I remember my first time going to Milk Bar years ago, back in 2014. My brother Jeremy who is a total foodie recommended it to Nate and I, and said we had to try it. Well, you don’t have to tell me twice. We went first thing and got the cereal milk and crack pie. They only had one location back then and it was tiny. We were so impressed with the creativity and devoured our food faster than I’m willing to admit. It was so unique to anything we had ever had before. Little did I know that five years later, I would be living in NYC and attending the Milk Bar Flagship grand opening on the bottom level of The Ace Hotel.

The Milk Bar Flagship in New York City opened on November 16, 2019 at 12:00 PM on 29th street and Broadway. Being the dedicated foodie that I am, I arrived by 11:00 AM to beat the crowd. When I got there, there were only two other people in line ahead of me, so I ended up third in line. You never know in this city how crowded an event like this is going to be. Sometimes they are nuts! By 11:40 or so, the line really started taking off and wrapping around the building. I was glad that I had got there early, even if it was a tad too early. My friend Mckinley joined me a little bit later too which was so fun.

Here’s all the information that you need about the Milk Bar Flagship. The Bon Appetit magazine called it, “The Most Exciting Bakery in the Country!” It’s much more than a delicious bakery. it’s also a fun and interactive experience that will make you feel like a kid again. Check it out when you’re in New York City!

The Baker – Christina Tosi

Who started Milk Bar? Well, the mastermind behind it all is this lady, Christina Tosi. She is an inspiration to many and a personal foodie crush of mine. If you haven’t watched her episode on Chef’s Table you really should take the time to watch it. You can find it on Netflix. She tells about her story of moving to NYC with nothing and working her way up in the food scene, trying to make something of herself. She started low on the NYC baking totem pole and never gave up on her dreams. It talks about how she came up with the legendary Crack Pie, now renamed to Milk Bar Pie, kind of by mistake, and how it was a hit to her fellow restaurant staff members where she was working at the time. She tells the story of wandering around the grocery store one day trying to get inspiration for a dessert and how she saw the cold cereal and decided to steep it in milk as if she was making tea. She created cereal milk panna cotta which later emerged to cereal milk soft serve. This is now a staple on her menu that people rave about. Now she was eleven stores in New York City alone, as well as multiple stores in Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Toronto, Las Vegas, and Boston. She’s a baking genius that is bursting with creativity, but she’s also extremely diligent in her craft. The two things together created her recipe for success. I adore her and was totally star struck when I got to meet her AND get a picture with her at the Milk Bar Flagship grand opening. What?!? Such an amazing day!

Mckinley, Christina, and myself, Mikelle, posing together at the Milk Bar Flagship grand opening.

Build-A-Pint

The stand out food item to me at The Milk Bar Flagship is the new Build-A-Pint. The Build-A-Pint is a custom soft serve pint, layered to order with signature cake, toppings, and crunchy crumbs. Here’s the scoop– you pick your cake, soft serve, sauce, and toppings and they build this delicious masterpiece for you in this cute little Milk Bar themed jar. It was adorable and so delicious. I got the the butterscotch cinnamon cake, Milk Bar pie soft serve, the Milk Bar pie sauce, with birthday cake crumbles on top. You guys! it was so good! And the most exciting part was that since we were third and fourth in line, we were the first customers EVER to make a Build-A-Pint at the Milk Bar Flagship in New York City! (They did have a soft opening earlier in the week for special invited guests and food bloggers who all technically got to make a Build-A-Pint first, but we were the first regular customers to purchase one for the grand opening on the 16th.)

The Build-A-Pint is the most expensive menu item that they offer, besides a whole cake. I didn’t realize the price and was surprised when my total for one Build-A-Pint came to over $16 with tax. Ouch! A large cake slice is only $9, and a Milkquake is $9 as well. Seems a little pricey to me in comparison to all the other menu items, but since it’s such an adorable idea, I think customers will still buy it. I know I will. The Build-A-Pints are only found at the flagship in NYC.

Milk Bar Flagship_City Nibbler_New York City

Cookies

I love the Milk Bar slogan, “Not Your Average Cookie.” It’s very true. These cookies are not your average cookie. These cookies are good and so unique. They make a corn cookie, a cornflake chocolate chip marshmallow cookie, a chocolate chocolate cookie, a confetti cookie (Jimmy’s personal favorite), a blueberry & cream cookie, and my personal favorite, the compost cookie. The compost cookie has a graham cracker base with chocolate chips, pretzels, potato chips, coffee granules, oats, and butterscotch. It’s the perfect mix of sweet and salty, and in my opinion, one of the best cookies in the city. (They also usually have a fruity marshmallow cookie but it wasn’t offered this day.) At the smaller Milk Bar locations throughout NYC, the cookies are packaged in a small plastic bag to make it easier to take to-go. But at the flagship location, the cookies are made in house and aren’t packaged in a to-go wrapping, making them the freshest Milk Bar cookies that I’ve had in a while. If you’re going to try Milk Bar when you visit NYC, I’d say go to the flagship for the best and most fresh cookies, as well as other baked goods, that Milk Bar offers.

Build-A-Cookie

The Build-A-Cookie is also unique to the flagship location. I didn’t do this myself because I can only eat so much dessert at one time, but I would love to come back and try this another day. You can build an eight-inch cookie (serves 6!) with your desired cookie doughs and mix-ins, however you want it! Make sure you book a reservation online here beforehand for a personal thirty minute time slot with a Milk Bar baker to assist you in designing and making your cookie. Only one cookie can be made every thirty minutes, so if you want to make more than one, book more than one thirty minute time slot. The mix-in choices are endless and many of them are homemade. Such a fun idea for a special get-together, holiday celebration, or a birthday gift.

Build-A-Cake

The Build-A-Cake station is also unique to the Milk Bar flagship. Just like Build-A-Cookie, you have to make a reservation here for a scheduled thirty-minute time frame to build your own cake. All of the ingredients are made and ready for you to design and assemble the perfect combination just for you. You choose the base, frosting, soak, crumbs, and spreadable filling and then watch your Milk Bar baker assemble it. It is done in thirty-minutes flat! Happy birthday to you! These cakes are really good. I got one for Nate’s birthday last year and it was a hit. Right now, they are doing free shipping on everything throughout the United States, so if you’re wanting to make a cake for a loved one away from the city, now is the perfect time to do it. The free shipping isn’t indefinite, but it is lasting for sure through the holidays.

Currently Offering Free Shipping Through the Holidays!

Bread Bombs

Now for something savory! The Milk Bar flagship offers four types of bread bombs. They are tasty little baked goods with a unique savory filing in the middle. The four bombs are– The Bagel Bomb filled with cream cheese, scallions, and bacon, The Eggplant Parm Bomb filled with breaded eggplant and two different cheeses, The Italian Hero Bomb filled with salami, capicola, and cheese, and last but not least, The Pepperoni Bomb filled with pepperoni, cheese, and marinara sauce. I tired the Eggplant Parm Bomb and it was really tasty. I definitely want to go back and try all the others. Yum!

Eggplant Parm Bomb, Bagel Bomb, and a Pepperoni Bomb.

Milk Bar Pie, AKA Crack Pie

It’s hard to describe what Milk Bar Pie is exactly to someone who hasn’t had it. I know it as Crack Pie and will probably always call it that out of habit, plus I think it is a better name. In the Chef’s Table episode, Christina talked about how she randomly made this pie for her fellow employees out of stuff she had in her pantry. After taking the first bite, a guy said, “This is so good! What is this? It’s like CRACK!” Hence the original name, Crack Pie.

I would have to agree with that guy. This pie is like crack. It is really good and so addicting. It is Nate’s favorite menu item by far that Milk Bar offers. It is not really like a pie at all except for the shape. It is best described as gooey buttery goodness in a hearty toasted oat cookie crust. It is best served cold. It is sweet, salty, sticky, and oh so good. You’ve got to try it.

Eggplant Parm Bomb, Milk Bar Pie, and a Compost Cookie.

Postcards and Packages

This little station was a nice surprise and something that I had a lot of fun with. They had a bunch of different Milk Bar themed postcards that were pre-stamped. You could send as many as you wish to anyone right there by putting it in their little pink mailbox. They had pink and black crayons, black permanent markers, and a variety of decorative stamps with ink pads available to decorate and design your postcard however you please. I sent one to my parents in Idaho. Surprise Mom and Dad! What a great idea that is fun for the customers but also a great way to advertise the Milk Bar brand. Nice thinking Christina!

Mini Mart Milk Bar Store

Need some Milk Bar swag? They have a little of everything in their new Milk Bar Mini Mart if you want to take some Milk Bar accessories home with you. Great for obsessed New Yorkers (like me) and tourists alike. Also perfect for gifts to take home to family and friends! They even have a Milk Bar skateboard. What?!?

Have you visited Milk Bar? Are you obsessed with it like me? Leave me a comment below, and let me know what your favorite Milk Bar treat is. I’d love to hear from you!