Cupcakes and surrounding retail

[magpie-leah.livejournal.com]

I finally got a chance to check out Kick Ass Cupcakes at 378 Highland. Very tasty! And the place looks really nice and all fixed up. It's hard to believe that it used to be Rock City Guitars.

In that block of retail, the three middle storefronts are still empty, but I noticed some people doing construction in the space where Alex Pizza was and Out of the Blue was before that. Anyone have any idea what's going in there? Just curious! I tried to poke my head in and ask but no luck getting anyone's attention.

Comments

[ron_newman]

The owner of Kickass told me that an Italian restaurant is moving into the former Alex Pizza, and that the owner used to run Savannah Grille on Elm Street (where Martsa is now). I loved Savannah's pancake brunch and hope he brings it back here.

[closetalker11.livejournal.com]

Another Italian place, and I haven't even tries Sagra yet! I better get with it.

[vanguardcdk.livejournal.com]

Oooh, I loved Savannah's. I may have to try it out.

[magpie-leah.livejournal.com]

I guess it makes sense for another restaurant to go in there. Thx for the heads up Ron.

[concrete.livejournal.com]

Maybe I got a wrong batch, but the cupcakes left me wanting.

[angelpiglet.livejournal.com]

same here
I wasn't too impressed!

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

I haven't been there yet, but I have to admit that "Very tasty!" sounds like a review from someone who didn't love it but wants to be nice to a fellow local business.

I won't be shelling out $2.75 for the vegan mocha, but might pay for a flavor I'd be more likely to like. :)

[summerrose.livejournal.com]

The ones I tried were fairly tasty, and the flavor combinations were inventive, but the cake part was too fluffy and sugary (which is saying a lot - I adore sweet things) and the frosting was too buttery.

[hammercock.livejournal.com]

My husband found the frosting too buttery for his liking as well. It wasn't too buttery for me to eat it, but it could have been toned down a little.

[theriotgrl.livejournal.com]

I live up the street from Kickass (which I thought was pretty good, but not blow-my-mind amazing) but work next door to Party Favors. Party Favors definitely reigns supreme. My co-workers and I give in to our cupcake jones about once a week, it's miraculous that I don't weigh 300 pounds...I lived in NYC over the summer and witnessed the intense "cupcake wars" going on there right now - it's a good time to be a cupcake lover.

[yagagriswold.livejournal.com]

I thought Kick Ass' cupcakes were quite good. I had a mojito and my sweetie had something spiced with a gooey pecan icing (I don't remember what they called it.) I though both cakes had a lovely, moist, dense crumb and good flavor. The icing was a bit too sweet and a bit too generous for my taste, but pretty tasty. And, they carry local milk, which I think is cool. I'll go back.

[angelpiglet.livejournal.com]

My boyfriend & I had a taste test - I bought us the Lucky Cupcake, Strawberry Shortcake, the Mojito, and Super chocolate.
Lucky Cupcake - frosting was strange, cupcake dry
Strawberry Shortcake - definitely the best out of the lot, but the cupcake itself was tiny.
Mojito - I liked it, he didn't but the cupcake, again was really small.
Super Chocolate - was ok, chocolate was good, but the cupcake itself was really small.

I guess I expected bigger and better for my money!
But it was a cute shop and I was wicked excited about it - I mean - who doesn't love cupcakes!

[nomirena.livejournal.com]

these sound like all the reviews happening on Yelp about it. I wrote one there and basically said the same things, dry, too small, eh.

[magpie-leah.livejournal.com]

Holy moly! I can't believe they've only been open for 2 weeks but already have 26 Yelp reviews. People are very passionate about cupcakes! :)

I really liked the one I had -- plain vanilla with vanilla frosting. The frosting was a nice buttery buttercream. But my only complaint was that for $2.75 a pop, I wished it was bigger.

Also, I think they should give a discount if you buy a dozen. I asked and they don't do this.

I bet they'll work out some of the kinks based on feedback they are reading and getting in person.

[secretlyironic.livejournal.com]

You should see the discussion on Chowhound. *VERY* passionate about cupcakes, except for the people who are passionate about the fact that cupcakes in general are so overrated and why would you have a whole store just for cupcakes, etc.

[rethcir.livejournal.com]

I've decided that the next chain I want around here is Panera. Or something equivalent. I really like panera though. (braces for "i hate chains" replies)

[ron_newman]

Closest one I know of is in Arlington Heights, across from Trader Joe's at the end of the #77 bus line.

[lissie930.livejournal.com]

There's one out at the Costco/Target/BRU mall in Everett too.

[ron_newman]

what's BRU?

BRU

[m-b-w.livejournal.com]

Babies R Us?

Re: BRU

[lissie930.livejournal.com]

Yup, sorry (I'm obviously spending too much time in baby-related forums!).

[ron_newman]

My immediate reaction to that was "Arlington Heights is a lot closer" .... but apparently I'm wrong! The Panera website says Everett is a whole mile closer. Somehow I don't think of it that way at all.

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

Arlington Heights is a much nicer walk.

[lissie930.livejournal.com]

I am sure it is. I don't tend to walk to either of them, and the drive out to Arlington Heights from where I am (Union Square) is LONG.

[aki.livejournal.com]

Or bus.

[rethcir.livejournal.com]

Yeah the Everet one (near wellington, target, etc) is good. Of course being selfish, i was talking about one within walking distance of the davis/porter area. I would probably prefer it to Chipotle (or CVS for that matter)

[theriotgrl.livejournal.com]

i love panera too, they're building one in coolidge corner as well.

[magpie-leah.livejournal.com]

Yeah... I was just gonna say -- for anyone interested in Panera, they're building one where Zathmary's used to be.

[sundaisy-summer.livejournal.com]

I definitely enjoyed my trip to Kickass Cupcakes, but admittedly was disappointed at the cost and amount of paper goods used in their packaging. They use those containers traditionally used to hold multiple cups of coffee to prevent spilling, which I thought was unnecessary. The cost was a little high too considering the size of each individual cupcake. I'd go back though as I particularly enjoyed the mojito and strawberry shortcake.

i think everyone needs to give kickass cupcakes a break

[petula73.livejournal.com]

I am somewhat horrified at the bashing that has been going on here and elsewhere regarding this brand new place.

The business is less than a month old...it's unbelievably disheartening to think that this neighborhood can be so cruel and cold.

My bet is that most of you that are giving your negative opinions about this place do not work for yourselves.

It takes guts to open your own business, and I can only imagine how terrible this must make them feel.

I have eaten the cupcakes, and I for one think they are great.

Re: i think everyone needs to give kickass cupcakes a break

[koloratur.livejournal.com]

It is not negative, cruel, or cold to give feedback. In fact, I would say that it is FAR crueler to keep your mouth shut, and never return to the store. If one was only allowed to have an opinion on subjects in which they were an expert, that would certainly limit discussion. If the owner is smart, she will listen to the feedback she is getting - especially since the majority of people who have complained also mention in their posts how much they are rooting for Kickass to succeed. I would not consider any of the commentary here to be "bashing." It's a civil, thoughtful discussion, and it's not right to call people out for reviewing a business. You put yourself out there, you take what you get.

I DO work for myself - I'm a musician and a teacher - and I've known since I started that not everyone will like what I'm doing. But it would be extremely foolhardy of me to not listen if I get the same feedback over and over again.

Re: i think everyone needs to give kickass cupcakes a break

[teko.livejournal.com]

As a business owner, I sympathize with how much time, effort and money Kickass has done to open their own store. It shows a huge amount of faith in their own products and in the young and vibrant Davis Square community to support them.

So far they've gotten lots of support -- there's over 30 people here who've gone in the last week to buy cupcakes.

What I see here isn't bashing -- it's a lot of people excited to have a cool business like Kickass Cupcakes in the neighborhood. And like me, they WANT to like their product a whole lot so they'll stay around. So we're sharing opinions of how Kickass can improve.

Everyone I know that's gone there has the same opinion: tasty cupcakes, but kinda small for the price. I'm hoping they either adjust the price or adjust the product so people will feel more encouraged to buy more. Or run specials -- Boloco had coupons and discounts for the first week they were open. Or use their email list to let people know when the legendary Deep Fried Cupcake appears.

Re: i think everyone needs to give kickass cupcakes a break

[enochs-fable.livejournal.com]

and also a bit dry. Yeah, I'm really hoping they are listening and make adjustments. I'll probably give it another go now and again, to see if it just takes them some time to get up to speed.

Re: i think everyone needs to give kickass cupcakes a break

[hammercock.livejournal.com]

I'm hoping they either adjust the price or adjust the product so people will feel more encouraged to buy more.

Agreed. IMO, they should either knock the price down to $2 per cupcake, or make the cupcakes at least a third larger. At the current price and size, they're just an occasional indulgence.

Re: i think everyone needs to give kickass cupcakes a break

[bostonartist.livejournal.com]

Yes... criticism is hard to take but big businesses pay huge amounts of money to get this kind of feedback in the form of customer surveys and market research. In the long run there is a lot of value in these comments for the owner.

Re: i think everyone needs to give kickass cupcakes a break

[braingeyser.livejournal.com]

Hopefully, they will learn of and investigate these feedback depots, and adjust however they can.

I haven't even had a cupcake yet, but I had a taste of the frosting... it tasted like butter, softened and whipped, then completely saturated with sugar. I don't mean it tasted buttery...I mean it tasted just like butter. A bit sickening, despite my having one helluva sweet tooth. I wanted to spread it on toast and sprinkle cinnamon on top. Nonetheless, I'll be there as soon as I hear they have those deep fried cupcakes.

Re: i think everyone needs to give kickass cupcakes a break

[winterhill.livejournal.com]

I've been following the discussion of Kickass on Chowhound. I have no problems with the discussion of the product, the perceived value, etc. What I object to (and report to the powers that be) is the dissing on the owner's somewhat cool personality. Not fair and not especially relevent.

Re: i think everyone needs to give kickass cupcakes a break

[an-art-worker.livejournal.com]

To chime in here - none of these comments seem harsh or bashing, imo. I'm not a cupcake eater so I haven't tried them (now 'kickass' bagels or bread, I would be all over).

Seems to me that feedback - even negative - is of value. For example, I was in Boloco the other night for the first time since it was Naturals/Carberries. The acoustics were as astoundingly bad as always. Maybe no one has ever told them (as hard as that is to believe). I would certainly never go there again- I couldn't even hear the people I was with.

Re: i think everyone needs to give kickass cupcakes a break

[sundaisy-summer.livejournal.com]

I agree that it does take alot of courage to open a new business. I agree with others though that I am only offering feedback regarding a business that I do hope will do well in Davis. The product is great, but I think with any new business though that they need to work out a few kinks to succeed. I agree with whoever said that it might serve the business better to hear how they could improve their business than to lose business and not hear why.