America’s Most Instagrammable Restaurant (a Kardashian Fave) Makes a Galleria Splash — The Wild Wonders of Sugar Factory
Where the Drinks Come in Giant Smoking Goblets
BY Laurann Claridge // 07.31.24The drinks-with or without alcohol-are often presented in giant “smoking candy goblets” (the smoke care of a whiff of dry ice) at The Sugar Factory.
Food & Wine magazine calls the Sugar Factory American Brasserie “the most Instagrammed restaurant in the United States.” And it’s no wonder that the sweet (and savory) food and drink emporium, which opened earlier this summer in the Houston Galleria mall, is a playful, candy-colored destination that brings out the kid in everyone (not to mention their cameras).
The celebrity-driven chain, with dozens of outposts from New York City to Honolulu and Miami to Dallas, boasts high-profile diners too. From the Kardashians to musicians Bruno Mars and Brittany Spears to comedian Kevin Hart, to drop just a few names of the glitterati that have cozied up to a table here. The new celebratory style Sugar Factory in Houston is outfitted with 100 seats along with custom-designed elements and signature Sugar Factory motifs including an on-site candy store, a wonderland for the sweet-toothed with a variety of sweet treats displayed on the signature floor-to-ceiling candy wall.
The menu features appetizers like fried mac and cheese pops and the Sugar Factory’s rainbow sliders, a colorful twist on the American classic poised on diminutive buns colored every hue in the rainbow. Savory selections include sandwiches and salads such as the classic Caesar and the hearty pan-roasted salmon salad. Sugar Factory’s all-American entrées include the super cheesy burger built with two Angus beef burgers on a toasted brioche bun topped tableside with “super cheesy sauce,” as well as a creamy chicken penne Alfredo and a variation on the theme: a Cajun chicken penne Alfredo, accented with the Cajun spices of New Orleans.
Drinks — with or without alcohol — are often presented in giant smoking candy goblets (the smoke care of a whiff of dry ice). They include selections such as the watermelon sugar goblet ($40/$30 without alcohol) that blend vodka and rum with watermelon, the makings of a pina colada and lemonade. Then it’s all topped with Lemon Heads candy. Snoop Dogg apparently got in on the action behind the bar too, and mixed up a goblet he calls strawberry lemonade smash ($40) made with strawberries, lemonade and whiskey (bourbon, we suppose) topped with gummy berries.
Undoubtedly, for many, the star of the show is Sugar Factory’s famous outsized desserts from sundaes to milkshakes. The insane milkshakes built to share (we hope) are created in chilled mugs with sweets towering high above their rim. For example, the salted caramel cheesecake insane milkshake ($21) blends vanilla ice cream with salted caramel and chocolate chips, topped with a slice of New York Cheesecake, mini pretzels, a vanilla cupcake and whipped cream.
Meanwhile, the brownie volcano insane milkshake ($20) erupts with a chocolate shake beneath a chocolate frosted donut, brownie ice cream bar, chocolate Pocky cookies and lots of whipped cream.
Sugar Factory Houston is located in the Houston Galleria, 5085 Westheimer Road. It is open Mondays through Thursdays from 11 am to 10 pm, Fridays from 11 am to 11 pm, Saturdays from 11 am to 11 pm, and Sundays from 10 am to 10 pm.