Easy, sugar fiends - the new Magnolia Bakery outpost on the Upper West Side (Columbus at 69th Street) isn't quite opening at 11AM as Eater reported yesterday. We walked by around 9:30AM and the sign said that they anticipated a noon opening.
Magnolia had always been a popular West Village stop for more super-sugary and homey desserts when a seemingly sudden cupcake craze hit the city. Next thing we knew, there were analyses of the city's cupcakes and new cupcake stores (and rivalries). Magnolia broke through into popular culture with appearances in Sex & the City (video) and the Saturday Night Live digital short Lazy Sunday, but then a sugar-n-hype backlash - especially from the bakery's Bleecker Street neighbors who were tired of Sex and the City fans' pilgrimages - started to set in.
While some might be dubious about Magnolia's drawing power (there is a Buttercup Bake Shop on West 72nd, a Crumbs on Amsterdam and West 75th and many other bakeries, like our favorite Soutine on West 70th between Columbus and Broadway), we did overhear one family making plans to visit the bakery today and saw people watching the Magnolia UWS staff get ready.
