Ames is home to a wide range of interesting restaurants. Campus alone is packed to the brink with Chinese and Thai places. Other Asian-influenced restaurants like India Palace, 20/20, and Fuji Steakhouse bring even more foreign cuisine to Ames’s eateries. If fried rice isn’t your style, you can explore spicy Mexican places such as El Alezteca or La Fuente. European dishes are also offered by Italian and French restaurants. I think there’s even a British food store somewhere. But all of those “seemingly-interesting” restaurants lack one very important thing: cupcakes. That’s right-cupcakes. Never before in Ames has there been a place that specializes in such a scrumptiously awesome treat.

When notified about “Yummy’s Cupcake Emporium,” one fantasizes thousands of pastries, consisting of different shapes and sizes, lining the multi-colored shelves of an endless pink and blue checkered wall in a perfect utopia where Morgan Freeman stands behind a counter, smiling, waiting to pull out a fresh batch of red velvet cupcakes. :) While it’s sad that the new restaurant on Main Street doesn’t live up to its fantabulous title, it still proves to be an interesting new outlet of delicious snacks and originality.

The cupcakes of this perky establishment are split into two categories: classic and specialty. The specialty cakes change daily, while the classics maintain stable deliciousness. Customers can choose from flavors such as classic chocolate, banana cream, and even white chocolate raspberry. The little morsels can get as pricey as $2.50, but the first bite into a fresh cupcake usually satisfies and distracts from the cost.

Though specializing in cupcakes, Yummy’s also offers a selection of sandwiches and drinks, making it almost into a cupcake themed café. Perhaps the best aspect of the restaurant is the recent deal they cut with Jeff’s Pizza. Yep, Jeff’s Pizza, undoubtedly the best pizza in Campustown, is now also sold at Yummy’s Cupcake Emporium. The winning combo of cupcakes plus pizza is probably one of the best snack deals Ames has to offer.

Yummy’s was erected at the very spot where Ames’s 5th Jimmy John’s fell. Upon entering the restaurant, one finds himself in a humble, inviting atmosphere. Though it lacks Morgan Freeman’s cheerful, wrinkling face, the equally cheerful face of junior Martha Ryan will still usually be there to supplement the needs of every customer. The tantalizing display of various cupcakes and use of old-timey tables implies the thought “Hey, this place is kinda nice.” It does lack in having a large menu and space, areas that other restaurants on Main Street are strong in, but doesn’t detract too much from the restaurant’s overall pleasantness. It’s a neat little place to pick up a new treat, and that’s really all it needs to be.

Yummy’s might not employ Morgan Freeman (if only, if only…), and it might not be the best place to get a filling wholesome meal, but it scores high enough on the fresh-meter to be a place that’s worth checking out. And besides, nothing on the face of this planet is more YUMMY than a cupcake.