Ever So Sweet Bakery, well mostly.

I love going to visit my family in Charleston (well, the 'rents stay in Summerville) because it gives me an opportunity to try new and different things. Ever So Sweet Bakery is right down from where they live and finally, they were open on one of my visits. Now that is not to say they were not open before, it's just either I was too late or too early to catch them open.

I was totally excited when I went in. The front showcase does over a wide variety of choice from bagels to cookies. Therefore I decided since this was my first visit and I had a 4 hour trip ahead of me, I would not only get a breakfast choice but several others to accompany my daughter, son and I on the trip.

I bought:
A popover w/ strawberry butter
a lime-coconut cupcake
a Carmel chocolate cupcake
a butter toffee cookie
a pecan cinnamon roll pull apart thing
lime curd tart

As you can see I pretty much went the gammet, especially since I had heard mixed reviews. Ok 2- one good and one not. I wanted to decide for myself.

To begin:
the popover -while it was excellent in appearance and looked exactly as a popover should, I don't think they meant for it to be that hard and crusty on the outside, maybe, but tobesure not. The inside was nice and moist which is par for a popover. I was just disappointed with the outside, it was nearly inedible. I am still very much on the fence with the strawberry butter. One taste I really like it, the next taste- I am not sure. Would I buy this again? The popover? probably not, the butter yes- maybe with some sort of toast though and not this.

lime-coconut cupcake and the Carmel chocolate cupcake- I am going to talk about these together because my just turned 6 year old loved the icing on both but said "why is the cake part so thick". Agreed. The lime coconut icing was very enticing to look at, it was very pretty as was the 2nd one. Well actually all the cupcakes were just beautiful, but what good is that if they aren't so good.
The problem here was the cake part. It was extremely dense. To the point there was really no crumbs and I was begging for water. I don't know that it was an isolated recipe error because both cakes, one yellow and one chocolate had the same density to them. Would I buy anymore cupcakes here? Definitely not.

The pecan roll- Definitely delish! It was huge and for $2.50 I would say definitely worth it. The topping was Divine and the pecan taste was prevalent which is what I love. It was more like a swirled giant muffin than a roll. I would more than buy it again.

Butter toffee cookie- the flavor was there, the cookie itself was ok but the stickiness of it made it difficult to eat. The gentleman working the front said it was one of his favorite cookies. I could see that if you get it right out of the oven, but the next day it is just a chore to eat. I should have tried the peanut butter one that he also recommended.

Let me say, I have saved the best for last. The Lime Curd Tart. There are just no words, but I will try. It was eye catching, appealing and enticing. At $5 I wasn't sure it wasn't going to be worth it, but I was wrong. It was definitely worth that and made up for the cupcakes!!

The lime curd tart had a marshmellowish meringue on top that my daughter couldn't get enough of it! The crust was buttery and an awesome base for the tart. The filling, was key-limish but not like the pie. I love lemon curd, had never had lime curd, but I definitely want some more. I think the tartness of the curd with the over the top sweetness of the topping worked more than I could have hoped for. After the disappointing cupcake, I was about to be pee oed that I had spent all that money on not so good bakery stuff. But the lime curd tart was definitely redeeming for this bakery. Would I buy it again? Ya damn skippy I will.

Pricewise, I would say the cost was pretty decent. The popover was $2.50, the cupcakes $2 apiece, the cookie $1, the pecan roll $2.50 and the tart $5.

Overall I would visit this bakery again- for the lime curd tart alone, but also probably for some of the bagels. Definitely don't think the cupcakes would be worth another try just because as stated, they were 2 different types but the density issue exits in both of them. They make cakes here too, I have to wonder if they are the same- hopefully I will get a chance to try those at a later date.

I will also mention 2 other things: I was disappointed that they didn't make their own tea. They did have a bottled Italian sweet tea that was doable. Also, there were a few customers there that were definitely regulars as they said everything there was fantastic. I would argue with that kind sir, but I wouldn't push it too far because there are few things there that I thought were over the top delish!!

Ever So Sweet Bakery- Yeah. I'd go there again, especially because they are less than half a mile from my parents.

Prizzi's of Summerville- there's no honor there...

According to their website, they are Summerville's Best Kept Secret. Truly, I find this hard to believe. Honestly, if what I'm getting ready to tell you had not transpired, this would be more about the mediocre food than that asinine owner. Now you will be subjected to both. OOPsie. I perused the website before going to Prizzis because I wanted to see what they had to offer as I had never heard of them. My aunt and uncle are REGULAR customers here and even their son held his rehearsal dinner here. Which makes what I am about to tell you even more ridiculous..redunkulous even. First things first - waitress informs us 18% gratuity on parties of 5 or more. HUH? That is the size of a normal family household these days. But then she informs us she can split is and we can tip what we feel is deserved. At this point, I am thinking she said this because my aunt and uncle are regulars about 3 times a month there. Got there, checked the menu. Basically the same as online. I wanted the lasagna, the pizza for Ben and inquired about a seniors portion for my mother who is elderly. The waitress stated they didn't have any thing comparable, I asked her about getting a kid's meal for her, she said that would be allowed. So mom had the spaghetti. When the waitress took my order, she suggested the lasagna special. When I inquired what that meant, I was told it included a salad. Ok. Mistake for me #1. The regular lasagna is priced at $8.99. I noticed tonight that the tossed salad is priced at $2.79. Can someone please explain to me then why the lasagna special was $15.99? Just because it included a salad? Please? WTF. You know what they say about assume-- I assumed the special would be like $10 - you know, the salad for $2 instead of $2.79. Ass - wrong. Basically the salad jacked up the meal $7. The kids meals are $4.99 each. For appetizer, my aunt and I split the spinach rolls. Which is basically a cigarette sized egg roll made of spinach and cheese. It was fairly good- although the description said to be served with tatziki sauce which to me I guess is fancy for sour cream with shredded cheese on top? The salad was iceberg- a few croutons, 1 tomato, 1 black olive, a couple onion rings and salad dressing- the house - an Italian vinaigrette..but it tasted like Wishbone. Yes, I am a salad dressing conneesiour. However, as of yet, things were not so misshapen that I was going to complain. The lasagna came. It says the noodles are homemade, however, I just made lasagna at home last week, and the no bake ones have these tiny lines running through them- these did as well - and there were 2 noodles on my whole plate. The lasagna was somewhat deconstructed. I am assuming - again, there's that word, this was meant to be this way. There were slightly roasted -or seems to me- sweated onions and peppers (red and green) on the side, and sliced Italian sausage on the side as well. Topped with shredded parm cheese. I saw red sauce not white sauce as described. Still- it was ok. I was not complaining. My son was ok with the pizza after all he eats Subway pizza all the time- this was about the same - I have a really hard time believing this pizza was home made. Seriously. I wish I had taken pics I just didn't know what was coming or I would have. My uncle had chicken parm which seemed to be good - no complaints. My aunt had same as me- she loves it..no problems there either. Love them:) Dessert- mom had cheesecake- it was a nice sized slice but I thought very overpriced for $4.99. However- didn't complain. I and my aunt had the chocolate cake. It was actually very good - but then it was dark chocolate- how can you go wrong with that?! Drinks. Please tell me why a supposedly "upscale" restaurant serves bottled soda with a cup of ice? At $2 a bottle. And I might add the menu said they were $1.59 but when the owner was yelling at me, she informed me it was $2 a bottle. and No refills. Still- hadn't complained yet. My family and I were actually having a really nice time -the best time! Until the bill came. We asked them to split the bill and my uncle stated they would get the appetizer. So the waitress comes back with theirs, he pays and then I go up to pay mine. To which they tell me the total. As I am adding my total and my uncle's total in my head it is more than that complete bill the waitress brought us the first time. I stepped back to the table and I told my aunt and uncle that I think they were overcharging us and I think it had something to do with the way they were figuring the 18%. Here is where it broke off. THE OWNER came barreling up front and yelled at me asking me what was the problem. I explained to her that the 2 bills were not adding up to the 1 and maybe it was the gratuity they had miscalculated because if we each had 18% and it split like that the total bill should not be $5 less than what we were being asked to pay separately. She began screaming at me that they were a fair business and that they had been in business 12 years, etc. I explained to her that I was only asking about the totals. Why would the 2 be more than the 1. They should equal the same. First she screamed at me that I didn't understand her. I explained to her that I was standing right in front of me there was no need to scream at me as she was doing to which she ignored- and I noticed, continued to check around the restaurant- thankfully there were only about 5 tables occupied in the whole business. She went back and recalculated 3 times. Each time coming with a different total. And each time throwing the receipt on the table. Finally, my uncle told her to void his off and put it all on one and we would split it outside. She basically refused to do this and continued to argue with me. At this point, my aunt stepped in to try to explain to her what it was we were questioning. I told the owner I didn't know if she couldn't understand me or didn't want to understand me but the bottom line is the 2 separate bills together should equal the one bill they showed us initially. She continued to scream at me and told me that they were a fair business- a family business. And did I not think the service was worth it. Let me think. The food was mediocre- over looked it. The drink situation - low rent for "Summerville's best kept secret" - overlooked it. 10 minute tirade over the total of a bill that just didn't add up-- you bet your ass I didn't think it was worth it. I told her look, let's just settle this so we can leave. This is ridiculous. I went up front to pay what they said I owed--after all, I didn't want to be locked up in Charleston- my magistrate connection are elsewhere...so when I went to the cashier- I was trying to explain to her that I was in no way trying to be difficult. I just didn't understand how we were getting 4 different totals. Before I could finish the owner comes flyin up front again and reignites. WTF. Let's see...my cousin got married 2 years ago? And my aunt and uncle have eaten there so much the waitress was on first name basis and knew my aunt's order without asking and the owner was acting like this to REGULAR FAITHFUL customers! I'd say Prizzi's is Summerville's Best Kept Secret because they have mediocre food and the worst (even worse than Bojangles) customer service I have ever seen. Good riddance!