The Sweet Lobby

Reviews 4

JA

Janira Fernandez

On Thursday March 27th, 2014 at 6:34pm, I ordered cupcakes over the phone. The young lady I spoke to took my credit card information, my name, and e-mail address. Then asked me the time and day I would to pick up the cupcakes. I asked, “What’s the earliest I can pick them up.” She told me, “We open at 10:30 am so anytime after that.” I agreed to pick up my order at 11:00am on Saturday March 29th, 2014. I arrived at Sweet Lobby at 11:07am to pick up order. The young lady at the front desk helped me out. She asked for my name and went to the back. She came back again and asked my name again. She then came back with a red book and told me I didn’t have an order. She then asked what I ordered, I told her my order. She then went on to say well we have all the cupcakes here. She then asked, “do you remember who you spoke to”, I said, “No.” She then said, “Oh maybe Ashley was here.” I asked her, “You don’t know who was here at that time?” “ You don’t have a system where you can track who works on a certain day?” There has to be a way to keep track of manpower. I also asked is there is a supervisor or someone that I can speak to. I wasn’t upset because my order wasn’t ready, but by her nonchalant attitude. I was expressing my frustration and even said, “I don’t even get an apology.” She told me, “You didn’t let me get to that!” Is that how someone conducts business and treats their customers? I don’t think so, my family has been in business since I can remember and we always put the customer first. Her and the other gentleman at the front desk were acting as if I was bothering them. I still bought the cupcakes because of a commitment I already made and didn’t have time to go elsewhere. She went on to pack my cupcakes, and I paid for my order. The gentleman said he gave me a discount, what a joke! I order sixteen cupcakes and he gave me two dollars off! When I arrived home I noticed she did not close me box all the way. She stacked the boxes in the bag. She didn’t close the box at the bottom of the bag. All of the frosting to the cupcakes was stuck at the top of the box. If she had closed the box correctly but cupcakes would have been intact. I didn’t spend my money for messy cupcakes and a box that was not closed completely. This upset me; I called Sweet Lobby and spoke to Kyle. I asked to speak to a supervisor, manager or owner. He stated there is no one of authority to speak to, but he can help me. He was very polite and advised me that if the boxes were not on a flat surface the cupcakes would get ruined. I told him that the cupcakes were not moved around but that the frosting went everywhere because the box was not closed completely. He took my information (name and phone number), told me he would pass on this information and someone would call me. I was a big fan of The Sweet Lobby; I even recommended many friends and family because of the service and goods. I feel as if my business was not a big deal to the employees of Sweet Lobby.

ME

Melinda Contreras

Even though Id never been to this location before, I bought into the hype and decided to purchase around $40 worth of product for a coworkers baby shower when we were asked to bake or purchase our favorite cookies for a afternoon snack/tea party. I thought the macarons would be a good "cookie" to bring to a tea party, though I also purchased some madeleines and shortbread cookies while I was there. On my metro ride from Eastern Market to McPherson Square, I though of writing a note with a disclaimer that I actually have not yet tried these products, and thus they are not my favorite and they are not a representation of me. I definitely should have written that note, because boy, these desserts were disappointing. The macarons were so sweet, I think I could eat a 6 pack of Oreos without consuming as much sugar that one of those macarons contained. All of my coworkers commented on how pretty the macarons looked, but looks can only get you so far. Out of about a dozen different dessert options brought by my coworkers, those macarons were the last items standing, and not in a good way. The shortbread cookies were my favorite of the three products I purchased, though they were no Lorna Doone, or Girl Scout Cookies even. The madeleines were a nice form of carbs to stick in my mouth for breakfast before I arrived to work. I was planning to give The Sweet Lobby the benefit of the doubt and go back and try their cupcakes before I gave them a 2 star review, but after visiting Macaron Bee and absolutely loving their product, Im betting that if the macarons at The Sweet Lobby paled in comparison to Macaron Bee, their cupcakes will also pale in comparison to my favorite cupcakeries. I will not be back, though I guess it was good for me that the only person that seemed to enjoy the goodies I purchased from The Sweet Lobby was our Executive Director. Brownie Points for me!

AL

Alice Wang

Ive had genuine macarons from France before and while Sweet Lobby is fairly decent, it does not hold up to the standards of Pierre Herme, Francois Payard, or Laduree. Of course, given that its DC, Sweet Lobby does a pretty good job of being one of the better macaron shops. Located in Eastern Market, Sweet Lobby is a very small shop that specializes in macarons and cupcakes but also make other pastries like madeleines, eclairs, etc. Their owner actually won Food Networks Cupcake Wars once, so they get that prestige and honor. Prices are pretty reasonable - $2.75 for a cupcake and $1.80 for a macaron. $29 for a dozen cupcakes and $10.50 for a box of six macarons and $27 for the Barracks Row box (16 macarons). So if you purchase more, you pay less per macaron or cupcake. There are a range of flavors that vary from day to day. Similar to Georgetown Cupcake, they have daily flavors like vanilla and chocolate, but they also post their day-to-day flavors like chocolate mint, smores, or green tea pistachio on their website. When I came here, I ordered two macarons. I ended up getting green tea and rose. The macarons were decent, although the shell was a little hard since it was closing time and I imagine they had been sitting there all day. However, the flavors of the green tea and rose were evident. Ive definitely had better macarons, but they are not bad for this area. And the prices are very cheap compared to other cupcakeries. Ive seen pictures of macarons on top of cupcakes which looked really good. Ill have to try one another time. As I mentioned before, its a tiny shop but it is very homey and cozy inside. The staff all seem very friendly too (although given that they deal with sweets 24/7, how can you not be?). If youve got a sweet tooth, check out Sweet Lobby.

DE

Deborah Jones

OMG!!!! These cupcakes are the worse that i have ever had! The frosting was made out of pure Crisco. No flavor except for whipped shortening they used to make the frosting. The cake was so dry that i could barely swallow it. I bought 12 for my sisters birthday and ended up throwing them away because we couldnt eat them. I wanted to try something new instead of buying a cake from Giant. But ill be back at Giant tomorrow to get a cake that i know is good and can be eaten. I should have saved one of those cupcakes for people to taste and trust me, i wont have to say a word about how awful they are coz the taste will speak for itself. I cant imagine how you stay in business.