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I was finally able to go check out Trinity Groves a few weeks ago. It's been on my radar since forever and just never made it out there. I had planned to meet up with 2 friends for dinner on a Friday night. My fiance was busy so I was on my own to do some damage. :P
I tried to get to that area earlier so I could bypass the nightmare that is Dallas rush hour. And on a Friday... Unfortunately I didn't leave work early enough! Took me a little over an hour to make it down there. I was still quite early for dinner so I had planned to go check out Cake Bar. This is probably one of the places I was most excited about. I mean... it's a freaking cake shop, what could be better?
I did walk around Trinity Groves before going to Cake Bar, just to get an idea of the area. It's much smaller than I had expected, but it's still growing. Lots of patio seating, and cool places to chill with friends. Although, after the sun went down, there were more issues with flies and mosquitoes... you'd think they would have some lamps or torches for a place that has a ton of outdoor seating. Maybe they should look into that! *hint*hint*
Cake Bar
3011 Gulden Lane, Suite 117
Dallas, Texas 75212
(972) 684-5801
http://cakebardallas.com/
Price: $
Walking in, I was a little overwhelmed. You immediately see all the cakes on display. In front you have the refrigerated display case with all cakes of difference sizes. To the left is a bunch of cakes displayed at the window. I thought the layout of the shop was a bit confusing, with the displays wrapped around the middle area and the register is facing the inside wall of the store. I dunno, it would be better if it was more open.
I was the only customer in there... it was around 5:15PM. I wasn't really greeted when I walked in. There were a few employees in the shop. A couple were talking to each other and some were in the back prepping. I didn't really feel welcomed....
All the cakes look amazing, but I've read some reviews saying their cakes are really dry. :-/ But a friend recommended the red velvet, saying it's really good. I do like red velvet! So I decided to be safe since it was my first time there to get something I know will be good.
Their cakes are all made from scratch. They have 15+ flavors. They also sell a variety of pound cakes, quick breads, cookies, ice cream, and drinks. I had to resist the temptation of getting more than one thing. I was by myself and I was going to eat dinner in an hour! XP
Red Velvet Cake (moist red cake with a mild chocolate flavor, iced with cream cheese frosting) - 1 slice $4.50~ It was a pretty big slice. Although I wouldn't mind it being bigger. hehe. My friend was right. It's really good! Probably one of the better red velvets I've had in a long time. The cake was super moist. It was super red but didn't taste artificial at all. The best part was the frosting to cake ratio. It was perfect. I hate it when cakes have too much frosting. This was just enough and not overly sweet. I liked the addition of pecan bits in the frosting for some added texture. I enjoyed it a lot. If all their cakes are as good as this... this place will be around for a long time! It was so hard not to eat the whole slice too... Ackk! haha.
Hot Tea $2.50~ I also got a tea, which pairs well with desserts. They use Mighty Tea leaves which I really like. But I thought the size of their cups was almost comical. It was tiny! For $2.50?!? Damn... It's almost like the size of those cups you get at the water cooler. At least they let me get a refill on the hot water so I was able to get 2 cups out of it.
After I sat down, business picked up. There was a steady stream of people coming in. Most people got cakes to go though. Only a few stayed to eat it. I'm assuming they get more dine-in customers AFTER dinner time.
Service wasn't that great. There were only 3-4 tables and I was the only one sitting there for a while. No one asked how I was doing or how I'm liking the cake. They're lucky that the cake was good! Otherwise I would probably never go back again.
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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
Ahhhhh! I've waited so long to try Hypnotic Donuts.. I've been following them even before they opened up shop at Pizza Guy on Preston Rd. I finally got to go this past Saturday after my 5k (the Undy5000...hehe) at White Rock. It was just down the street from Hypnotic's permanent location.
Hypnotic Donuts
9007 Garland Rd.
Dallas, TX 75218
(214) 668-6999
http://www.hypnoticdonuts.com
Price: $
We arrived around 10AM and the line was already to the front door. But we were lucky because after we ordered the line was OUT the door! haha. It's a pretty small place too. A few tables, 2 small sofas in the corner, and a small countertop. We lucked out and got a table, but my friend and I had to share a chair. hehe.
I was super excited. There were 5 of us so we wanted to get a bunch of different things to try. We studied the menu very hard. haha. Everything sounded amazing. We KNEW we wanted to try the chicken biscuits because I've heard everyone rave about them and that they are HUGE! I also really wanted their seasonal pumpkin donut. :)
Maribeth's Chicken Biscuit (white peppered gravy & tator tots) $6~
Pretty hefty indeed! Probably the shape and weight of a brick. hahaha. The chicken was fried nicely, super juicy and the gravy was great. I wish there was more tator tots though. I only got 1 piece in my quarter of the share. haha. Everyone loved it.
Wavy Gravy Gone Crazy Biscuit (covered in peanut butter & white peppered gravy) $4~ Plus Fried Chicken +$3~
I can eat anything with pb on it so I challenged my friends to be a little daring and try with me. haha. Of course we added chicken! We opened it up and the pb was super ooey gooey. NOM! I loved the pb combo with the chicken. My friends were a bit put off by it. haha. But the overall combination, with the doughy biscuit and sticky pb, it kind of coats the inside of your mouth and takes a while to eat. haha. I don't think I can eat more than 1/3 of this without getting sick though. It's a bit much. Oh... and a tad less pb, and more gravy!
Jenny's Evil Elvis (peanut butter, bacon, banana, honey) $4~
LOVE the sweet and savory combo as you all know and this includes my two loves...pb and BACON! I liked it a lot. Could've done without the honey since it was already plenty sweet. The bacon with banana combo was nice. Donut was moist and dense. Yummy.
Smores (chocolate sprinkles, marshmallows, graham cracker) $3~
This was good but surprisingly not my favorite. I wish there was more chocolate sauce or ganache or something on it. The cake felt a little drier than the other donuts we got. But still tasty, don't get me wrong. Just didn't compare to the others.
Pumpkin (with cream cheese frosting) $2~
This was the main reason I was here. The cake was super moist, not too sweet. The thin layer of frosting on top was just enough. Not overwhelming. YAY! :)
The donuts were pretty dense, but wasn't as large as I had expected. But that's probably a good thing. hahaha. And oh yea, one guy out of our group decided not to eat. So this was all consumed by just 4 of us...mostly me hahaha... :P My body totally hated me after that tho.
Here are some other delicious pictures for your viewing pleasure (I tried to include descriptions for the ones I know):
(From Left to Right) Hypnotic (chocolate, caramel, peanut butter, topped with pb Cap'n Crunch and pretzel); Almond to the World (chocolate sprinkles, sliced almonds, coconut); Smores; Blueberry?
(From Top to Botton) Poppin Berries (strawberry frosting and crushed mixed berry Pop Tarts); Boo!Bee! (vanilla frosting and donut hole in the middle with strawberry frosting); Zoo Ropa (vanilla frosting, sprinkles, iced animal cookies)
Definitely a tasty experience in Dallas. I don't think I know any other place in the city that does funky donuts like this. Go check them out! :)
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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
This past Friday, some food trucks came to my office! How cool! Even though it was a pretty hot day, I went out and waited in the lines to get some lunch!
I've had some of the other trucks there that day so I wanted to try something new.
Potato Potahto
http://www.potatopotahto.com
Baked Sweet Potato (topped with Pecan Smoked Brisket, pickled red onions; plus 2 additional toppings: jalapenos, tomatoes) $6.50~
This thing was MASSIVE!!! I felt like I was holding a small baby or something. hahaha. Well...exaggerating. But it was pretty hefty. The potato was loaded and steaming. The sweet potato was baked perfectly. So soft... I don't know how they cooked it and at what temp but I'd really like to know! The brisket was cooked well. I wish it had a little more seasoning and sauce. Needed a bit more moisture. And they need to dice the onions more finely and have more pickled flavor. But overall it was a good loaded potato. I barely made a dent in it... only ate about a fourth of it. haha. Good bang for the buck!
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Before I attempted to dig into my giant potato. I went to Trailercakes. I've actually been following them since before the business started but never came across them until now. I wanted to take something back to the office. I asked them if I could go ahead and order something and pick it up after I eat. They were super nice and said of course.
Trailercakes
http://www.trailercakes.com/
3 mini cupcakes for $5~
The mini cupcakes are so cute!!
RV (red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting). I loved the frosting on this. The heat outside kinda melted it a little. But it was rich and awesome. The cake was moist and not too sweet. So the sweetness from the frosting paired well.
Cookie Monster (oreo crust, white cake, marshmallow center, oreo buttercream). This was cool with the oreo crust on the bottom. I liked the oreo buttercream too. The marshmallow inside was nice but a little too sweet. I think this would be better as a regular sized cupcake. As a mini, the sweetness overpowered it all. Sure was cute though!
PB&J (white cake, grape jelly, peanut butter frosting). I love PB&J. I liked the layer of jelly under the frosting. The pb frosting was rich and creamy. The flavors were nice but I thought the frosting overpowered the cake.
Overall I thought it was pretty good. Cute and clean presentation. Pretty good flavors. I'd like to try their normal sized cupcakes.
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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
I bought a coupon for Gigi's Cupcakes wayyy back at the beginning of the year from Yollar. I noticed it was expiring next week...I gotta go use it!! I've been waiting for some event or get together to use it but the timing was never right so I just went last week and brought it back to the office.
Gigi's Cupcakes
5454 W. Lovers Lane, Ste. 130
Dallas, TX 75209
(214) 352-2253
http://www.gigiscupcakesusa.com
Price: $
If you go to their website, you'll see that it's bright and cheerful and full of amazing looking cupcakes. Upon entering the store, the cupcakes were displayed front and center, right when you walk in. And they looked amazing! Just like the pictures on the website. I would have to say that these are one of the cutest/prettiest cupcakes I've seen. Some of the toppings were more elaborate than others, but they all look clean and polished and extremely appetizing. You eat with your eyes first and they've definitely got an A+ there.
They bake their cupcakes daily, so the menu from day to day varies a bit. Make sure you check their daily menu so you can make sure they have the flavor you want.
The girl at the counter was super nice and very accommodating. They had my 6 cupcakes in one big box and I asked if I could change it to 2 small boxes (one for office and one to take home! :P) She was like "oh yea no problem"...all with a smile. :)
I got 2 of each. This way I only need to sample 3 of them. haha....trying to watch the carbs and sugar there... Oh and I also got a mini cupcake sample to go! Each cupcake is $3~ If you buy a dozen it's $33~ (But I got it for half off with the coupon!!) 
These were hefty cupcakes. They were heavy!! I joked that they weighed 2 pounds each! :p And definitely a fork and knife cupcake... I really can't see anyone just picking these up and taking a bite without getting it all over their face.
Wedding Cake (White cake topped with a vanilla buttercream frosting and sprinkled with white nonpareils). 
This was simple but looked elegant with the mini pearls on top. The cake was moist (which normally I find white cakes drier...) and not too sweet. The frosting was quite sweet but paired well with the cake. I normally lean towards chocolate cupcakes but I liked this one a lot. The only thing is the giant amount of frosting...as you can see on all of their cupcakes. I guess it's their "thing". haha. I mean I get it...the frosting is what makes them so pretty! But after a while it's just wayy too much and wayy too sweet. I didn't finish all the icing.
Hunka Chunka Banana Love (Banana nut cake with dark chocolate chips topped with a banana buttercream frosting dipped in ganache and a banana chip). 
I actually really wanted to try the Banana Cream Pie but it wasn't sold today. This was quite interesting. First bite...the banana flavor in the frosting was a little strange but paired with the ganache it was quite good! The combinations of all the flavors were very intersting. I liked the banana nut cake with the mini chocolate chips inside but it could've been a little more moist. It's a pretty heavy cupcake. I couldn't eat all the frosting on this one either.
S'mores (milk chocolate cake with chocolate chips baked in, topped with vanilla fluff, toasted marshmallows, graham cracker crumbs and a milk chocolate square). 
This one wasn't supposed to be available today but I saw it in the display case and I was sooo happy! It looked amazing!! I really enjoyed the combination of it all. The fluffy marshmallow with the graham cracker crumbs and the chocolate chips inside the cake. The cake could've been a little more moist too, but with the marshmallow topping it all worked! The marshmallow topping was surprisingly not super super sweet. I ate all the frosting on this one! hehe. Probably my favorite one out of the 3.
The little sample cake was the biggest surprise. The cake was very moist and not too sweet! Typically I find mini cupcakes drier because they are smaller. This one was pretty good!
I was pleasantly surprised that I liked these as much as I did. I was actually expecting them to be like all the other places I've tried in Dallas where they are overpriced and dry... However, I DID get these at a discount. I'm not sure if I would pay full price for them. I find cupcakes in general to be insanely overpriced. But at least you are getting a giant cupcake at Gigi's so it's better bang for your buck. Plus there's more creativity with the decorations that differentiates them from others. The only big negative is the insane amount of frosting. Even my co-worker, who typically enjoys more frosting over cake, said it was a bit much... After eating a slice of each, I'm wishing I had some milk to go with them. haha. You WILL get a sugar high from these!
But definitely go check them out. With the cute decorations and interesting flavors, it's a great thing to bring to a party! :)
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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
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