lil sweet treat

((4.5 stars)) tiny colorful candy shop squeezed into a busy East Village block. glowy yellow exterior and clean, neatly organized interior. the shop has a fun upbeat vibe--it is a candy shop, after all. the candies at Lil Sweet Treat are curated from around the world (mostly Europe from what i can tell. most of the candies.) all gummy-like candy even though textures vary...no chocolate. appreciate the focus on a specific type of treat as opposed to being overwhelmed by too many choices. candy is charged by weight and measured by the 1/4 pound. like most candy stores, you grab a bag and scoop and serve yourself...simple (though there are some prepackaged bags, but the fun is in choosing!). the candy is labelled by description, origin country, flavor, dietary notes, etc. --which is a nice touch, so you know what you're getting. also, there are staff picks to give you what people running the store think. one of the "candy striped" employees recommended the "sour dutch strawberry piglets." and it was a really good suggestion as this strawberry sour candy was a balance of sour-sweet-chewy strawberry-ness without being too sticky and too chewy. really well-made candy. the shop employees clearly know about the candy being sold. got several different types of candies and i have to say they were really good quality and you can taste why they were chosen as part of the store’s candy selection. the candy, here, does not taste mass produced or generic...it has real flavor to them, good texture, and don't taste crazily chemically sweetened. the cherry cola candy from Belgium and the sour pineapple orange drops are both really good, too. tbh, there were no "misses" on what i got. staff is friendly but they don't helicopter over you to make a sale. and don't forget to tip as i overheard one of the young ladies talking about her shopping exploits, recently...and women do be shopping...jk...but seriously they do lol. as for me? i shop for the sweet life!

((4.5 stars)) tiny colorful candy shop squeezed into a busy East Village block. glowy yellow exterior and clean, neatly organized interior. the shop has a fun upbeat vibe--it is a candy shop, after all. the candies at Lil Sweet Treat are curated from around the world (mostly Europe from what i can tell. most of the candies.) all gummy-like candy even though textures vary...no chocolate. appreciate the focus on a specific type of treat as opposed to being overwhelmed by too many choices. candy is charged by weight and measured by the 1/4 pound. like most candy stores, you grab a bag and scoop and serve yourself...simple (though there are some prepackaged bags, but the fun is in choosing!). the candy is labelled by description, origin country, flavor, dietary notes, etc. --which is a nice touch, so you know what you're getting. also, there are staff picks to give you what people running the store think. one of the "candy striped" employees recommended the "sour dutch strawberry piglets." and it was a really good suggestion as this strawberry sour candy was a balance of sour-sweet-chewy strawberry-ness without being too sticky and too chewy. really well-made candy. the shop employees clearly know about the candy being sold. got several different types of candies and i have to say they were really good quality and you can taste why they were chosen as part of the store’s candy selection. the candy, here, does not taste mass produced or generic...it has real flavor to them, good texture, and don't taste crazily chemically sweetened. the cherry cola candy from Belgium and the sour pineapple orange drops are both really good, too. tbh, there were no "misses" on what i got. staff is friendly but they don't helicopter over you to make a sale. and don't forget to tip as i overheard one of the young ladies talking about her shopping exploits, recently...and women do be shopping...jk...but seriously they do lol. as for me? i shop for the sweet life!

More like lil stale treat! These sour candies were not good and almost all of them tasted stale, with one exception - the long watermelon one with something inside. Also, even though they re all different flavors, they all tasted the same

More like lil stale treat! These sour candies were not good and almost all of them tasted stale, with one exception - the long watermelon one with something inside. Also, even though they re all different flavors, they all tasted the same

Staff and Manager were a bit rude and not helpful. Some of there candies were stale and they weren’t willing to help until I became persistent. Bonbon has a better selection of candies and there buckets will always be full, fresh and not …