The Sugar Factory is a rather confusing place to visit late at night. The hostess led us through an intricately decorated, lightly attended nightclub of sorts, but after a few turns we wound up at a service counter in a store packed with teenagers. What is going on here? While the nightclub was sedate, this store was almost riotous with bored youth standing around stoically not doing much of anything, not even buying anything.
We surmised that there was really no line at all, and put in our order for some ice cream. I kept it pretty simple opting for a "small" cup of straciatella; I was just here accommodating my girlfriend's craving for some ice cream. We quickly left the store and had a seat in the nightclub area. I guess there they have a menu where you can order elaborate ice cream dishes at $16 a pop and enjoy them in sleek club chairs in dimly lit rooms. Meh. I was happy to have the same ambiance with my $5 takeaway cup.
The ice cream was creamy and very sweet, perhaps too sweet. They fill up the small cup beyond overflowing, so you might be forgiven for thinking that you ordered a large by mistake. Overall, the ice cream was good and worth having. I especially liked the rich selection of choices too. Another thing they have going for them is that there are really no other ice cream places open late at night nearby, so they sort of have the monopoly. The clear downside is that it becomes a de facto hangout for the underage crowd which doesn't pair very well with the nearby go-go dancers, gambling, and open drunkenness.