Pro: Oreo has opened its very own themed experience, the Oreo Café, so that fans of Milk’s Favorite Cookie can immerse themselves in all things Oreo. And it looks like a genuinely fun place to wander around in! There are novelty Oreo candles, customizable chocolate treats, and hoodies galore. The only potential downside is that the Oreo Café is located on the third floor of the three-story IT’SUGAR candy department store at none other than the American Dream mall. Not exactly an easy destination for most of us to pop in and out of.
New Jersey’s American Dream is a 3-million-square-foot conglomeration of shops and attractions, one that charges for parking and contains multiple mini golf courses, an aquarium, and a Nickelodeon Universe theme park. Shrek and SpongeBob Squarepants adorn the homepage of its website. If any of this strikes you as just a touch outdated, that might be because construction began in 2004 (yes, 17 years ago!) and remained a costly boondoggle all the way up to its opening at the end of 2019 (only 1.8 years ago!). The water park was set to open in a later phase—on March 19, 2020, to be exact. You will be unsurprised to hear that it, uh, did not. But everything’s up and running now, folks, and despite declaring Chapter 11 bankruptcy late last year, the IT’SUGAR candy department store is ready to welcome us to its lollipop garden and Oreo Café with open arms. Now let’s never speak of 2020 ever again.
Cursed location aside, the Oreo Café sounds fun, and I say that as someone who never even finds myself craving an Oreo. The store’s pièce de résistance, its central “treats bar,” lets you customize various Oreo-inspired desserts. Per the press release sent to The Takeout, here are some menu items you can expect to see:
- Classic desserts with an OREO spin such as the Waffle Sundae with baked-in OREO pieces or the OREO Cookies & Cream Cheesecake layered with OREO cookie mousse, drizzled chocolate ganache and milk chocolate rosettes.
- Cookie lovers can build their own unique “Twist Your OREO” treats by first choosing a dessert base (waffle, ice cream sandwich, cone or milkshake) then picking from a variety of OREO inspired toppings to make it uniquely theirs - with over 200 possible combinations!
Oreo’s official Instagram account will also be posting about secret menu items that pop up regularly, such as the piled-high plate in the photo above. Surprisingly, the milkshakes look like shakes that are actually meant to be consumed rather than just photographed, which is a nice change of pace.
The café is open now to the public. Back in 2019, reports indicated that the Oreo Café was set to be named “TWISTiD,” a word that now appears nowhere in its marketing materials. Wise move, Oreo. You’ve got 109 years of name recognition built in already! Why fight it?