The Yellow Carrot

$ 81 — take and bake
We got the small pans of veggie lasagna, mac and cheese, and one brownie. While it was a lot of food (enough for 2-​dinners and left-​overs) it seemed massively expensive. And I could overlook that if it was spectacular but it was SALTY. Every bite was salty both dinners… I’m not sure what the spice blend is but I couldn’t finish either of my meals because of the saltness. The brownie was good but more like a light fluffy cake than a brownie. I’ve had their lemonades and beet chips and they are great but this was disappointing, expensive, and salty. We won’t be back.

What a uniquely lovely place to eat. I enjoyed wonderful food: chicken club sandwich, French onion bisque and a carrot muffin. Food is cooked responsibly and made with care. The selection is broad to fit every taste. If I lived locally I would certainly pick up some of the delicious ready to take and eat casseroles available. This is not your average sandwich shop and it is worth the cost.

We had a boxed lunch from here on the Durango-​Silverton train. Usually as a vegetarian I feel short-​handed in a boxed lunch but the sandwich with roasted red pepper pimento cheese on a brioche bun spread with pesto was amazing… not to mention the homemade sweet potato fries… yum. I only wish we’d gone there for a full meal.

I usually only come here for the sandwiches, specifically the Smokin’ Salmon which is incredible. As for their other sandwiches I’ve only had their pulled pork and it wasn’t very good. Their cupcakes are usually rock hard 9 out of 10 times and their weird basil lemonade is interesting but quickly turns to disgusting after the first few sips. I’ve never had their pricey mac and cheese, though. And they’ve got a lot of different topping options. Overall decent place for what it is but it’s pretty overpriced for their C+ food.

I love pie. My wife, knowing that I love pie ordered a coconut cream pie from here for my birthday. It was not good! It was as if someone who had never made a pie before made this one. The crust was one that would have paired well with a fresh fruit pie, it was ¾ inches thick, hard as a rock, and completely absent of taste — I literally thought I chipped a tooth when I bite into it. Cutting it was an act of God, I think Moses parted the Red Sea easier than I cut a slice of this pie. Then comes to the filling, now they call it coconut cream because there is supposed to be cream in it. In this, there was none. It was actually like someone had taken cornstarch and water and dumped an entire pound of coconut shreds in and then drop it into a rockhard piecrust. Needless to say, I didn’t get through one piece and the whole $ 50 pie went in the garbage.
Please don’t reward this company by going to their store and buying something. This business should fail and feel bad for swindling their customers!

Everyone claimed how delicious this place is and so for a very special event we ordered a bunch of various flavored cupcakes. They were dry, crumbly and too much fluff on top which doesn’t compensate for dry cake. PLUS we paid a small fortune for them. Summary: Way overrated and super overpriced. No thank you Yellow Carrot.

Durango, Colorado– I couldn’t pass up this adorable shop, especially when a quick peek in the window revealed an assortment of beautifully decorated cupcakes. My selection was made quite easy since there was only one vegan option (bummer!) but wow, was it a little piece of heaven. The vegan carrot cupcake had a perfect mountain of white frosting sprinkled with a shimmer of glitter and topped with a lime green candy. It was wrapped gently in carrot paper and placed into a small white perfect-for-it’s-size carrying box. I went next door to join my fiancé for coffee and saw this as the perfect opportunity to sample my find. First stop– a swipe of the finger across the frosting. Oooooo my my. Sweet decadence. Slightly marshmallowy and entirely fluffy, this was a delight. The cupcake was entirely moist and in my first bite I got a taste of carrot, raisin, and nut– a delectable combination. Each bite that I savored was a surprise. I didn’t know which flavors I would capture. The next five minutes were like a surprise party and when it was over I felt like somebody had popped all of my balloons and said, «party over.» I think I’ll party again tomorrow. This is the best $ 9 cupcake I’ve ever had.

For the price I paid for a 6″ cake it should have at least tasted good. The buttercream icing tasted like cheap whip cream icing. I don’t think they even made the right cake. Made me sick eating it. Not impressed for a 50 $ cake with no decorations. Overpriced, did not get what was asked for.

Before i begin, i would like to mention that you have to be willing to pay the prices. 8 – 10 $ sandwiches and 4 – 7 $ desserts. Its expensive to eat here, but for people who go out rarey, this is a great treat! If I could mark this as 4.5 stars I would because of high prices.
I don’t come here too often because of the prices but I am never disappointed! I first tried the yellow carrot because I had heard that they had gluten free bread. The bread is great! At first I didnt really like it but thats only because I was not used to pepitas being cooked in bread. These sandwiches are huge! They are full of ingredients! My favs are the Hot Blue Chick and the Wild Philly. They are also super messy but that is a plus in my opinion. GF bread costs extra.
The desserts are fantastic in my opinion. I usually go for the macaroons which are huge, dipped in chocolate, and are made with vanilla bean powder. The samoan macaroons are a macaroon sandwich with caramel and dipped.
Since this weekend was my birthday, and i was so busy I didnt get any cake, I decided to get myself a cupcake. This started out as a one time purchase (because they are 7 $) but I am thinking there will be weak cupcake moments in my future. They had five gluten free cupcakes of the 9 or so varieties in the case. Yes they are rich, but they are enough for two desserts.
Like I said, if you go out occasionally then this would be a great choice for delicious food.

The Yellow Carrot is one of my favorite places (period), and I say this having lived, traveled, and eaten all over the world. The food is so delicious that I bribe people to ship /​bring it to me in SF (I really recommend the Bomb Bar … worth carrying back on a plane and explaining to the TSA). The prices may be a little higher than the Durango norm — but the flavor, the quality of the ingredients, the pure adventure /​creativeness is worth every penny. I’m willing to pay more for a sandwich or cupcake (really, more of just a cake) because I know the flavors will be intense, innovative, and over-​the-​top (in a good way).

I ordered a birthday cake and was told it would cost $ 30 – 50 and would be ready by 3 PM. When I went to pick it up, it was not ready and was going to cost $ 100. For an 8″ cake with nothing too special about it, this is a ridiculous price to pay. The woman acted like she had made this clear, which she hadn’t and implicated that I didn’t know what I was talking about. When she was told that I would not pay that much for a cake… she told me I still had to pay for it. Horrible customer service.

My husband and I just picked up a few cookies for dessert from this place and we’re definitely fans! The staff was extremely friendly and helpful and the cookies are monsters and are absolutely delicoius. They have some interesting sounding drinks I want to go back and try too! The only thing that kept them from getting a full on 5 stars from me were the prices of the cupcakes and bars which was around $ 8. Way too much for a baked treat in my opinion but the cookies are out of this world! Can’t wait to go back!

Bought a birthday cake recently and found the icing to be rock hard and flavorless. Then the «carrot» cake had blueberries in it!!! I tried taking it back to have them look at it and and find out why the cake was so lacking. However, I found the customer service to be lacking when I did come back. Not only did the lady cut a size able slice into my cake, she then proceeded to try and convince me the icing should be that hard. I was at a loss for why you would cut into the cake that way, why the icing would be so hard and why there was blueberries in it. She offered to only give us back the cake but it was so bad I just told her to keep it! The biggest shame is they lost a loyal customer. What a waste of $ 26 dollars.

Allow me to preface this review by saying I just walked through the door to my home. This is my first food review I’ve ever written. This is how compelled I was by the sandwich/​baked goods I just experienced. Preface over.
The story begins with me and my culinary partner driving through downtown Durango, stomachs a-​rumblin’, brainstorming the location of our impending ingestion. We’ve been staying in Durango for about a month, and we agreed to finally go to the Yellow Carrot, which actually sits right around the corner from us. I just… don’t understand… why we didn’t go sooner. Can you tell this is a positive review yet? Okay. Enough of that.
Immediately upon entry you are delighted by the pleasant and bright ambience that exudes from the storefront, all the way to the back of the kitchen, the latter of which can be fully observed, and fully respected. From the action in the kitchen, to the personalities of the staff, to the diverse selection of all foods, you can easily see that everything here is made with great passion, and great creativity.
My sandwich was phenomenal (I got the Pimped Out Turkey: roasted turkey, cherry habanero chutney, walnut pesto, and brie). Every ingredient of this intelligently crafted sandwich was very fresh… but it was the melding of all the elements that put it over the top. The turkey was hot and juicy. The sweetness of the chutney provides a perfect counterpoint, which is followed shortly by the awesome kick of the habanero. The heat was more than I thought– which I totally dug. Not overwhelming; just enough to keep you on your toes. But then, the heat is cut out by the herb imbued, earthy, creamy hybrid created by the pesto and the brie. Every bite was stellar. Sandwich analysis complete.
Dessert: Jack Daniels double fudge brownie. Yep. Essentially, it is a traditional fudge brownie… except for the higher quality ingredients and care put into it. So it’s better than a traditional brownie. I honestly don’t get brownies too often, but the woman helping me out insisted upon it. Touché, Yellow Carrot employee… touché. To my delight, the brownie was not overly rich/​sweet. The depth was right on point. But atop the brownie rests this decadent blanket of chocolate ganache, drizzled with what is called Jack Daniels caramel. Ay. There’s the rub. Subtle notes of coffee added a great essence to the brownie, which I felt was smart. …and it tasted good.
The friendly and appreciative guy I am, I wound up chatting it up with the woman behind the counter. After wrapping up our little convo, she surprised me, to my delight, with some complimentary cookies. Wow. Pretty awesome. These things don’t go unnoticed. People mention it in reviews.
In conclusion, go to the Yellow Carrot. I can only speak on behalf of my experience. And I have. Keep eating, friends.

Writting this review is difficult, mainly because I can’t think where to start because it is all so unbelievably amazing.
I have yet to taste or see something that comes out of that kitchen that isn’t the definition of unique and delicious with the levels of creativity one would only find in a 5 diamond high end place.
I am in the F&B/hospitality industry and have yet to work with a chef who is as talented as Sari…
A few of my favorites… well for starters all of her cakes, I mean the style and décor’ is untouchable, and they actually taste as good as they look. How many of you have been to a wedding with a gorgeous cake and then you bite into it and it is flavorless and dry? This is not the case with The Yellow Carrot. The most unique flavors and decorating you will ever enjoy! Just grab a cupcake when you are around and you will see.
Chocolate macaroons– nothing beats these, every time I’m in town I must have them.
Basil Limeaid is a signature along with beet and sweet potato chips that display the perfect sweet/​salty flavors.
As far as the take and bake goes– Shrimp and Grits, shepards pie, mac n cheese, lasagna with a TO DIE FOR SAUCE, including the green chilie lasagna (which I haven’t seen in a while)! My absolute favorite still remains to be the pot pies, veggie or chicken! She has such a perfect spin on soul food!
I also love the great selection of gluten free items, I’m not gluten free but when I travel to visit friends, many of them are gluten free and we are able to accomodate everyone when we stop in there! And I have tried a few gluten free items, and the flavor is never compromised by a dietary need.
On top of everything she offers in the shop, I have had the pleasure of enjoying many events that she has catered in town… Not only is the presentation a work of art all of the food I have had is fresh and combined in a way that will knock your socks off. The food pairing she has are stellar and you will never find them anywhere else!
I wish I still lived in Durango to enjoy the amazing creations that happen at The Yellow Carrot, and the staff is wonderful, I love the energy when you walk in! SO FUN!

When my wife and I were traveling, we were excited to try this place because of the stellar reviews. If we were to rate them on our experience alone… it would be 1.5 stars. Both of our cupcakes’ frosting were way way way too rich. I like a whipped or reasonable butter cream frosting, but my vanilla and my wife’s lemon frosting must have been a quadruple sour cream, or something else that was excessive and shockingly over the top. After eating about ²⁄₃ each, and one bite of the other flavor, we had to stop. Fondant, sprinkles, and cookies all on the top of one $ 5 cupcake is excessive. We both felt a little nauseous. We ate the cake portion (which was delicious).
I’m giving them 3 stars because the quality is super high in every product we saw. We bought a small bag of carmel-​corn which was very good, but a little too rich. $ 15 for those three items is about $ 4 too much. The service was memorable and friendly. I wish they would tone down their richness, overall effort, and prices by about 20%.

I have very mixed feeling on this place…
I had a cupcake hankering and decided to give the Yellow Carrot a try. I was ASTOUNDED by the cupcake case when I walked in — the flavor selection and staggering size/​height is enough to make you gasp! I ordered a Samoa Islander and E the Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake. All of the Carrot’s cupcakes are filled in the middle, and E’s had a delicious velvety lemon-​blueberry cheesecake well in the middle. Mine, which was supposed to taste like a Girl Scout Samoa, I assume, but really didn’t, had a gooey coconut mix in the middle which had soaked/​baked into the surrounding cupcake so much that it was hard to tell what was filling.
Another problem with my cupcake was that the frosting was rock hard, like it was a day old. E’s was soft and creamy and perfect. I guess he got a freshly baked one…
I was a little surprised by their prices…$ 6 is steep for any cupcake, regardless of the height of the frosting and decoration. They had $ 9 – 11 sandwiches and salads, and a delicious-​sounding selection of take-​and-​bake meals that, sadly, I could probably make at home for cheaper. The housemade beet and sweet potato chips were a little plastic-​y tasting, but the salsa verde that E took home was yummy, with a perfect amount of heat and kick.
The Basil Limeade was to die for, but at $ 12 for a Mason jar, it’s not something I’m willing to splurge on.
I really want to like the Yellow Carrot, and I really think they have the potential to be awesome. But tone down those prices… it’s Durango, for pete’s sake!

Walked and was shocked by the insanely high prices. $ 12 for a sandwich, give me a break!

YYYUUMMM!!! The Yellow Carrot is certainly known for their HUGE gourmet cupcakes and they are TO DIE FOR!!! but their menu will blow you away!!! The Owner used to actually own a sit down restaurant on main ave– café sari, and it was my favorite place, it closed and we were very bummed but then she opened this lil take out place on North Main and its become one of my favorite places in town. NOTHING is bad here, seriously! I love their Sweet Potato Cannelloni or the Sausage and Grits– which have cheese, Cajun shrimp, Andouille sausage, red and yellow peppers, mushrooms, and Cajun cream sauce. MMmmm!!!
If its a nice day and you want to have a great picnic at the park right across the street from it (behind City Market) go here and get lunch to go!!! there is no seating here, so everything is take out. I love their salads which are big enough for two! and their mac and cheese is sooo good. it is a lil pricey but no more expensive than going out to eat — and their ingredients are all top of the line quality so you can feel good about what you are eating. They also have «beet chips» there which i even buy to give to friends because they are so good. and DEFINITLEY get a cupcake!!!

Some of the most elaborate and tasty cupcakes around. Those TV cupcake shows have nothing on The Yellow Carrot. Had the carrot cake and the Red Velvet. Amazing! Give it a try. You won’t be disappointed.