foodbitch
At These Five Dallas-Area Sugar Shops, You Can Treat Yourself To Delicious Rainbows, Cool Retro Vibes And An Oh-So-Sweet Taste Of The Good Life.
It’s easy enough in Dallas to find a taco stand when the hankering hits or to pop into one of the area’s many ice cream shops when you’re in need of a post-meal cool-down, sure.
But what about when those very specific sugar cravings hit? You know the ones, the pangs that can only be cured with something sugar-coated or gummy, flavors either sweet or sour, perhaps even chewy or hard?
That’s when it’s time to treat yourself to a bag of good old-fashioned candy. And what a treat that is indeed: Visiting a candy shop is an easy way to instantly feel like a kid again.
If even the thought of visiting one has your mouth watering, then you’ve come to the right place. Here. we’re taking a look at five great spots in Dallas for scratching your candy fix itch.
IT’SUGAR.
2401 Victory Park Lane (Victory Park).
Founded to give “people of all ages access to the pure joy that candy can bring; to have the freedom to laugh out loud and dance like no one’s watching,” this popping, over-the-top national brand — brought to life by former FAO Schwartz toy store employees — already has locations in Fort Worth’s Sundance Sqaure and in Grapevine Mills Mall. But this just-opened location in the suddenly up-and-up Victory Park neighborhood takes the cake, acting as if it’s the real-life inspiration for its neighbors over at the popular Sweet Tooth Hotel art installation pop-up. Basically, if you can dream it up (like, say, a giant box of all-pink Starburst candies), it probably exists and is in stock at IT’SUGAR — including, at this location, ice cream treats. That’s right: The Victory Park store is the first in the chain to carry ice cream, which is stocked here by the creations from the folks at Henry’s Ice Cream in Plano.
Sugarfina.
8687 N. Central Expressway (NorthPark Center).
Sugarfina is like the Fashion Week of candy. Here, every color and flavor gets perfectly lined up and put on display like some fashion blogger’s perfectly organized closet. In addition to its NorthPark location, this sexy retailer also recently opened up a boutique within the Legacy West development in Plano. No matter which spot you hit, you’ll find amazing flavors ranging from a new breakfast-inspired candy line to its popular champagne gummy bears.
Rocket Fizz.
2701 Main Street #160 (Deep Ellum).
Rocket Fizz is a national brand operated by independent store owners who enjoy serving up candy with a heavy hit of nostalgia to the masses in a comic book store-like atmosphere. At the Deep Ellum location, which opened up in 2015, you can load up on salt water taffy, rock candy, candy cigarettes and hard-to-find flavors of all your favorite sweets. Thirsty? You can also find fizzy drinks like Original New York Seltzer, Japanese sodas, Jelly Belly pop and tons more here.
Hypnotic Emporium & Candy Shop.
9005 Garland Road (Casa Linda).
Y’know what’s even better than a candy shop? One that’s located within an old fashioned-style soda fountain that also serves ice cream, shakes, and ice cream-stuffed donuts. Kids will be especially delighted to find Melissa & Doug toys and Kinder Eggs sold here along with their favorite ice cream flavors. Plus, if you buy your candy here, the folks at Hypnotic Emporium will chop it up and add it to your ice cream orders at no extra charge. The suburbanites can get in on the fun now too thanks to a just-opened second Hypnotic location out in Mansfield.
Blooms Candy & Soda Pop Shop.
1106 West Main Street (Carrollton).
By offering over 800 types of nostalgic candies and access to over 2,000 varieties of sodas on top of all kinds of popcorn flavors, gag gifts and novelty finds, Blooms in Downtown Carrollton is a basically a sugar fiend’s paradise. The folks here clearly love what they do, which is why they’re so quick to push “weird” candy flavors to more adventurous buyers and why they maintain an online “candy graveyard” honoring the dearly departed and discontinued brands it wishes it could still sell but, for lack of inventory and stock, cannot. Also? For those rare occasions when you find yourself in needs of a ton of sarsaparilla (or, well, any kind of bizarre bottled soda), Blooms definitely has your back.
Cover photo via IT’SUGAR’s Facebook page.