#2 Red Velvet Cupcakery

Red Velvet Cupcakery has been open less than one year, but already has established itself in the DC cupcake market. The shop keeps it simple, offering 11 flavors on their menu + 1 seasonal cupcake at a time.


Red Velvet Cupcakery has made very smart choices in its locations-- metro accessible with lots of foot traffic. Its original location is just south of the Gallery Place-Chinatown metro, close to the Verizon Center, Regal Cinemas, a number of local theatres, and dozens of restaurants. Everytime I'm in the area for a game, movie, or dinner I always swing by and get a treat. It also has great hours, open till 10:30 or later everyday.

Red Velvet recently also started selling cupcakes out of TangySweet (its sister treat shop) on P Street in Dupont Circle-- also very metro accessible and close to shops and restaurants.



The key to its success: using the finest ingredients to make classic cupcakes decadent. Take for example their classic vanilla-- it has vanilla bean cake (you can see this in every bite) with an insanely delicious madagascar bourbon frosting. After a recent visit Southern Belle (red velvet), Morning Call (coffee), and Summertime (lemon w/coconut) also got high marks.

Unfortunately, Red Velvet loses points in their size--significantly smaller than most. And at $3.25 a piece, they aren't cheap! I have to admit, this hasn't kept me from picking one up everytime I am in the area. Red Velvet reminds me of Georgetown Cupcake in size and price, but blows it away in the taste department.

• Size: Small-- no way to get around it
• Cost: $3.25-- just above average, but the small size makes you feel like you're getting less for your money
• Cake: 4 stars
• Frosting: Creamy with gourmet ingredients-- beyond ordinary!

You might be wondering, if they are so small why are they in the Top 5? Because they are that delicious!