Dylan’s Candy Bar

Continuing on the “sweet tooth” tour of New York, my daughter’s other favorite food stop is Dylan’s Candy Bar on 60th and 3rd Avenue, in Manhattan. Just “behind” the Bloomingdale’s that takes up the entire block between 59th and 60th Street, this is a great way to do some shopping then stop off for an over-the-top ice cream sundae. Opened by one of the daughters of Ralph Lauren, this shop is indeed candy heaven. On two levels there are thousands and thousands of pounds of sweets and related paraphernalia ranging from an enormous selection of gummies, chocolate covered raisins, oreos, malts, to several thousand dollar one-of-a-kind Pez dispensers. There are over 15 colors of M&M’s that you can buy by the color or mix them up… They stock every color of skittles sold by the pound, cotton candy, wrapped chocolate bars…yikes, everything you could possibly dream of from age 2-10.

The store has become somewhat of a tourist destination…droves and droves of families enter its doors and jaws gape at the site of all that refined sugar and artificial food coloring. Much of this is stuff you can get in groceries, sidewalk stands, etc… but it is definitely all in the presentation and packaging. For adults we may dream of steps paved in gold, but for single digit humans the Dylan’s stairs featuring thousands of embedded gummy creatures in clear plastic certainly keeps their eyes glued to the ground… There is little room for moderation here, you just have to indulge your kids fantasies. Kids can rapidly bankrupt you, however, as the store sells not only the candy but overpriced branded plastic and tin containers for them to take it all home in. I always give my daughter a budget when she enters this shop and it’s up to her what she emerges with.

On our most recent visit with her cousins, we decided to check out the ice cream bar (with 50 degree temperature outdoors that seemed a bit silly but what the heck). My daughter ordered a sundae (in the photo) that had ice cream, M&M’s, gummies, whipped cream, etc. At over USD10.00 including tax, there is no other description than outrageous! But I am sure it is burned into her memory bank for years to come. While the candies and sweets would impress the vast majority of the global population, the store itself is, well, plain and unattractive. High traffic, sticky candy falling to the linoleum floors, understaffing, etc. make for less than pristine surroundings. Nevertheless, the kids will love it and it is worth at least one visit. If I can drag my daughter to a specialty cheese shop, fish store or spice store she can drag me to Dylan’s whenever we are in New York!