Pretty Gritty Tours: Tacoma Sweets Tour
Yall know me, I’m a fan of sweets and a big foodie. So I was ecstatic to learn there was a Sweets Tour in Tacoma and couldn’t wait to try it out. I think Aurora takes after me too, you can tell by her face of relief in eating that donut. Now I’ve paid anywhere from $50-100 for food Tours in other cities so this one was shockingly cheap. Pretty Gritty Tours offers a variety of Tours in the Tacoma area. I plan on doing more and filling you guys in! The Sweets Tour is just $25 per adult and $9 for children 13 and under. It is usually held on Saturdays at 11 am, but not every Saturday. Check out Pretty Gritty Tour’s website here.
The tour meets in the Dome District by the Tacoma Dome Link Train Station. This is a walking and riding tour. The train system is free in the city so you don’t do a ton of walking. We had a group of about thirty so not as intimate as other tours I’ve been on.
The guides we had were great, they explained some history of the city as well as the candy industry. First stop is OCD Candy Company which is not just a candy shop. It is located on Antique Row downtown and carries a very eclectic variety of items. It’s not your typical candy shop, it’s more like a store that sells packaged candy. Chocolate bars, old classic candies, truffles, mixed in with vintage clothing, antiques and lots of other random items. We sampled a “Moon Rock” candy bar that is made with pop rocks. It was definitely poppin.
Next we went to the Original House of Donuts. Although there is more than one location, this location is the original. The guide will grab an entire box of full size donuts and you get to pick out a flavor to try. I had the blueberry cake donut and Aurora got the vanilla icing with sprinkles. They were both delicious, I will be back, but I won’t claim them as the best I’ve ever had.
The next sample is not a stop which was slightly disappointing. We ate a fantastic hand dipped pecan cluster from Johnson Candy Company. I wish we could’ve actually gone there on the tour but I realize it’s not located close to where we were.
My personal favorite, we went to Hello Cupcake next! I am a frequent flyer here and love eating the cupcakes. We sampled the Pink Champagne cupcake, which was as fabulous as ever. Adults get full size cupcakes and kids under 13 get minis.
You’ll end the tour at the Almond Roca factory. I must admit that I’d never heard of Almond Roca before we moved here. I’m sure that may hurt some feelings. The Almond Roca bar was invented right here in Tacoma and has been fully made and packaged right here ever since. This is still the original factory, and you’ll get to visit the gift shop which is located next door. They have quite a few samples inside, including the Almond Roca bar and the Mountain Bar. I personally wasn’t a fan (I’m not a huge nut person) but it was still some good chocolate!
For more info check out Pretty Gritty Tours here.
Finding the fun everywhere life takes us!
Love, Olivia Michelle
