The Sugar Shop

The Sugar Shop is located at the Rose City Food Park (NE 52nd and Sandy) in Portland, Oregon. Autumn and Shannon started this cart in July 2012.

After a couple of months starting out at the Cartlandia pod, Autumn and Shannon moved to their current spot at the Rose City Food Park around the end of October.

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.

Menu
(January 2013)

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.

Salted Caramel Stuffed Gooey Brownies
(The Sugar Shop)

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 was pretty damn frigid. The cake was very good, light and moist.

Bourbon Cake with Milk Chocolate Buttercream

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.

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie

A collective shot of the first three items I tried!

While leaving the pod, Shannon asked if I wanted to sample a Molasses Spice Cookie. Why, of course! Another winner here. These cookies are deemed a seasonal item, but I wouldn't be surprised if this stayed on the menu for a while.

Molasses Spice Cookie

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! 8.5/10