Cakes on Walnut

We visited Cakes on Walnut the other night for book club. We got there about 8 o'clock and there was one other group in the place. It was nice to basically have the place to ourselves and we all hopped in line for food and drinks.

Starting out, Cakes on Walnut has a few marks against. First of all, it is in my second least favorite part of town (downtown, first is campus). Because of it's location, there is little or no parking, which is another black mark. There are various parking lots in the area and if it had been daylight or I had been with a group, I would have felt more comfortable walking a further distance. As it was, it was 8 pm and I was alone and wanted to park as close as possible. Finally, there were no signs identifying what the place was. I circled the block 3 different times looking for it, until I finally saw a car I recognized and figured it had to be close by.

My next issue was that they were out of everything I ordered(mini Mexican Hot Chocolate cupcake, Japanese Cherry and Earl Grey tea). I was able to make substitutions but it wasn't exactly what I wanted. Of course, we were there at 8pm but if they are open, I expect them to have a full selection available. I was also unimpressed with the service and the knowledge of the products by the employee. She moved very slowly and despite the fact that we were nearly the only people in the place, managed to develop quite a long line. I also realize that tea isn't their main product, but if they sell it, their employees should know some tea basics. Like that strawberry white probably isn't the closest to the Japanese Cherry black. Just because they have fruit flavors, doesn't make them the same or even close.

The tea also had some problems. It is brewed hot and poured over ice to make iced tea. This has two issues. One, it melts all the ice in the cup, leaving you with tepid tea and no ice. The other problem is that it melts all the ice and waters down the tea. I will occasionally make tea that way home but I know to make it stronger than normal and use a ton of ice.

In short, not the place to go for tea.

I got a small Mexican Hot Chocolate cupcake which is a cinnamon cupcake topped with chocolate icing. The cake was quite dry. It could be just the way they are or it could have been because we there at 8 at night and the cupcakes had been sitting out all day. Either way, I could have done without the cupcake. The icing was absolutely delish though! It was a light, whipped icing and was not too sweet.

The cost was really high too. The small cupcake is $2.75 (the mini is only $1) and the tea was $2.50. That is about on par for other coffee shops in the area but for that kind of price I expect something better than what I can make at home.

In my opinion, you should save yourself the hassle of trying to park downtown, grab a six pack of cupcakes from the grocery store (or make yourself a couple dozen at home), hit Walnut Street Tea Company and get yourself a whole box of Twinnings flavored tea for the same price as one cupcake and glass of iced tea. Share it with someone you love.

Final verdict? 1 stars because the icing was fantastic. It merits a star all on it's own and carries the whole place

Houlihan's

We went to the new Houlihan's resturant last week for lunch. Despite it being 12:30 by the time we got there, they were amazingly empty. We were seated right away and had drinks for everyone by the time I got back from taking the kids to the bathroom. After much perusing of the menu, MT settled on mac and cheese (big surprise) and the rest of us got cheeseburgers. The food was kind of different, although for someone that doesn't eat like your average 4 year old, it probably would have been ok.

The food tasted ok but was overpriced for what you got. TB ordered the "Itsy Bitsy Burgers" (picture was taken after he had eaten the first one)

that was $4.99 and came with 2 mini burgers, fries, veggies and dip, a drink and ice cream (we passed on the veggies and I didn't mention the ice cream to them) and a kid sized drink. MT got mac and cheese that came with the same things.

RF and I ordered the "Mini Burger platter"

which was $7.95. It came with 2 mini burgers (same size as the kid mini burgers), an order of fries and either soup or salad. The soup was ok, nice and thick but BLAND! I had to pour on a ton of salt to get it to taste right. The burgers we also ok. The bread was kind of sweet, which gave them kind of an odd taste. Also, if you get these, keep in mind that the "ranch style greens" basically means "coleslaw". The lettuce and tomatoes are chopped up and mixed together with some kind of sauce (possibly mayo) and dumped on your burger. It wasn't good and I scraped most of mine off.

Although I doubt there will be a next time, if for some reason we go back, I will make a point of ordering off the kid menu. The adult menu isn't worth it.

The atmosphere was nice, although I would bet that it morphs to more of a bar at night and wouldn't be very family friendly. It is big and open with lots of light from high windows.

I give it 2 out of 5 stars for atmosphere and prompt service. The food and prices left much to be desired.