I have no problem admitting that I have a sweet tooth. As a matter of fact, at one point in life, I was nicknamed “SweetTooth Jones”. At the time, the name seemed fitting. I don’t eat nearly as much sweets as I used to, but I wouldn’t pass up a slice of cake at a birthday party. It’s difficult not to look at a piece of cake or pie on the table, fresh and without a piece missing and not be tempted to take a slice. I could only imagine heaven being filled with different kinds of decorative pastries and soft serves sitting on gaudy displays ready to be eaten. Fortunately my sugar filled fantasy isn’t far from reality; it is in a form of an Instagram worthy dessert bar known as Sweet Daze, located in the middle of Richardson, Texas, the affluent inner suburb adjacent to Dallas and Garland. It was brought to my attention early December 2018, my daughter discovered Sweet Daze browsing through Instagram and was determined to go there for her birthday. A week or so later, Audrina turns ten years old and we’re headed down to the bar. After doing a little research prior to her birthday, I became curious to see what this was about. Sure enough, it was heaven on earth. As we walked in, I noticed majority of the customers taking selfies; from the dangling lights from the ceiling, white marble floors and table tops, neon pink Sweet Daze sign and custom made cakes on display, I realized I was in Selfie Central, USA. Everything was enticing, my sweet tooth was throwing a fit and Audrina was taking her too long to order. Eventually, she got a froot loop cereal bar, I got the galaxy cheesecake and my girlfriend got the birthday cake cookie dough bar. The desserts were so rich in texture and taste, it was unbelievable. I was determined to meet with someone to talk about the establishment, my curiosity was at a all time high.

A month or so later, I visited Sweet Daze for the second time. This time I was there to have a chat with Kylah Henry, St Louis born , UTD college student who is the caterer and coordinator for Sweet Daze. With her knowledge on everything including spreads , orders, customization, general pricing and background history of the bar, she was the perfect person to hold a conversation with.

Sweet Daze is the birth child of Holly and Calvin Nguyen, owners of the Tex Mex eatery OMG Tacos. Calvin mostly takes care of the business side as Holly handles the social media management, conceptualizes the desserts and the overall aesthetic. She is very hands on in keeping up with modern ways of promotion and maintaining visual pleasures. She utilized her knowledge in how social media works and its influences in the current culture as a marketing tool. It makes sense as to why there was a big buzz before their grand opening in July 2017.

The soft serve menu is made fresh daily in small batches with flavors like black velvet, Cinnamon Toast Crunch and vegan raspberry. The option of putting ice cream on top of a donut inside of a white tray with the Sweet Daze logo on it printed in gold is something I won’t forget. The designer donuts and cheesecake are to die for. Topped with different color glaze and fondant used to shape any additions added to the donut, the pastries were too pretty to eat. I was reluctant to take a bite of my cheesecake, I didn’t want to mess up with the masterpiece of a dessert. The birthday cake cookie dough bar, along with the other dough bars, is truly amazing. I adore the cereal bars that sit up right next to the donuts; Froot Loops, Lucky Charms, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, etc. Don’t let me forget about the variety of drinks, from the Pink Hot Chocolate to various lemonades like Lavender and Chocolate lemonade. They also have an assortment of custom made cakes for previous orders in a line on display and each cake exhibits a large amount of creativity, similar to the Netflix TV series Nailed It. The menu is in constant rotation; what you see in store one week may not be there the following week.

”The best part about working here is it really feels like being apart of a sorority “

The staff plays and intricate part in making Sweet Daze what it is. Each staff member not only knows how to make every custom made dessert in store, they also get together and brain storm ideas for new creations. There’s always opportunities for the staff to being their own ideas to the table. Consisting of majority college girls with a very few males (dishwashers and cashiers), the staff shares a family oriented vibe in a fun and unique environment. They aren’t just co workers, they spend time to hang out with each other outside of work. “The best part about working here is it really feels like being apart of a sorority”, Kylah says.

As far as customers that come in to fuel their curiosity and/ or satisfying their sweet tooth, they’re a little overwhelmed by all of the choices in front of them. Taking photos/ selfies before touching the food seems to be a Sweet Daze ritual. There’s always a certain type of customers that are a little more stressful to deal with; the boyfriends of girlfriends who drag them to the bar and show no interest being there, the older dads who don’t understand why it is what it is and are hard to please, the indecisive customer who knows what they want initially but still end up being confused and the customer that wants to sample EVERYTHING.

For 2019, Sweet Daze plan on becoming more interactive with clients and customers via social media and giving customers more interactive opportunities to expand the menu. In Kylah’s opinion, the bar grew to be bigger than expected, with their busiest times of the year being in the summer, holidays and end of the year (holiday and business parties). Tons of emails are received in regards to franchising all over the world. Expansion is definitely something in the future but not anytime soon, as the goal is to solidify everything with the primary location.

For more information visit the Sweet Daze website