I went around the North Hills area to find bakeries for cupcake lovers, like myself. I decided to try the new Gigi’s Cupcakes, located in the McCandless Crossing Town Center, and Lincoln Bakery, a family-run bakery in Bellevue.

Gigi’s Cupcakes actually started in Nashville, Tennessee in 2008. Soon after, it became a franchise, spread to twenty-three states, and now contains 100 stores. The one located in McCandless Crossing is convenient for anyone coming from one of the many new restaurants, or the movie theater. For one cupcake, the price is $3.25. When I was there, I got Wedding Cake, essentially a vanilla cupcake with vanilla icing, and Chocolate Salted Caramel Cupcake. The icing on both cupcakes was approximately the same height as the cupcake. The white icing, for being as much as it was, was incredibly dense and thick. It tasted like it only contained copious amounts of butter and some weird other flavor, kind of chemically. So not very good. The actual cake was even more of a disappointment. It was very flaky, and dry. The flavor, almond, was almost nonexistent, and the consistency was dry and flaky. The chocolate one was about the same. The icing was a little better, but was too much to eat in one sitting. I could barely eat the cake after eating the icing. It was very sugary, so much that I felt sick afterwards. The cake had a rich, dark color, but the flavor was the opposite. I could barely taste the chocolate, but the salt was way too prevalent. All in all, Gigi’s Cupcakes was a major disappointment.

Lincoln Bakery did much better than Gigi’s. Located in Bellevue, Lincoln started as a German bakery, but became Lincoln Bakery in 1945 when ownership changed hands. It’s been a family-run business ever since and has served famous Pittsburghers like, Bob Friend- and old Pirates player. The look of the cupcakes was completely different. While Gigi’s were beautifully iced and had different decorations, Lincoln’s were plain with significantly less icing. The cupcakes tasted much better there then at Gigi’s. I got one vanilla cupcake with vanilla icing, and chocolate cupcake with chocolate icing. Both cupcakes were soft, moist, and fluffy. They actually had the right flavor. The vanilla icing was creamy, sweet, and smooth. It just covered the cupcake, so it wasn’t overwhelming. The chocolate icing was very similar. It had a rich chocolate flavor, and was just as smooth and creamy. Each cupcake was 80 cents. There are also many other products you can buy like cakes, pies, cheesecakes, and cookies. Overall, Lincoln Bakery did much better than Gigi’s.

Though Lincoln’s cupcakes don’t have professional decorations and icing, the actual flavor of the cupcakes and icing is worth it. Gigi’s cupcakes look beautiful, but taste anything but. There is too much work on the look of the cupcake and not on the flavor. I would most definitely go to Lincoln Bakery instead of Gigi’s, but you could probably get cupcakes from Giant Eagle’s bakery and have it taste just as good.