Whenever I'm in the mood for cupcakes, I always end up at Smallcakes. Their cupcakes are…read moreconsistently delicious, the frosting is AMAZING, and the staff is always so kind and attentive. In fact, the last time I was there, the sweet young lady behind the counter complimented my style, which honestly made this 40-something feel pretty good about herself. Such a small gesture, but it genuinely made my day. I tried to snap a picture of all the cupcakes we got, but the kids devoured theirs before I had the chance. I'm not sure what the chocolate cupcake with the pretzel on top is called, but it is hands-down my absolute favorite. My husband loves the Wedding Cake and Lemon Drop cupcakes. But if you ask Marley and Mary Jane for their opinion... it's definitely two paws up. These two go absolutely crazy anytime they see a Smallcakes box come into the house because they know I brought them a little pup treat too. I love that Smallcakes offers something for the dogs as well -- such a cute touch. Highly recommend if you're looking for a cupcake spot that's both delicious and welcoming.

A pretty solid cupcake place. Wanted to try a different place for my birthday so I gave it a go…read more I picked up from the Elmhurst location which is the closest to me. It's a small shop located in a plaza. It's pretty bare on the inside. I was immediately greeted upon entry and the lady who checked me out was really nice. She showed me my order before I accepted it. Presentation looked great! They had most of their flavors on display as well as other miscellaneous products like dog cupcakes, decor, etc. The quality of the cupcakes were fresh and hefty. Taste was good but nothing amazing.

I've been following this business on Instagram for a few months so I decided to stop by and try…read moretheir cupcakes. It's a very cute and cozy spot. The display case is very inviting. I had a hard time deciding on what to get because everything looked amazing. Ultimately I decided on 4 cupcakes- buttery pecan, s'mores, red velvet cheesecake and strawberry cheesecake. All of them were delicious! Very moist and flavorful. The red velvet cheesecake and strawberry cheesecake gave you cupcake with a hint of cheesecake flavor. My favorite was the buttery pecan. It reminded me of buttery pancakes with a little syrup. Great environment with very friendly staff. I will definitely return to try more items.

I spotted CarmieCakes last time I was walking around Downtown Elmhurst, but at that point I had…read morealready gotten sweet treats from Hello Donut, so I stopped myself from overdoing it. This time, I made it a point to pop into CarmieCakes. Unfortunately I got there close to closing, so many of the cupcake flavors were sold out. I only had a few choices, so I went with the French Vanilla cheesecake cupcake. In short, it was a decent cupcake, but not quite outstanding. To be fair, the CarmieCakes cupcake was certainly better than the grocery store variety, and I appreciate that it wasn't overly sweet, but I didn't get any cheesecake flavor or texture. CarmieCakes is not bad. But...I've been spoiled by Molly's center-filled cupcakes. Those are easily my favorite cupcakes. The service was superb and the interior was cute. Pricing was on par with other gourmet cupcake places. Nice to have this option in Downtown Elmhurst.

I've had cupcakes from here a few times for birthdays and celebrations. It's so delicious!never dry…read more. Just perfect!!

When i started my freshman year i would always come after school to get something, lemme tell you…read morethe service is pretty good, workers are very nice, the sweet treats taste great especially the ice cream. the place is decorated and organized. for anybody who wants a sweet treat after class i would recommend coming here

Let me start by saying that we're a huge fans of small businesses and want to see them succeed…read more I've also worked in plenty of restaurants and coffee shops in my day. Definitely not trying to be a hater. My friend and I were on our way home from Chicago, looked up some bakeries along our route. We stopped here to get some goodies to take home to family, and to snack and have a coffee while we drove 6 hours. My friend ordered: white chocolate coconut latte, 2 donut holes, a strawberry, a salted caramel, and a pink velvet cupcake. I ordered: chocolate pretzel iced latte, a big chocolate chip cookie, tropical fruit (?) danish, coconut, pink velvet, and French silk cupcakes. I'd say between the two of us we probably spent $60+? Walking in the shop is adorable and colorful, an employee had a brightly colored tie dye shirt on and we said hello to them first, commented on how much we liked their shirt, and barely got a response back, let alone a greeting. The employee at the counter wasn't rude but definitely not overly eager to greet or offer up information. Questions were answered when we asked, that was it. When I received my iced latte I asked if they had any straws and just got a head shake in response. Totally fine with no straw, but my friend found a stir stick for me, which was honestly the main reason I wanted a straw so I could stir up what was clearly sitting on the bottom of the cup. Lattes were fine. We tried the chocolate chip cookie in the car and the texture was good, crispier on the edges and the middle was chewy enough. But it tasted very bland, so we didn't finish it. A little while later we decided to try the donut holes, they had good flavor but they were so dry and crumbly, presumably because they were sitting out in the open air, who knows for how long. Also didn't finish those. Even later we decided to try the salted caramel cupcake because I'd read on the case that they had Swiss meringue buttercream so I was really excited about that, and thought for sure this would be where they would excel. While the flavor of the cake was fine, I wouldn't say it tasted like salted caramel, there was some kind of cream in the middle that was good, again not salty or caramely. But that was the heaviest, most dense cupcake I've ever had, and not in a good way. The buttercream was good, and the caramel drizzle on top did taste salty. My husband was so excited that I was bringing home that tropical fruit danish and the coconut cupcake. We tried the coconut cupcake together and again, it had a lot of actual coconut in the batter, it was dense but also dry. We abandoned the cake and ate buttercream, which was good but not coconutty. So we moved onto the French silk cupcake. This cake had a great texture, light and soft, good flavor, some kind of chocolate mousse in the middle was good too. Again, good buttercream, but the top had a bunch of dry, flavorless pie crust chunks all over it. I understand that it was supposed to mimic a French silk pie, but it was such a good cake without the crust chunks. My husband had his pastry today (next day) and though dry he said the middle was good, other than the pineapple in the middle he couldn't taste any other flavor. We tried the pink velvet after dinner tonight and again with the super heavy and dense cake texture, no real flavor, but the cream cheese frosting was yummy. I cannot say how the other cupcakes were, as my friend was so disappointed in the one we shared and the report we gave her about the ones we tried, that she hasn't eaten them. Ultimately the French silk one was the only item that was eaten completely. Keep making that buttercream, it was the best part of everything we bought. I sincerely hope your employees weren't having a hard day, I try to be understanding that you never know what someone is going through, but that's the only reason I can think of for them to be so completely disinterested in helping or talking to paying/tipping/polite customers.

Needed a pick me up and knew Courageous Bakery is what I needed. I've been getting The Lorraine…read moresince high school and it never disappoints. I'd go so far as to say it's the best breakfast sandwich in Elmhurst. I would order it without the greens since I personally don't like how soggy they get on the sandwich. Tried the dirty chai for the first time and dare I say it may be better than a certain local coffee shop's. I do think $22 for a sandwich and coffee is a bit expensive, but I'm always very satisfied with my meal. It does come with a large side of home fries, but I usually end up not eating them, so I'd love to see more side options to choose from. Also had cupcakes catered a few months back including some gluten free options and they were all a big hit. Definitely on the expensive side, but they were good quality and absolutely devoured. The environment is always welcoming and open plus the staff are very kind.

Kuppie's is a cute little family owned bakery with convenient parking and excellent service…read more The downside is that they offer zero vegan items (to be expected and zero points off for that). We went for my husband, and he did not find their food to be palatable in taste of flavor. He also said the items that he selected were on the "dry" side.

I can't believe that I never have done a review for my most beloved Bakery - obviously Kuppies…read more This is a small family owned business. I used to live in VP - now out of state -- but when I come into town, I often stop to get bakery to take while visiting my family. The selection, quality, and prices can not be beat. I buy strudels, coffee cakes, donuts, pecan rolls - which are my favorites, cookies and sweet rolls and made to order Italian cannoli - which they fill before you pick them up. I so very much miss my home bakery, and I am longing for a pecan roll. Hopefully, I will get some in May when I visit.

Gina is very talented and very creative…read more Ordered a cake for Mothers Day asked for yellow chicks and blue skies and grass and spring flowers . Gina nailed it.

They make the coolest cakes.they are wonderful people.great cakes cookies.I recommend this place…read morefor your celebration's .

Hira was amazing! She always responded right away and was kind. Her cakes are a good price and I…read moreordered a red velvet cake and it was amazing!

I don't even know where to begin..I started by messaging Hira as she came recommended to me by some…read morepeople and I thought I would give her a shot for my daughter's upcoming birthday. That was the only time she responded right away. We exchanged ideas and I told her what I needed. No response after that. I said I needed pricing and she said she would get it to me that day before 9pm. Radio silence. I didn't want to keep messaging/bothering her but sent her a few messages regardless because I was waiting. Nothing. Two days later I had to message again because I needed confirmation since I was already "talking" with her. No response again. Now the next day, a little upset, I messaged yet again and said "please let me know if you can't, so I can look around elsewhere and place an order." She responded immediately and said she had a hectic weekend and it was super busy. I understand, totally get it. She finally sent me pricing for cakes and cookies, but we decided to just go with the cookies. She said great and that she would get back to me and let me know which ones she could make etc..I said perfect. STILL WAITING. It's been 9 days since I last heard from her. I didn't even get to look around elsewhere because she left me out to dry. And now it's too late cause I need them this weekend. Look, I know it may not be a big order but I wanted to still give her the business. I felt that because it wasn't a big enough order she kind of just tossed me aside and stopped responding. I'm all about supporting small businesses but not at this rate. Even if she responds now (after seeing this review), I will not be placing any orders or recommending her. The people who did recommend Hira to me got something else coming their way, cause this was a horrible experience. 0 stars if I could

I want to say Thank You to Sweet Reserve, I have been a regular here for the last 30 days as I…read morestudy for the Bar Exam. This place has stellar pastries, and I've fallen in love with the Shaken Espresso. I have sampled many of the items in the bakery case, do not miss out on the cookie butter cheese cake or the Dubai Choclate Brownie. The savory food items are delicious. The balsalmic glaze twisted bread is my favorite. For a morning savory treat you can not go wrong with the Quiche. I also want to say, the atmosphere is so quiet and a great place to study. I have spent hours in this establishment, the comfortable seating in the benches was just what I needed for long hours of studying. I will attribute my success on this test if passed to the Sweet Reserve Bakery. Also thank you to the staff, they have been so kind and friendly with every encounter, thank you for being a part of my journey

I went to this location because I didn't like the selection at the Winfield location. It looked…read morelike yesterday's product that didn't sell, and I got there right when they opened. But, I am reviewing the Lombard location. The selection was good and fresh, although some of their items are a bit pricey. I ordered cake pops, brownies, and a chocolate chip cookie. The sales person was pleasant and quick. This store is their biggest store, and they feed the Winfield and Schaumburg stores. They make their pastries at this location, so you'll probably get the freshest selection at the Lombard location. I had bought a gift card from Costco for Sweet Reserve. I admit if I hadn't bought it, and received a discount at Costco for it, I probably would not have noticed the store. It's in a small strip mall on Roosevelt road which has hundreds of strip malls off the road. The store itself is clean and well kept. It does have a limited selection of products but they were all pretty good. The brownies are very frudgey, just the way I like them. The cake pops are sweet, but a little dry. The cookie has a lot of chips in them. Overall, I liked the place.