The Sugar Shop

The short and sweet of it is — super friendly service and an excellent treat. We came close to closing time and with the help of a few suggestions were digging in to our delightful desserts within minutes. Lemon cake was fresh and the perfect balance of light and dense. Highly recommend!

I have been getting desserts from this cart every week since they moved to Alberta St. What I love about this place is that they have fun boozy desserts for grown ups but also classics for kids. I have four kids at home aged 2 – 20 and there is always something for them as well as for me! Very happy they moved to Alberta which is already a haven of fine desserts.

Haters gonna hate… but I’m not a hater. I’m a lover and I’m saddened to say that The Sugar Shop was a disappointment.
I was taking a stroll down Alberta when The Sugar Shop, a new addition to the pod on 23^rd, caught my eye. A handful of things on the menu caught my eye. I’d have been remiss had I now gotten the Cheesecake Bars with Pecan Crust and Whiskey Caramel Topping… and while I’m at it the White Chocolate Stuffed Snickerdoodle. It’s the Freakin’ Weeken’ baby I’m about to have me some fun!
The cheesecake bar was a totally loss. As soon as she handed me the container I was skeptical. The caramel was translucent and lacked the viscosity and color you hope to see. It tasted more or less like cream cheese and not much else. I tried to stick with it but I ended up tossing it. I didn’t pick up any of the pecan, caramel or whiskey that the name suggested. Just, cream cheese…
The cookie was a bit more palatable, but tasted like something out of a box at best. It was hard which is always a downer when you’re hoping for something moist a chewy… you know like a snicker doodle. I didn’t get a white chocolate-​y creamy-​ness either. Overall, it lacked any stand out flavors.
Feeling completely unsatisfied I had to walk down the street to have a dessert re-​do.

Worse cart in the pod!!! Rude staff, portion sizes small and not that tasty!!!

This cart is DELICIOUS! Did the capital letters adequately convey my excitement?
First of all, they have bacon cookie cuz come on, this is Portland, there’s bacon in everything. And oh my god, fresh out of the oven, they were amazing. While I debated what else to get, I tried the chocolate stout ice cream made with local beer (have I mentioned how much I enjoy eating in Portland?) and it was creamy with just a touch of boozy flavor.
My favorite thing I tried was the brownie which was rich, chocolaty and pretty much perfect. It normal comes with salted caramel (next time) but I opted for one of the fruit compotes instead. The girl working the cart was super awesome (I don’t know what happened for those other reviewers but she was very helpful and nice) and let me try all the flavors before I picked my topping. I opted for muscat peaches because yum, sooooo summery and good, but I liked the blueberry and strawberry too.
I’m glad I had people to share with because everything I tried rocked. Can’t wait til fall when cheesecakes will be back on the menu. It will be worth the trip back.

Delicious. Got a sampling of four or so desserts to share with friends. They were all sweet like dessert should be but nothing was too sweet or «cloying» in nature. It’s easy to hide behind sugar but Sugar Shack didn’t do that, which I definitely appreciate. Portions were good and prices were fair. The bacon (Portland loves bacon in everything!) chocolate cookies were moist but not goopy; the cake-​thing covered in chocolate was rad; the ice cream disappeared very quickly; a resounding success all-​around. Definitely the best desserts I’ve had from a food truck pod.

I anticipated something great and instead got mediocre. So sad. First of all, the woman working in the cart tried to act invisible. What’s that about? She seemed to be hiding from us… paying, interested customers. Is this a Portland thing? Secondly, we decided upon cookies. cookies that cost 1.50 apiece. What we got were cookie bits… a tad larger than a chips ahoy cookie. And seriously? I do not believe these were even fresh… crumbly and not worth going back for. At all. Please work on your service AND YOUR SERVING SIZE. at best? Your cookies are worth $.75 for the size and quality we experienced. Or please… don’t sell cookies? And most importantly, please look forward to customers… greet them, make them feel welcome. They’ll be a lot less disappointed in your product if at the very least your service is stellar.

As you might expect, this cart is probably one of your stops for dessert. Cookies, brownies, small cakes, mousse cakes, and cheesecakes. And that doesn’t include any seasonal items that may appear. Not everything is available on any given day; most of the items generally rotate.
The panda generally tends to go big and refuse to go home. So I inquired and ordered the more popular menu items available at the time of my visit in mid-​January.
I started with the Salted Caramel Stuffed Gooey Brownies ($ 3.50). It’s a couple of petite brownies with a drizzle of salted caramel. The caramel brings bold salty-​sweet flavors, and chocoholics will probably be doing a happy dance when eating these brownies.
I also had the Bourbon Cake with Milk Chocolate Buttercream ($ 3.50). I found the buttercream to be a bit hard, almost a shell-​like nature, but I’m not surprised because the temperature outside that day (back in January) was pretty damn frigid. The cake was very good, light and moist.
Cookies are $ 1.50 each. I sampled two cookies that are huge hits at The Sugar Shop. The Brown Butter Chocolate Chip had just come out of the oven, and I think there’s nothing better than eating a fresh-​baked cookie. Chewy, with a slight crunch thanks to the brown butter. It legitimately took me back to my childhood, when my mom would bake cookies and I’d probably want to eat the entire rack. See? I’ve had my gluttonous behavior for many years.
I also tried the Molasses Spice Cookie. Another winner here. These cookies are deemed a seasonal item, but it’d be awesome to see it made a permanent option.
On Sundays, the cart has a «Savory Sunday» with three savory options, each $ 5. The Chicken Pot Pie is far and away the bestseller. There’s also a handpie with spinach, mushroom, and feta; plus an apple galette with chevre and bacon jam. Bacon jam!
Be sure to try The Sugar Shop! I hope to come down for a savory treat on a future Sunday!

The sugar shop is now located at the Rose City Food Park and I am glad I found it (it’s tucked all the way in the back of the pod).
I had their pumpkin chocolate brownie ($ 3.50) on Saturday and I am still dreaming about it. It was not overly sweet, yet not bland either. The pumpkin portion is mixed with spices that really give this brownie a kick. It is dense and moist, the way I prefer it!
Prices are reasonable and you can actually get something for under $ 2. Snickerdoodles were $ 1.50.

So this review is about the gf cheesecake I saw advertised last time I went to cartlandia. I was so excited to see another vendor offering a speciality gf treat! I had already ordered my fried plantains, or I would have indulged! I’m so excited to check next time, to see if they have gf offerings. Right now, I have to make my own or pastry girl on stark. It’s pretty exciting to have a bakery in the hood offering gf goods!!! I love pie, brownies, cupcakes and torte. My price range for gf goods is $ 3 – 6 depending on how big, how special and how much chocolate is involved. I’m always a little perplexed when I see a rice krispie treat offered as a gf treat, I can do that at home… in my microwave, thanks. Pie? Holy smokes, PIE! You gotta make gf crust, bake it and then all of the goodness on top! It’s involved and takes some time. Brownies are easy but good. Cupcakes if done right are time intensive. Torte is easy but taste expensive and more expensive ingredients. So I really hope all of that helps *inspire* my neighborhood baker:):):):)