Sugar Factory is the Kardashian of restaurants. A full page on its website is dedicated to celebrity sightings and endorsements, with each holding a cauldron of booze, overflowing with smoke.
The restaurant was located on the bottom floor of the Miro apartment complex on Cedar Springs Road in Oak Lawn. Based in Las Vegas, Sugar Factory has locations across the country from New York City to Miami Beach to Hawaii. It's mostly known for over-the-top dessert options and pricey milkshakes. You don't go here for a salad, but for a big birthday party with seven of your besties. You also go for your Instagram reel. But not in Dallas anymore.
When the restaurant opened here in late 2021, a media invite promised indulgent desserts, bright drinks and a red-carpet appearance by Cannon, the television host, rapper, comedian and occasional spewer of anti-Semitic comments. We arrived, and there was lots of fanfare and a Flamin' Hot Cheeto burger we're almost embarrassed to say was decent. Drinks and desserts were all over-the-top, but not as much as Cannon's hour-late arrival. People had fun, and that's all that matters, right?
The Flamin' Hot Cheetos burger with a block of Cheetos-crusted Monterrey Jack cheese. We didn't hate it.
Lauren Drewes Daniels
Now, the Google page for the restaurant has the red bar of death and "Permanently Closed" across it.
A quick roll through the reviews is mildly anxiety-inducing. A point of complaint is a 20% automatic gratuity added to every tab, but in a sneaky way: Customers pay using a tablet and don't see the itemized bill, many only realizing long after they left the restaurant they tipped on top of a tip. What makes this sneaky move even worse is, according to reviews: bad service not worthy of 20% (much less 45%) and long wait times.
Lanna Nguyen a week ago from Google:
"What threw me off about this place was they give you a bill on an iPad that is not itemized so you do not know they automatically charge you a 20% service fee. You pay, which we tipped 35%, then an itemized bill comes out and you realized you tipped over 50% :/ The food and the service were not great but the atmosphere was fun and great for birthdays."
Emily Lewis two weeks ago:
"absolutely awful food and horrible service!!! do not recommend! more hype than it’s worth especially with the prices! added a 20% gratuity with out us knowing about it and we were nice enough to leave a tip (not knowing there was a gratuity) even though our service was horrible and didn’t deserve even $5 for a tip but with the gratuity they got a $54 tip for doing pretty much nothing with the quality of service we received.. so disappointing! save your money for something better with good service!"
Chris Crow two weeks ago:
"If you're going to charge a 20% gratuity on all tables then I feel like service should at least be decent."Keli Culver two weeks ago:
"We decided to pay for our 112.00 for 4 drinks and leave. Management needs to do better. This Dallas location will not make it. I’ve been to the one in NY and Las Vegas. This place doesn’t even compare!"With all that written, it should be noted that many reviews call out stellar service from certain servers, all mentioned by name. But a few good servers can't prop a place up, right?
The Dallas Morning News reports that the restaurant is moving. We reached out to the company for more details but did not hear back.
