50 E. Walton StreetWhat’s a birthday without cake? Amiright?
We had ice cream cake earlier in the day at my parents and J’s parents had bought cupcakes for when we got home, but J and I didn’t really want to rush home. We don’t get a lot of time for just the two of us….even if it is just driving around the City of Chicago in a car.
One of J’s friends is actually a graduate of Loyola-Chicago and we happened to be in town the night LUC played in the Final Four. She asked us to pick up a t-shirt if we saw one.
We didn’t actually go anywhere that would just happen to have one so we made a couple of trips out of the way to find one for her. Again, we didn’t want to go home.
We ended up at Dick’s Sporting Goods on Clybourn just north of downtown. While J was checking out, I was Google searching the area for cupcakes. There wasn’t anything close but there was something cool not far away.
Sprinkles Cupcakes is a national bakery chain with a Chicago location on Walton Street between Rush Street and Michigan Avenue in Chicago’s Cold Coast Neighborhood. It’s a one way street that you have to access from Michigan just south of Lake Shore Drive.
The thing that makes Sprinkles really unique is that you can get cupcakes 24/7. No, the business isn’t open 24/7 but they have a Cupcake ATM that is.
We did actually get there just before closing time but didn’t even go inside. The small storefront is just an order counter with racks of cupcakes and other baked goods…all of which are available outside through the self service kiosk.
The Cupcake ATM works sort of like a real ATM except you don’t have to put your credit card in to start it. There’s a touch screen that shows all of the cupcake options for the day. You make your selection then swipe your card. Once that happens, the screen turns to a video that shows a robotic arm locating your cupcakes in the shelves behind the ATM and placing them into a pick up area.
We each ordered a cupcake and they each came in their own box. We were able to do it in one transaction so the robotic arm grabbed one cupcake at a time and put them in to a holding area. Once both were there, a door opened up for us to reach in and grab them.
We were lucky to find a parking space along Walton Street when we got there and since we had to pay for an hour, we headed back to the car to eat before getting on the road.
J picked out the Cinnamon Sugar Cupcake. This one is a lightly spiced buttermilk cake with a cinnamon sugar topping. There’s no frosting on this cupcake other than a small dab to hold a decorative piece of candy on top of the cinnamon sugar layer.
I wanted something heavy with frosting so I chose the Sprinkle Cupcake. This one is birthday cake that is loaded with vanilla buttercream frosting which is completely covered in rainbow non-pareils.
The bill for the two cupcakes was $9 even. One of J’s friends remarked about us doing the overpriced touristy things while we’re in town, but I really don’t think it was overpriced. I feel like I’ve paid that or more for cupcakes from other places.
Sprinkles Cupcakes is fun. The Cupcake ATM is such a cool idea. We picked this place mostly because of that. Both of us had heard about the ATM but never seen it. We were close and it was J’s birthday so we went. The cupcakes were delicious and Sprinkles was a perfect end to a great night in the city.