You know when you finish a huge meal and you’re stuffed, thinking to yourself that there’s absolutely no way you could fit another piece of food in your stomach? But then magically, someone mentions having a sweet little something and, in that moment, your stomach expands? For the average person, this phenomenon is called “sweet treat o’clock.” It hits shortly after dinner, somewhere around 7 p.m.
If you’re anything like me, however, you get the “sweet treat o’clock” feeling at the end of every meal, practically every time you eat. In fact, I can hardly recall the last time I finished a meal or ate something salty and didn’t immediately crave chocolate, a baked good, or some creamy ice cream.
Because of this, I have made it my duty (as the sweet treat connoisseur that I am) to scout for the best places on and around the Florida State University campus to satiate those post-meal cravings at all hours of the day.
For the Love of Gelato
Okay, so here’s a hot take: the gelato at For the Love of Gelato is only second to the gelato I’ve eaten in Italy. No one was as surprised as I was, in fact, when I went to get it at FSU’s 1851 dining facility for the first time. I was completely ready to get snobby and complain about the lack of authentic, good gelato scarcely available. However, I was pleasantly surprised, especially by the flavor selection. I haven’t visited the stand in quite some time, but if the sea salt vanilla caramel or honeycomb flavors still exist, do yourself a favor and try them. If not, give my go-to pistachio and chocolate flavor combo a go, or maybe opt for a refreshing raspberry or lemonade sorbet. I can honestly say that anything you try is well worth it.
Madison Social
My Roman Empire is the salted caramel pretzel brownie skillet at Madison Social here in Tallahassee. The moment my servers first came out with a sizzling pan the size of my head that held a brownie, a scoop of vanilla ice cream melted into the center, and bits of crunchy pretzel coating the whole dessert, I knew it would take some time for the image and taste to leave my head. Everything compliments each other so perfectly and is actually inspiring to the point where I’ve written a haiku about it.
Canopy Road Café
Although technically a breakfast spot, Canopy Road Café’s menu includes signature pancakes that are guaranteed to give you a sugar rush. It’s my idea of the ultimate sweet treat. There are options for these pancakes as well. Some of these are the “Fat Elvis,” “Tres Leches” pancakes covered in condensed milk, whipped cream, and salted caramel, and red velvet pancakes topped with cream cheese and white chocolate chips.
My personal favorite pancakes from Canopy Road Café are the banana and peanut butter pancakes filled with chopped bacon and topped with peanut butter drizzle. The best part of it all? Any pancake is obscenely big there. So if you order some and don’t finish them in one sitting, they could easily be your post-meal sweet treat for an entire day (or at least two meals, so if anything you’re saving money. Yay, girl math!)
For those of you who prefer waffles or French toast, the options are also endless and unique. I mean, churro waffles? Captain Crunch French toast? Go peruse Canopy Road Café’s menu and I dare you to try to choose one thing from it. I even struggled to choose which items to include in this article.
Piebrary at Midtown Reader
Come for the books, stay for the irresistible pie. If your excuse for not having a sweet treat has ever involved having too much work to do, I’m going to stop you right there and present Piebrary at Midtown Reader as my rebuttal. My first time at this bookstore, I had no intention of having a sweet treat. I was just going to have a cup of coffee and do some work. But naturally, halfway through my cup, I thought to myself, “You know what would pair divinely with this?” My answer was a slice of one of the pies that had been sitting inside the bookstore, taunting me the moment I walked in.
Ultimately, my post-pie clarity helped me get more work done because first, the ambiance at Midtown Reader is simply elite for focusing, and second, my sweet tooth had been satisfied. Granted it was 9:30 a.m. and I should not have had a sweet treat before eating breakfast, but who said a slice of pecan pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream can’t count as breakfast? A lot of people, probably. But long story short, if you’re looking for a place to have a sweet treat and get some work done, Midtown Reader is “that girl.”
Suwannee Room
I know what you’re thinking. The fact that I’ve ranked this at all has taken away my credibility. Yes, it’s a campus dining hall. Yes, its desserts change with every meal and every day. But there are two that are always available, so hear me out: the chocolate chip cookies (especially when fresh) and the Dole Whip.
Suwannee’s chocolate chip cookies are soft, slightly crunchy, the perfect size, and hit the spot every single time you eat them. If you ever want to mix it up, you can try making an ice cream sandwich by taking two cookies, placing some vanilla soft serve in the center of them, smushing the cookies down, and going ham. It’s life-changing. I’m telling you.
For those of you out there who are also fans of oatmeal raisin cookies (or are willing to try new things overall), don’t underestimate the ones at Suwannee. In my opinion, as good as their chocolate chip cookies are, their oatmeal raisin ones are even better. So that’s all I’ll say. The cookie can speak for itself.
Although I don’t live on campus anymore, I find myself willing to walk 20 minutes to Suwannee for the sweet pineapple goodness that is the Dole Whip. If you’ve never tried it, immediately stop what you’re doing and go. I remember seeing the dessert for the first time and being so shocked at the fact that our campus had a Dole Whip machine at all. It has honestly been the highlight of my college experience thus far and my favorite dessert both on and off campus. And if you don’t like pineapple? There’s a strawberry flavor too. If you like both, the swirl is award-winning.
At FSU and around Tallahassee you’ve got choices. The next time that sweet tooth kicks in, you’ll know exactly where to go. As for me, my mouth has been watering the entire time I’ve been writing this article. If you’ll excuse me, it’s sweet treat o’clock somewhere and l think I can hear some cookies and pie calling my name.
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