Sugar Circus

If I could give 0 stars I would! I sent an email 4 days ago requesting cupcakes for my boyfriend’s birthday and I was never contacted. Now, I go to their website today and I found out they are closed today. I will never do business again with an unprofessional organization like this.

I ordered cupcakes and cookies for our housewarming party and sent Sugar Circus pictures from Pinterest for ideas. They actually ended up replicating the pictures, but the desserts turned out adorable. The sugar cookies tasted exactly like you imagine a sugar cookie should taste in your head. The cupcakes were also good, particularly the frosting, but the cake part was not as moist as I would have expected. I am docking them one star for that and for the fact that communications with them were a little disorganized (when my husband showed up to pick up the order they didn’t even have a record of if we had paid or not). All that being said, would I use them again? Absolutely. Especially for cookies.

First time here, bought a half dozen, multiple flavors and a personalized topper of my friends favorite band. I haven’t tried them yet! But I am excited! Ordering was easy and pick up was great! They taste great! $ 18 in total!

Brides be ware! Don’t let this happen to you.
I have never been one to write many reviews, let along negative reviews but I want to make sure what happened to me with Sugar Circus at my wedding doesn’t happen to any other brides and I really wish someone could have warned me.
I ordered my wedding cupcakes and cake from Sugar Circus and was originally very excited to work with Sugar Circus, unfortunately they lack the professionalism required to handle large orders for events and it took an unfortunate toll on my special day.
I had been in communication with Sugar Circus for over 5 months before the wedding, overall they were very slow to respond and not very organized but I just brushed it off as their day-​to-​day business keeping them busy.
On the wedding day, not only was the delivery late but Sugar Circus was completely unreachable for several hours despite my friends and family calling emailing and Facebook messaging. Since we had no idea if the cupcakes were even still on their way or if we’d been scammed… and the ceremony was about to start we decided to order replacement cupcakes from another bakery. The Sugar Circus cupcakes finally arrived after the scheduled ceremony start time and they said they had car trouble which to me, is no excuse for a business in 2015 to be unreachable on cell phone, store phone, email and social media.
We payed in full for the cake and delivery and Sugar Circus still refuses to offer a partial refund to pay for the replacement cupcakes we ordered. I am so disappointed that they’re mistakes cost me hours of worrying on my special day when I should have just been enjoying my day. And the fact that they are not sorry or willing to refund the costs we incurred. terrible!

Don’t waste one more day! Go and get a cinnamon roll today. Might change your life. Must try! We tried it as part of a food tour and it changed my life

I was in the mood for cupcakes. …You judging me? I didn’t think so now on with the review. I was downtown and the mood was right. On to Unilocal I went and this place popped up.
I got there and two taxis were waiting outside. I thought something must be good for people to hail a taxi and get there.
The building is an home from the 1940 – 50 era. The place is small because most of it is used for the kitchen. The young ladies inside were nice and I got to use a Unilocal coupon for $ 2 off.
I got chocolate, vanilla and red velvet cupcakes. All properly fit for shoving down my gullet. I kept them in the fridge at work and they held all the way home. The red velvet was delicious. Unfortunately the rest went to waste.
The price was high but I would say seemingly fair for the vegan ingredients they use.
If you get the urge give these ladies a shot and you’ll be surprised.

My sister gifted me the most beautiful and delicious birthday cake from Sugar Circus Bakery. It exceeded expectations. The chocolate cake was moist and flavorful and perfect. The icing was delicious. The raspberry filling kicked everything into high gear. But it was the decorations that blew my mind. The marbled pink and white icing and the edible glitter filled white chocolate balls. They were gorgeous and a sprinkle of glitter on the cake was magical.
Along with the cake we got chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes, which are fab!!! I’ve never seen fiancé eat sweets like he eats these cupcakes. They are definitely a favorite. Although we didn’t try them, the conversation heart cookies were adorable!
I love these ladies and their sweets! They are amazing!

This bakery is as good as it gets! The cupcakes they make are top notch, so delicious and such a variety to choose from. The customer service I received from Jessica was awesome, she knew exactly what I wanted and needed based on my tastes. I would recommend this bakery over all others.

Their cupcakes are so good! I had the mexican hot chocolate one and it was fantastic.

Dear god.
Every time I think cupcakes are done, I run into a new spot that makes me go, «What are you talking about.»
Sugar Circus is a converted house turned into a bakery. And dammit, what a bakery. It smells like sugar heaven when you walk in. And then you see the glass case which has cupcakes like Eggnog, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dog and Samoa (the Girl Scout cookie).
They also have stickers that say, «Eat Cupcakes, Bitch.» Don’t forget to ask for one.
The staff is friendly and the space is amazing. Grab a cupcake to go and be happy.

Wow some of the BEST vegan cupcakes I’ve had to date. They don’t have a sit down area to feed your face. It’s more of a togo sort of establishment.

This bakery is on point. Vegan anything can be a gamble. However, the vegan chocolate cake I ordered for my bosses birthday was such a delight. I was relieved it was DELICIOUS and not bland! It was rich but not too sweet, it was moist and it was beautiful. Don’t be afraid to try a vegan cake from Sugar Circus. The birthday boy or girl will love you for it.

I was very disappointed with my purchase, $ 30 worth of cupcakes and nothing exceeded my expectations. I was hoping for THE ONE, guess I’m still searching. I stopped by on a Thursday afternoon, about an hour after they opened. There were a few cupcakes in the display, so we bought one of almost everything, even the gluten free, and vegan. The cupcakes were dry and fell flat. The frosting lacked flavor and had more of a shortening taste. The cake itself was dry and crumbling. Were these fresh cupcakes, or a few days old? Six people all with different tastes all agreed that the cupcakes fell short, way short. Giving Sugar Circus one star.

How could you not love this place? Obsessed with the Mexican chocolate cupcakes and strawberry ones. :)

The most delicious vegan cupcakes I have ever had! The owner and employees are super sweet and cute and the flavors are really innovative and exciting!

Adore this place! The have both classic and unique creations without leaving anyone out. Plenty of gluten free options. The staff is polite and easy to talk to. Love this bakery. Tell all your friends and bring them to the sugar circus!

These cupcakes are amazing. We went cupcake tasting around austin to find the desserts for our wedding. Sugar Circus is the winner by far.

Super nice staff, super yummy cupcakes. Hard to find location, nestled in the east side across from the rr tracks. Just find cap metro and go west on 5^th.
My hubby brought home a dozen cupcakes for Mother’s Day.
I didn’t share
Recently I had a chance to really review their cupcakes.
I fell in love with the Boston Crème Pie. SO GOOD!!!
I prefer the vegan chocolate chip cookie dough vs the regular. The regular is way too sweet, even for me.
I didn’t care for the carrot cake vegan.
The lemon vegan left me wanting more… lemon? couldn’t put my finger on it, but definitely needing more something.
Double Chocolate Vegan is very very good!!!
Strawberry Shortcake was ok. The frosting was dynamite, but then got way too sweet after a few bites.
Also, if they have Mexican cookies, grab a few. I think they are 3 for like 1.50. So worth it!!!
:)

We chose Sugar Circus Bakery for our wedding cake for a number of reasons, for instance (1) it was an offbeat vendor and offbeat place, very Austin-​y, (2) their quote was extremely affordable, and (3) their cakes are DELICIOUS and they have lots of vegan options (very flexible).
We had a very complicated order and request and suffered through several tastings at several places before landing on Sugar Circus. We wanted a small Journey (not the band, the PS3 game) themed wedding cake that served about 25, and a small Chess board themed groom’s cake, also serving about 25. This was because we wanted to use mini cupcakes (2 per guest, one in each flavor/​theme) to simplify cake cutting. Every other place we went to (not naming names) were either completely out of their depth about it, or UNWILLING to do it, or were very nice but extremely, extremely expensive.
The staff at Sugar Circus were excited about the themes when we discussed it with them! We ended up with cinnamon-​sugar churro cake (IT TASTES AMAZING) with vegan buttercream frosting for the wedding cake, and chocolate-​chip cake (ALSO AMAZING) with vegan buttercream frosting for the groom’s cake. We’re not frosting people usually, we don’t like things that are sickeningly sweet — but the vegan buttercream actually tasted MUCH BETTER than any of the other frostings I had tried in my trials of cake-​tasting. It was a more subtle taste. I would highly recommend trying it even if you’re not vegan. They delivered the cakes and cupcakes on-​time at our wedding site, and they were gorgeous! AND DELICIOUS!
The only negative I have is that their response time via email was a little slow. I think its mostly a result of how busy they are with lots of weddings; I can imagine it gets pretty crazy. Everything turned out fine, though, and they delivered everything on-​time and the cakes were PERFECT.

Besides the cute little set up and the Take A Joke, Leave A Joke Jar, this place is a great local East side bakery to get many delicious confections for yourself or for a party.
I picked up a dozen Mexican Chocolate cupcakes and a Red Velvet Cupcake (GF) for myself (and yea, a GF cake ball bc I can’t say no) this past weekend for my boyfriend’s birthday. He absolutely loved the cupcakes as did his colleagues whom are all chefs, so I feel like there’s gotta be merit in that! I liked my Red Velvet, although to me it didn’t taste a ton like Red Velvet and I probably would have enjoyed the GF Mexican Chocolate better (but that wasn’t the choice last week). The icing made up for it as did the moistness (is that word ok to use?)
I’d gladly recommend Sugar Circus to anyone… their prices are competitive, they’re super accommodating, and the atmosphere is charming! And to think, I used to hate the circus…

This review is for the Vegan side of house.
Vegan Cupcakes are excellent, and they have a wide array of flavors.
Vegan/​Gluten Free Cupcakes are excellent and if served room temp are heavenly. Something about the gluten free cake holds together best when it is not cold.
Love this place and they have great coffee!

Sugar Circus is the kind of place I love to support.
It all started many years ago, and came together in a now defunct commercial kitchen. Meghan (who I just may have a platonic crush on) worked under the «Sugar Tooth» name producing vegan/​animal-​free sweet treats, with Belinda working under the name «SugarPOP Sweet Shop» making cakes and cookies using more «traditional» ingredients. Now they share what might be the cutest shop ever, in a brightly colored house «next to the railroad tracks» on East 5^th, just before Pleasant Valley. Look for the little circus tent in front when they’re open.
I don’t have the dietary restrictions my wife does, but the gluten free cupcakes don’t have the same overly dense consistency and certainly no odd aftertaste that we always have to put up with at other places. I will often just bring home a couple GF choices, and let my wife choose the flavor she wants to try, as I enjoy them just as much as the ones made with regular flour, etc. And I’m shocked that the vegan options are even edible (what? no milk? no eggs?), much less awesome like they are.
But it’s not just about amazing cupcakes and other baked goods. You are ALWAYS working with the owners, and not just someone that applied to a «want ad». Every time I go, I see folks with passion in their eyes, only wanting to make the best product possible. When two people bring that much energ…
Wait a second…
OMGHAVEYOUTRIEDTHISHOUSEMADEMARSHMALLOWLITTLEPILLO­WSOFGOODNESSMAKESKRAFTSEEMLIKECRAP!!!1!
Oh. Sorry about that.
I take back all my praise for the cupcakes, and just recommend you go there and get the house made marshmallows, even if you have to come from way north like I do.
You’re welcome.
Happy First Anniversary, Sugar Circus. I’m sorry I missed the festivities.

I’m happy to have Sugar Circus in the neighborhood for a cupcake fix. This review is only for their non-​vegan cupcakes.
I like that they have a solid cast of flavors for the week. This helps me plan ahead. And the flavors are good; I really liked the tres leches and mexican hot chocolate. My only criticism is, their cupcakes are chilled, so if you eat them immediately (like, at the bakery in the charming patio area with hula hoops) and you chose something with a buttercream, the icing is something you have to like, bite into and chew on. Perhaps it’s less dense/​chewy if you warm them up to room temp before serving. The tres leches cupcake, on the other hand, had whipped cream, so there was no chewy-​icing issue there.

Good first experience. I had a craving for something sweet and I’d already had Ice Cream this week. I decided to hit up Sugar Circus. It’s close to me which is convenient. Thank god for Unilocal ‘Nearby’.
I ordered a Mexican Chocolate cupcake and a Stawberry Shortcake cupcake. I believe those were the names. I don’t have any special diets or anything like that, but they do offer vegan choices I saw.
The frosting on the top of the cupcake is super dense. I had to come up with an attack strategy on how to eat the cupcake. The strawberry cupcake was pretty good. I liked the touch of strawberry on the top of the icing, but the cupcake itself was just good, not great. I thought it was lacking some moisture. A little dry. A little messy to eat, which is not a bad thing, I did need some napkins though.
I really enjoyed the Mexican cupcake though. Totally stereotypical for me right? Delicious icing with a little Mexican kick/​spice to it. Unlike the vanilla cupcake I had, this one was super moist and delicious. I do have a preference for Strawberry, so it was weird that I liked the chocolate cupcake better.
I kind of wish I had tried a cookie here. I was in the mood, but I couldn’t justify spending all this money on sweets in one go. Haha. Maybe next time.
It’s a cool little location with easy parking on the street. Check it out. I also like the little box they give you for the cupcakes.

Cue the over-​the-​top Messiah music…
Gluten-​free & vegan cupcakes? Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
[Did you know that Handel wrote the Messiah in only 17 days during a manic phase of his bipolar disease? Changes the song a little bit doesn’t it?]
But really, I just get that excited when I find a good vegan & gf cupcake. They also have vegan & gf truffles that are super rich and perfect for the chocolate lover.
If you are just vegan (lucky duck…) they have many interesting options for you. She told me that as the business expands, she will be putting out more and more flavors. She also let me know that she could make custom gluten-​free/​vegan concoctions if you call ahead and order. I just might take them up on that for my birthday in a couple weeks!!!