While Red Velvet has not maintained the incredible taste and quality of its predecessor, Buttercup Bake Shop, I don't believe it's as bad as some of these reviewers are saying. I always thought Buttercup was better than the more famous cupcake shops (Magnolia, Billys, and especially Crumbs), and now I would say they are probably about the same.
Red Velvet's frosting is still amazing, full of flavor and creamy while I usually scrape of most of the other guys' frosting. The PB&J cupcake is delish. The German Chocolate used to be a favorite of mine at Buttercup, though I don't think it's as good anymore. The traditional yellow cake w/ chocolate icing is still amazing, and the chocolate cakes are good too. Red Velvet is pretty good, though probably should be AMAZING given that's the name of the joint!
I have to say the service is suffering. I went in around 6pm recently to pick up a dozen cupcakes, and they had two folks working, a girl and a guy. I think the guy was managing. They were both friendly, but service went downhill when the manager, standing at the front counter, took a phone call from his wife, who you could tell was berating him. He was trying to explain why he had to stay later at work. I felt bad for the guy because she was clearly nagging him, but his customer service skills were sorely lacking, as he stood behind the counter (near the front of the store) and had this conversation for more than 10 minutes while I waited to be served. And while more customers trickled in waiting after me. After he finally hung up, he apologized and explained his wife was pregnant. I said I understand and we all deal with things like this, but my husband owns a restaurant, and it is not appropriate to have personal conversations in front of customers who are waiting to pay you money and he should have told her he needed to go, or at least taken it to the back so the poor customer service wasn't so blatant. Not to mention the position he put his coworker in, who was stuck dealing with an impatient line while he stood there chatting. I hope that he learned a lesson.
Regardless, I am giving them 4 stars because the cupcakes are still tasty, and I understand it's sometimes tough starting a new business (or in this case, taking over a successful one) and it sometimes takes time to work out the kinks. I hope they do and that Red Velvet reclaims its spot as my favorite cupcake spot!
PS - Yes it's a bit overpriced, but show me any other cupcake place that isn't! Silly criticism, IMHO!
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