Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Larry's Should Stick to Ice Cream

I recently became aware that Larry’s Ice Cream in Dupont also carries cupcakes, so when I was in Dupont with my boyfriend Mike visiting some of his friends, we all walked down to the shop. It was a cute little place right in the heart of Dupont. Anddd that’s where the cuteness ended.
Mike walked right in and saw 3 different types of Red Velvet cupcakes – one with cream cheese frosting, one with buttercream frosting, and one with chocolate frosting. He looked at a big man on a Blackberry behind the counter and said, “I hear your Red Velvet is good, which one should I get?” The guy proceeded to look at him and say “Does it look like I give a shit?”
I have no patience for people like this, and at that point was ready to turn around and walk out but Mike still wanted to order one. He ordered the chocolate cupcake with raspberry filling and the red velvet with cream cheese frosting. At the register, Mike tried to make conversation again, asking the guy “so are you the baker?” The guy looked at Mike like he just asked the stupidest question in the history of all time, and said “Does it look like I’m the baker?” Mike fired back and said “Maybe? What kind of question is that?” The guy slammed the drawer shut, pushed the cupcakes at Mike, said “here you go” and walked off to play with his Blackberry some more.
Seriously, nobody is asking for this guy to be Mary Sunshine, but are you kidding me??? When your customers are trying to make conversation with you and ask you about your product, it might behoove you to engage in some pleasant conversation and not curse and be a smartass. I have been to DOZENS of bakeries since beginning this blog over a year ago, and have never encountered someone so rude.
Not only is the customer service horrid to say the least, but the cupcakes taste awful. The cake was dry, the frosting on the red velvet was sour and didn’t even taste like cream cheese frosting – I threw it out after taking 2 bites. I wouldn’t even try the Chocolate, but Mike who will eat pretty much anything wouldn’t even finish it.
Walk a couple hundred feet over to Hello Cupcake, take a trip down a few blocks to Baked & Wired, Georgetown Cupcake, or Red Velvet Cupcakery. Whatever you do, do not give a single penny of your money to this place. The service at Hello, B&W, Georgetown & Red Velvet is friendly and the cupcakes are worlds better. Larry’s ice cream may be good, but he clearly jumped on the cupcake bandwagon to make a quick buck. His product is awful and so is his attitude; avoid this place at all costs.

4 comments:

Analiese said...

Yikes! I'm sorry to hear it was such a bad experience. As I said, I haven't tried the cupcakes, but it's good to know they're not worth trying!

I should have warned you about the customer service (or lack thereof) at Larry's. They are famous, or infamous, for their rude service. It's part of the "character" of the place, I guess and some people consider it to be funny/charming. I'm with you, however - I could do without the negative attitude.

It's a shame because the ice cream is delicious!

Danielle said...

Hahaha no worries!!! Thanks for the tip on the place though - it was definitely an experience! I'm with you - cupcakes are supposed to be fun and happy, not negative! I have heard the ice cream is good and was considering trying it up until that encounter. Looks like Coldstone Birthday Cake Remix until the end of time for me!

Bitsy said...

I went by there when the first started selling cupcakes, and got one to split with a friend. The cupcake ended up in the trash with two bites taken out of it.

And, IMO, the ice cream isn't very good ether.

Danielle said...

Good to know I'm not the only one who thinks they're awful! I saw some reviews on Yelp with people saying they thought the Red Velvet was good and I was completely puzzled!