a winning experience. And the cute, personable young ladies on staff are the...

I usually stop by for their gelato and baked goods, both are fantastic! My favorite is the birthday cake gelato (yes, it actually has real cake pieces in it!), and my husband loves the chocolate and unicorn poop flavors. Their "Diva" and "Dirty Diva" cupcakes are also great, especially if you're into caramel-vanilla or caramel-chocolate combos. We also enjoy their pork ramen. I added some extra noodles and some tofu to it the previous time. The broth is clearly high-quality, and the noodles have a great chewy texture. The tofu was sliced, maybe pan seared? And marinated so it didn’t quite pair well with ramen to my liking. I normally get the spice level 3 on the side because I like to share with my 1.5 year old daughter. However, I came in recently with my daughter and my sister because my sister hasn’t had ramen there before. I was so excited to bring her. We walked in and told the server it was for 2 and a toddler. She answered “You mean 3?”. In my mind, I would assume she would offer a high chair if I said a toddler. But, sure 3 people. She proceeds to bring us to a table and give us 3 glass cups to us. My 1 and 1/2 year old can drink from an open cup, but I was nervous because it was a heavy glass. So, I gave her water bottle to her that I had in her diaper bag. I pulled out 2 strawberries for her and set aside 2oz of plain soft tofu so she can add to her ramen that we were going to order. The server comes up, passively aggressively saying “You’re not allowed to bring outside food here” and points to my toddler eating her strawberry. I said “I’m so sorry, I didn’t know. But, it’s for her. Not us. The tofu is marinated it’s too strong of a flavor for her, so she likes plain tofu in the ramen”. The server says, “Yeah, not allowed to bring outside food, but this time I’ll let it slide. Just next time you have to know. So were you all ready to order? Or are we waiting on the 3rd person?”. I clarified it was 2 and my toddler. But honestly, the tone and interaction made me feel unwelcome, so I said, “You know what, I think we’re just going to eat somewhere else.”

I left a tip for the waters and we ended up enjoying a great meal at Coco’s Mongolian Restaurant, where I’m not shamed to bring a small snack...

From the moment me and my friend walked in to the moment we left, the atmosphere was so relaxed and comfortable. The wait staff were so friendly and attentive. Me and my friend both ordered the chicken shoyu ramen, (I got heat level 3 and she got heat level 1) and she ordered the ginger black tea drink (I forgot the exact name) and I ordered the lavender lemonade. the TASTE of that lemonade was so good. I really enjoyed my lavender lemonade. We did not wait long for our food, it came out hot and fresh and oh so delicious. That BROTH was full of so much flavor, you could put it in a glass and just drink the broth by itself. The noodles were perfect. They just tasted so fresh--everything tasted so fresh. The chicken scared me a little, but oh my goodness it was melt in your mouth TENDER and SO full of flavor. It was like umami paradise. The vegetables were amazing. The service was amazing. the atmosphere was amazing. Everything was amazing. Spice level 3 wasn't too spicy, it did make me sniffle a little but it was very manageable and it could have been spicier even, but so good. so, so, so, so, so, so (and I could go on) good. It was on the pricier side, but it was genuinely well worth it because of how fresh and flavorful it was. And the portions were really good, it was a BIG bowl of soup, enough to get the leftovers to go and have for dinner. Really, this was a 10/10 experience. I highly recommend to anyone traveling through the area and all locals. This is a must try. I'll probably dream about...