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Montrose (Brown)
Tue-Fri. 7:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Sat. 8:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Sun. 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
"Il Giardino Del Dolce came through for me yet again! I needed a cake to feed 50..and it had to be The Nightmare before Christmas themed.…" read more »
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I love this place. My husband and I got cupcakes for our wedding here. They were sooo good and looked so pretty. I ate two. The buttercream frosting is awesome. The owner Jon is really nice. This was the easiest part of our wedding to plan.
We also had an eclair here recently. That thing was too delicious. It should be illegal.
I got a big fancy birthday cake here for a party I had for my guy this weekend. It was delicious… Read more »
I'm kicking myself for not paying them a visit sooner.
No, this isn't a trendy cupcake shop, and that's okay by me. It's a plain shop, but they can create a badass cupcake. And that's all that truly matters.
My loot:
Banana chocolate chip cupcake
Red Velvet cupcake
Damage:
Are you serious? $1.90 per cupcake?? Hooray!
After all the yelp reviews i tried here.
Nothing special.....the cupcakes were ok, and b/c in the cooler, not like fresh and moist.
I ordered the "Baby Shower 6 2-tier Ducks" cake pictured on Sweet Honeybee's website. Although the cake was delicious, it was not decorated as pictured on the website. It was cute, but it was definitely a lower version of the cake. The icing bubbles pictured were not all over the cake as shown. Also, the baker skimped on the yellow band of fondant on the bottom to the point that it was a simple small line around the cake rather than half green and half yellow. For the price that I paid, it was not worth the extra charges incurred for decoration (i.e., fondant & bubbles). The little duckies were cute and the writing on the cake was accurate though.
So Montrose Ave is like murder's row of bakeries... so I think it's tough for this bakery. They offer a nice selection of cupcakes, that my wife adores, and that I find, just OK.
Where I think they do thrive, is in cake making. I think their cakes are a ton better than their cupcakes and the frosting and ganache selections make this place a good place to go for a real yummy cake and at a good price too.
I consider myself somewhat of a cupcake connoisseur. So when I saw there was a cupcake place close to my house that had almost 5 stars I knew I needed to go!
I ordered up a vanlla/vanilla cupcake and a key lime cupcake. My mouth watered just thinking about them on my way home. When I got home I immediately opened the box and dug in. Boo. I was really disappointed. Sure, the cake was very moist but thats just half of what makes a cupcake good to me. The frosting was not good. It was too airy and I was just not happy with the taste.
I REALLY wanted to like this place. I mean its so close to where I live and could quickly solve any sugar craving I had. But...sadly...I will not be back.
Mandy B's should be shaking in their boots?? I don't think so. They have nothing to worry about! I would rather drive the extra miles to go to SMB's then walk the half mile to go here :(
I went to Sweet HoneyBee bakery as a part of a "Cupcake Crawl", and this was the first stop. I had a champagne cupcake, and it was good- nice flavor, I could taste the champagne, and the cupcake was moist. I would not, however drive all the way up to Ravenswood to get another one.
They had a good variety of flavors, however they were out of stock on some of the options. I arrived there around noon, and was surprised to see the out of stocks, so I was wondering if the cupcakes were made fresh everyday, or if the ones that remained were left over from the previous day.
The decor was lacking as well. Not a place that you would want to linger for any amount of time. If I happen to be in the area and I want a cupcake, I would drop in, but I wouldn't make a special trip out there.
This is definitely a no frills, down to business kind of bakery. You won't find the cutesy pastels that most bakeries have. You also won't find a line out the door and your toes run over by strollers. Amen. What you will find is polite service and tasty cupcakes.
I'm a big fan of the champagne w/ white chocolate covered ganache. Yum. If you dig light, airy frosting this is your cupcake. There's also an assortment of other desserts tempting you from the display case.
Great selection of cupcake flavors, icing is light more like a buttercreme. Best flavor is the chocolate ganache, which pays homage to the classic hostess chocolate cupcake but with 100 times more flavor. German chocolate is excellent too.
A box of four cupcakes will cost you close to $10 dollars but when it comes to this stuff, who cares.
I don't know how the place stacks up to the competition in Lincoln Park, but I do know Sweet Honeybee has really good cupcakes
Yeah cupcakes! So so so very tasty! I love visiting new cupcake places! I also love visiting them when they are as delicious as Sweet Honeybee. I ordered the Rocky Road, Mango, Strawberry, and the Chocolate Ganache. All of them were so wonderful it was like a sweet magical birthday party in my mouth. Each one was so moist, it's no fun when you get dry old cupcakes from a place. The frosting was also top notch.
Sweet Honeybee took the cake and is currently on the top of my list for cupcakes in Chicago. Great friendly service and pretty decent prices, just under $2. Plus tons of good flavors.
Their cupcake was okay. There cookie was okay. Nothing really stuck out to me. One of the few bakeries on Montrose, hop on over to Angel Food Bakery instead.
Went here to pick up a birthday cake for my roommate based on all the other reviews. The cakes taste good, looks good and is reasonable priced. The cupcakes taste great as well. Alliance Bakery or Rolf's are still my favorite but definitely happy I tried this place.
I am starting to think that all the five star reviews were biased and written by friends of the owner. I came all the way over based on the other reviews and was extremely dissappointed because the cupcakes were obviously not fresh. I am an experienced baker myself and know that the cupcakes were dry and stale because they were just not fresh- not because they were chilled as the counter person stated.
They by far do not stack up to their competition.
Oh hot damn! These are good cupcakes!! Let me think here... I had a red velvet, chocolate with chocolate ganache, oreo and key lime. Yes, I PIGGED OUT!! How can you stop at just one, I ask? Creamy, moist, sweet and tart (lime!). I loooove my cupcakes, and this place ranks in my top 3 for sure.
Mandy B better be shaking in her boots! Extra snaps for being close to where I live! Yay for the far north!!
Thank you for sharing a special birthday with us and making our cupcakes to order. The place is cute and has all the sweets you can imagine.
I went in with my idea and the gentleman shared his thoughts and suggestions. After placing my order I had to walk away with a red velvet cupcake smothered with cream cheese on it as it was calling my name.
Two days later I picked up my order and another red velvet cupcake plus a tiramisu cupcake, yum! Oh back to my order, the guests loved them, and they were delighted I had two choices yellow cake and chocolate cake and they liked the design. Cupcakes were nice and moist.
We'll be back.
This is my favorite hidden gem in the city! I am celebrating the birthdays of people I barely know just so I can stop into the store. I ordered 50 cupcakes for a work funtion a week ago and my coworkers can't stop talking about them. The best part was that the cost low and we were given every single flavor they make. It doesn't hurt that the owner is super nice too!
We got our wedding cake from here and it was absolutely beautiful and tasted great! Everyone was commented on it! Jon is very easy to work with and the prices are super reasonable!
A group of us gathered together to do a cupcake food crawl. Honeybee was our first stop and it was a great way to start our trip! I had the strawberry and chocolate chip cup cake and it was really delicious. The cream was not too heavy and was made with real fruit blended into it. The cupcake wasnt too dry either and had real fruit blended into the cake mix too. If I'm in the neighborhood again I'd definitely stop by to try more cupcakes!
Love Love Love Sweet HoneyBee
For $1.90 a cupcake, it's a little piece pf heaven you can pick up on your way home from work.
Sweet Honeybee has the cutest cupcakes and cakes! They also taste great and aren't too expensive. They have such a great array of flavors, too.
The only downfall is their customer service. They don't seem to always have the answers and don't seem concerned to get them. They also charge $50 for delivery which seems a bit ridiculous.
HOLY COW!!! WHAT A CAKE!!!
My friends and I wanted to get a special cake for a friend's 40th birthday. We came up with the idea of getting a cake shaped like the Wrigley Field marquee, but didn't want to break the bank.
After calling numerous acclaimed bakeries on Yelp and having our jaws drop at $200+ price tags for a 1/2 sheet, we finally settled on Sweet Honeybee who agreed to do it for $80. What a deal!
Jon (the owner?) is fantastic to work with, quick to respond to emails, and he made a delicious cake. We got a 1/2 yellow cake 1/2 chocolate cake combo with chocolate butter cream filling and everyone raved about the moist cake and the light frosting.
The next time you're looking for a cake for a special occasion, I highly recommend you give Sweet Honeybee a try!
Honeybee is my top choice for these reasons:
a) it's convenient as heck for me to get to. I live ver ver close.
b) I don't care how much those other bakeries pay for Lincoln Park rent, all cupcakes should be reasonably priced, and Honeybee's are!
c) whereas I agree, the cupcakes I've had I didn't go wild over the frosting - but I can deal because regardless, they're good fuckin' cupcakes.
THE best cupcakes I have ever had in my life. I am a UIC student and I am willing to travel all the way up to Ravenswood to get a load of these when I can. I would eat these all day every day for the rest of my life if I could. The frosting is by far the best part, but the cake is delicious too. These are just...heavenly. EPIC.
The big huge sugar cookies are ehh though. Certainly better than Cookies By Design-type ones.
For me, the whole cupcake thing is about the frosting. Because it's basically the same thing as a slice of cake otherwise, but with a cupcake you should get a generous blop of sugar and fat that makes your tongue smile and your brain get all happy numbish endorphiny and shit.
Solid butter, cream cheese - that's pretty much what I'm looking for and I didn't really find it here.
The cake is pretty moist here, but all of the cupcakes are served cold and my serious lack of cupcake patience just really doesn't allow for that so much. I also found the counter staff and sparse decor similarly...cool...I tried four flavors (because if you're already in a cupcake shop, why fuck around? Eat a bunch of cupcakes, right?), but I found the flavors to be fairly non-distinct and disappointing.
The champagne tasted like a basic vanilla or yellow cake, but the frosting on top was an interesting mix of what seems like a ganache on top of a layer of whipped cream - but what I want to taste from a champagne anything is BOOZE, but it was not there, in flavor anyway.
The chocolate with chocolate ganache was not something I would go to to fix a chocolate craving. Kind of mild in flavor, but the killer is the blob of white wedding cake-tasting frosting on top of it, leaving the overwhelming flavor of "plain" behind, not chocolate. Red velvet was okay, strawberry chocolate chip was okay....except...
Except that I wasn't there for me, I was there to specifically get some strawberry cupcakes for someone who basically loves strawberry anything - and he fricking LOVED them. There were strawberries in both the cake and frosting with giant pieces of fruit with kind of a whipped creamy frosting deal again (yuck). He even went back to get a second one after we had already gone to the car. He even sucked all over the the little cupcake paper, so these really did it for him.
So maybe this place does fruity cupcakes well and isn't about the chocolate vote so much, or whatever. So even though I would be in no way motivated to go back for something for me, I'll know where to buy some damn strawberry cupcakes by the truckload for any "sorry I fucked up" apologies or congratulations as they may apply, but I would still stop somewhere else to get my own snack.
PS - someone should open a cupcake top only bakery, like the muffin top bakery in Seinfeld. pm me when that happens.
As a local Ravenswood resident, I had no idea this place existed until I happened upon its' stellar Yelps. Now I'm rethinking my Yelp-abouts because Honeybee is only 3 blocks from my house and has the potential to create a chip in my ceramic piggy bank. Thank goodness it's not located in Lake View or Lincoln Park where cupcakes go for $4 a pop---Honey Bee keeps the crashing economy and neighborhoodies in mind by maintaining a reasonable price of $1.80 price per cupcake!
After my Mother's Day Brunch, I thought this would be a great second (or fourth :X ) sweet treat for my humbly spoiled Mom. We went in here, were greeted by the friendly owner, sought out a seat at one of the few tables underneath the bumblebee decorations and spent 10 minutes talking about which cupcake flavor was best for who:
Tiramisu, Red Velvet, Rocky Road, Carrot Cake, Chocolate Ganosh, Lemon Slice, Strawberry, Coconut, Oreo Cookie ...Fabulous Flavors!
We ended up walking out with 7 cupcakes even though there were only two of us. She says they're for this person and that person at home in the burbs but I'll have to confirm that they made it home whole! As for me, DANGEROUS LOCATION so close to my pad! The frosting doesn't have the sweet-factor of Sweet Mandy B's but the moist cake, flavor variety and cute designs make up for it! Oh and don't get caught up by their early hours!
I'm a cupcake addict. If there's a cupcake in a 5 block radius to be had I want it. If said cupcake happens to be chocolate I need it.
What makes my cupcake habit an addiction?
I'll put it this way if I was in a store with a small child, an elderly woman and the last cupcake, chocolate of course, two people would end up cupcake-less and possibly crying. I'll give you a hint, one of them isn't me. Consider yourself warned. ;-)
When a Yelper started a cupcake thread I scoured it for new places to feed my addiction. Noticing Sweet Honeybee had earned high praise from multiple Yelpers I immediately went to their website and plotted my next fix.
Here's what I thought:
* Selection - excellent. They around 15 cupcakes available daily. I went on a late Saturday afternoon and there was still a hearty selection.
* Price - excellent. At $1.90 each they're a bargain for cute, creative, tasty cupcakes
* Presentation and packaging - excellent. The cupcakes were all cute; so cute that I wanted to buy almost every single one of them. They were also packaged in a nice box with little holes to put the cupcakes in so they didn't fall over and mash into each other on the way home.
OK, now on to the taste. I really liked these cupcakes, but in a street fight Sweet Mandy B's and Molly's could trounce SHB with one arm tied behind their backs.
The size of the cupcakes was perfect and they were moist, but certain flavor elements didn't do it for me, earning them only 3.5 stars:
*Champagne cupcake. I didn't notice a champagne taste, it tasted like regular yellow cake to me. I also found the buttercream frosting more buttery than sugary. It's doubtful that I would get this one again.
* Lemon cupcake. Same complaint with the buttercream frosting. Also, the lemon flavor of the cake was too subtle for my liking.
* Chocolate with Chocolate Ganache. Great, but again while cute, the small dollop of buttercream on top of the ganache did nothing for me except add calories and fat.
* Chocolate with Chocolate Fudge Icing. Excellent! This was hands down my favorite of the 4*. I would definitely come back just for these; the icing had the perfect amount of fudginess and flavor.
Bottom line: A solid 3.5 stars. I would definitely return to Sweet Honeybee in the future for more cupcakes and some of their other tasty baked goods. They've got some great pictures of their work on their website, check it out.
* Yes, I am fully aware that buying 4 cupcakes for myself is a total lack of self-restraint. Put a cork in it, it's not like I ate them all in one sitting!
Absolutely delicious cupcakes and cookies with fantastic service every single time!
It's also such a nice change of pace to not have to shell out $4 for a single cupcake...
This probably the best I have ever had in this city.
This bakery is so down-to-earth. You almost feel like you're walking into someone's home vs. a decked out, trendy cupcake boutique. It's just a different feel. The guy who helped us, who may or may not have been the owner, was very friendly and was appreciative of our business.
Full approval on the chocolate ganache cupcakes.
I'm sweet on Honeybee.
Ok, this one is buzzworthy. My occasional sweet treat proxies aka the parental unit stopped by… Read more »
I'm so delighted to find this precious bakery so close to home. I decided to take cupcakes to my folks for Easter dinner. It was only going to be a small gathering (8 people). I thought what a cute thing to show up with a box of assorted cupcakes so everyone could pick what they liked (instead of a cake that may or may not go over - (such as the over priced one I received from Tipsycake for my husbands birthday that tasted so dry and miserable- but that is another review).
The service was wonderful. I picked a dozen cupcakes in 10 flavors and I tried to get a nibble from everyone (tee hee). I asked everyone to be honest and critical because an honest and well rounded review is important.
Out of 10 flavors, the only negative we got was that there was too much icing on the lemon cupcake. Some of the cakes had very light airy whipped topping and others had a traditional frosting. Oh, but I must say....the chocolate buttercream & fudge icing had my eyes rolling back. I'm a self proclaimed chocoholic. So for me, it was nirvana. LOL Other flavors that got really high marks were the carrot cake (my dad was impressed there "was actually real shredded carrot in the cake and the spice was noticeable but not overpowering") and the red velvet with cream cheese frosting (another favorite of mine) had just the right consistency on the icing as well as cream cheese flavor. It didn't bowl you over with sourness.
Did I mention the cupcakes were $1.90 each???? Other bakeries have quoted me much higher. When I asked Tipsycake to quote me for cupcakes I was told they would be $2.75 for basic chocolate with pink frosting (for breast cancer awareness). I ended up going to Swirlz and paid less for just what I wanted on very short notice short notice. I will review them too. But back to Sweet Honey Bee, they had it all; great customer service, great price and fantastic products. I would recommend them to ANYONE in a heartbeat.
Dare I say it, I believe we have a winner in the cupcake wars; or at least a contestant in the top five.
I had the yellow cake with chocolate fudge frosting and hubby had the carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. Both were utterly delectable.
Mmm mmm good! Sweet Honeybee created our wedding cake and it was just perfect. I very highly recommend this bakery for all Chicago brides!
Jon was as sweet as could be (bad pun) and he helped us through the tasting and decision-making process. We went with a white cake, white icing and strawberry and raspberry preserve fillings. We selected a design from their book and the end result looked just like the picture. And the taste was unbelieveable. Delicious, sweet and light... tons of people commented on our yummy cake!
On top of all this, Sweet Honeybee's cakes are VERY affordable. We shopped around and their prices were about half that of comparable bakeries. So with Sweet Honeybee, you can get it cheap, sweet and lovely. Go for it!
Lordy, Mandy isn't going to be happy about this one either....
Yet another foray into the world of cupcakes for this girl. Faced with the self-imposed duty of getting cupcakes for my coworkers (who doesn't love a cupcake), I had to figure a place that was on my way home (sorry, Mandy and Molly) and open past 5 p.m. Ding, ding, ding...sweet honeybee fit the bill. Located right off the Montrose brown line stop, this place is super accessible for a lincoln squarer like me.
I was able to sneak in and out of there in 5 minutes after work and leave with twelve BEAUTIFUL cupcakes of various flavors. Friendly service, delightful display case...I wanted to try everything my eyes could spy.
And even though we didn't tuck into them until the next day, they were still moist and fantastic. Carrot cake is a must. That's all I'm saying. The boyfriend and I nearly got into a fist fight over the last bite. Red velvet and banana chocolate chip were well-received as well. I loved the tirimisu and the german chocolate. Mmmm, I'm SO glad to have a cupcake spot close to home.
And warning, if you see me on the street with a carrot cake cupcake, I might strike out of defense...you never can be too careful with cupcake thieves running around out there.
Deal Alert: 1.90 per cupcake!
I got the tiramisu, red velvet, key lime, mango and the typical chocolate and vanilla. The mango and key lime seemed different, since I never come across those flavors. Yummy frosting - it had a hint of the fruit flavors. Plus, these cupcakes aren't dry at all! Mmm. I finally know what my sis was raving about!
Each cupcake has a different design as well. That's what I adored. The vanilla came with a huge yellow flower, the red velvet had a heart and the mango/key lime had their respective fruit on top. Cuteness.
Fast, friendly service. Plus, the owners make the 'Brazo de Mercedes' - for all you Filipino fans.
Ooops. My nieces are hooked on Disney princesses and I think it may be slightly my fault.
Because of…
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I ordered my wedding cake from Sweet Honeybee, and it was absolute perfection. Many of my guests said it was the best cake they had ever tasted. We had a 3-tier yellow cake with buttercream frosting and chocolate and white chocolate mouse filling. We had our florist add fresh flowers, and it looked gorgeous. We avoided fondant like the plague because it ruins the flavor of the cake. I changed my order 3 times, and Jon was helpful and very prompt to email me the revised order each time. Apart from being pleased with my wedding cake, their cupcakes are amazing and happily cheap! Too bad its not closer to home...but that's probably a good thing.
My husband and I decided to take a walk this weekend to try the cupcakes. I had coconut and it was ok, they are not that expensive but they are small. The cupcake itself was soft considering it was about 6:00 in the evening but the icing was really hard. Not sure if I'll go back again. I might be tempted again but not anytime soon.
Oh these guys are so cool! They have a photo of our wedding cake on their website! Bonus stars for that! I'm going to go order an anniversary cake right now.
I love Sweet Honeybee, without a doubt. I can't say enough nice things -- I'm practically… Read more »
Yummy cupcakes! Can cupcakes ever be bad? I don't think so, but some are better than others. I like the cupcakes at Sweet Honeybee because they are small (only $1.90 a piece!) so you can order a lot and try the different flavors.
I'm such a fan of cupcakes that it's hard for me to truly review them. I can't really tell a good one from a bad one b/c I have yet to have a bad cupcake.
My thoughts on the cupcakes I tried here:
1. Red velvet: The bread part of the cupcake was not as moist as red velvet cakes normally are, but it was still delicious. The cream cheese frosting on this cupcake was DELICIOUS. It wasn't too sweet and it had the perfect amount of sour tang that I love.
2. Key lime cupcake: Sounded delicious but it didn't really work for me. The frosting on this was strange and left me a little queasy in the stomach.
3. Carrot cake cupcake: Delicious!
4. Chocolate ganache cupcake: YUM!! I really liked this one, the chocolate ganache on top of the cupcake was just perfection. Very impressive.
5. German Chocolate: Pretty good, not my fave.
In the non-cupcake section:
1. Eclair: The feeling was very delicious but I didn't like the chocolate frosting on top. It was too sweet and overpowered the Eclair.
2. Yellow and chocolate cake with mousse: DELICIOUS!! Wow, this cake was so good. The cake parts were so light and fluffy and the frosting was good too. It wasn't overly sweet and the moistness of the cake was very impressive.
I would definitely go back for cupcakes b/c they are cheap and delicious. I can't wait to try out some more flavors!
i have a love hate relationship with this place...
i love the fact that everything that is made in here is dam near magical yet i hate the fact that its located so sickenly close to my work that i find myself drooling over the display case daily. yes my fellow yelpers its true, i will admit it via internet, I shannon have tried every single flavor of cupcake as well as cake honeybee has to offer. I know i know...what sain person does that?
also, 5 stars to the guy who seems to live behind the counter at this place. i have never in my life seen a man so eager and happy to wrap up cupcakes! the world is a better place because of you. you are my hero.
So, I love this place.
I moved across the street from the Honeybee in July and have had a daily struggle with whether or not to purchase something. Well today I broke down. I didn't get too exotic- just a vanilla cupcake with fudge frosting and a chocolate with butter cream-but both were fantastic! I figure, if you can make a simple cupcake taste so good, the more exciting items on the menu HAVE to be good. I think next I am going for the lemon or carrot cake.
OK, the 3 stars are for the store in general, but the cupcakes deserve 5 big ones. There's something to another Yelper's suggestion about having some alone time with these gustatory gems--owing to the inevitable moaning, etc. But rest assured you can safely enjoy them with sympatico cupcake connoisseurs.
So why the 3 stars? 1) no coffee, 2) no milk, 3) the manager wouldn't accept my badly shredded $5, which the Starbucks down the street would, and Starbucks stock isn't in too good of shape these days, so it can't afford to take risks unsanctioned by the FDIC. Also, I think the decor could be cutesied up. But this is all ultimately beside the point. Germany chocolate cupcakiness is still having its way with me. Forgive me, but I must excuse myself.
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