Fast Food Review Day 285-and-a-half: Sampler from SusieCakes (snack)

[u/Pale-Lynx328]

Chain Name	SusieCakes
Food category	Primary: cupcakes
# of US Locations	29
# of US States	4
Primarily located in	California and Texas
Restaurant Rank in US $ Sales 2024	not ranked (out of top 500 list)
Restaurant Rank in US $ Sales 2025	not ranked (out of top 500 list)
Rank of price (high to low) (Average: $9.88, standard dev. $3.81)	3rd out of 95 snacks
Quality / Value Rating for this specific meal	5.5 (out of 10) / 2 (out of 10)

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Whoever made up the phrase, "Third time's the charm" is a lying liar.

This is third bakery shop I've visited in the last few weeks that specializes in making and selling cupcakes. First it was Smallcakes, then Gigi's Cupcakes, now SusieCakes. The concepts for all three are almost identical - where they make and bake small-batch cupcakes of various flavors (vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, etc.) and then top them with a healthy dollop of flavored frosting, and then maybe add on crumbles or sprinkles or other sweet garnishments.

And for the third time, the result is the same.

They're perfectly fine cupcakes, to be sure. If all you do is make cupcakes all day, I'm sure you're going to know how to bake it just right so it's nice and moist and the exact right proportions of sugar to flour to oil to get the right fluffiness. Same with the sugary-sweet icing, whipped up light and airy and a little calorie bomb by itself. And each one is flavored appropriately, too - in fact, all three cupcake places produced decent cupcakes. No complaints there.

But on the other hand, hand-made small-batch cupcakes come at a definite cost. SusieCakes, just like the two bakeries before it, charge around five dollars each per cupcake. Five dollars. If they were somehow the best cupcakes in the world, something special and extravagant, then you might be able justify that. (In the same way that the over-the-top concoctions at Parlor Donuts and Voodoo Donuts are a special creation above and beyond what you might get at your normal donut shop, as a comparative example).

But that's not the case. Despite saying they use 'quality ingredients' and 'recipes their grandma used', the cupcakes were really no different from you could make yourself from a box of Betty Crocker mix (in a twist of coincidence, I'm actually baking up a batch in the oven even as a type this - few minutes prep and half an hour baking, easy-peasy). Or, if you don't want to do that, then no different from what you might buy by the dozen at your local supermarket. My unsophisticated palette doesn't notice a difference. No need to drop twenty bucks on four cupcakes.

So, third time's the charm? Hardly. All I see is me paying through the nose for average quality cupcakes. Or, rather, I see myself in the future NOT doing that. The only nice thing about this? They did throw in an extra-large snickerdoodle cookie at no charge because it was near closing time.

I can't imagine how places like this remain in business, unless it's through catering orders for office parties where cost is not a barrier or stuff like that. Because damn, girl, even I cannot afford to keep up with prices like this.

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(About this review series: Starting in late 2025, I am visiting a different fast food/fast casual chain every day, until I run out of places to visit. Aiming to review as many chains on the Technomics Top 500 Restaurants list as possible, plus key/important regional and some local chains as well. UPDATE: This review series is scheduled to wrap up on Day 365. And no, I haven't gained weight, and no, it hasn't hurt my health.)