Photo by Ash Daniel
Shyndigz assembles its famously huge layer cakes behind showy front windows at its new Fan District site. Inside, you’ll find the dessert café minded by the clean-cut, school-aged crew from the old location; the move yielded more seating, with a wide-eyed glimpse into the owners’ design aesthetic: a rustic, shabby chic. The interior comforts mimic that of its iced edibles: Martha Stewart perfectionism meets Barefoot Contessa casual, where barn tables and crystal fixtures are polished, yet inviting. Shyndigz 2.0, with its verdant patio, tinkling fountain and attentive, über-positive wait staff, feels more like a lifestyle choice than a restaurant — the sort of community in which it’s salubrious to start or end each evening with dessert.
Early eaters will find the most choices. The core menu of eight classics, rounded out with seasonal specials like deep-dish sour cream apple pie, sells out around 8 p.m. We hit the big one with a visit on Ladies’ Night Thursday; every third dessert was free.
The two most popular cakes — fresh fruit and salted chocolate caramel — both deeply grooved with icing, deserve their cult-like followings. Airy peanut butter pie arrives anchored by a crumbly, cookie-ish crust. A cereal-bowl-sized vanilla bean crème brûlée seems light in comparison, even after we jokingly consider donning safety goggles to crack its thick, caramelized top. We debate which is better, the chocolate or vanilla pastry crème-filled profiteroles, then die over a dense wedge of flour-less chocolate, gluten-free Orbitz cake.
Follow Shyndigz on Facebook for freebies and upcoming hard cider “dinners,” though they serve nothing savory here; it’s beer, wine and dessert only. That’s because in Shyndigz’s sugar-coated world, dinnertime is sweet.
Shyndigz
1903 W. Cary St. or shyndigz.com
938-DIGZ (3449)
Hours: Wednesday 4 to 10 p.m.; Thursday and Friday 4 to 11 p.m.; Saturday 3 to 11 p.m.
Prices: $6.59-$12
