Cream & Sugar cafe opens in Oakleigh

cream 3.jpg.jpgView full sizeOwner Susan Carley cuts a cake at the Cream & Sugar cafe in the Oakleigh Garden District. “This neighborhood has been incredibly supportive,” she says.

MOBILE, Ala. -- Oakleigh Garden District residents — and anyone with a sweet tooth — have a new option when looking for a gourmet sweets café that’s also and family- and pet-friendly.

Cream & Sugar, 351-B George St., celebrated its grand opening on Jan. 12. The café began serving family and friends the day after Christmas and had a soft opening Jan. 4.

The new venture is owned by Susan Carley, who also owns the Palette Café in the Mobile Museum of Art.

“My husband and I brought the whole building and renovated it,” Carley said. The structure consists of a house built in the late 1800s and another portion that at times has been used as a restaurant and a general store.

Last year, the couple was renovating the restaurant portion for a tenant who is expected to open a new eatery within weeks. In August, the Carleys decided to open a coffee shop on the house side.

Carley’s vision for the café is a family-friendly venue to which patrons from the neighborhood can walk and that also attracts the after-dinner set from around town, she said.

“The neighborhood and Midtown and downtown in general have been screaming for a coffee shop. We’re going to do a lot of things you don’t see around here,” she said.

cream 1.jpg.jpgView full sizeCream & Sugar, at 351-B George St., is a block east of the Oakleigh House Museum.

Open daily from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., the café will offer bagels, muffins, scones, oatmeal, soups, casseroles, frittata and quiche along with Carpe Diem coffees, various sweets and unique treats, Carley said.

In addition, folks out and about during the evenings can also stop by and enjoy desserts, specialty coffee drinks, wine, single malt scotch and chocolate martinis.

She stressed the business isn't a bar and typical bar fare such as beer won't be served.
There will be treats for children and Carley said she hopes to get in on the children's birthday party market. Children will be able to play in a fenced courtyard.

In addition, the café will offer places to park strollers and bicycles. Dog walkers who want to stop in will have watering dishes and places to tie up their pets. The café will even be host to a running club, she said.

Once warm weather arrives, the café plans to show movies on the lawn, in addition to having live entertainment in the courtyard, she said.

Carley is enthusiastic about the new venture. “We really think there’s a huge market for it,” she said. “This neighborhood has been incredibly supportive.”

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