Hitting the sweet spot

A new restaurant to satisfy your sweet tooth is heading to The Village at Lee Branch.

Cinnaholic, a gourmet cinnamon roll bakery, is moving in the former space held by Southern Spoiled Boutique next to Moe’s Southwest Grill. It will be the first franchise in the state.

Owner John Rumore, a Bluff Park resident, said he chose the location because the restaurants in Lee Branch will complement the store’s product.

“We wanted to set up where people are dining and looking for dessert when they come out,” he said. “There are a tremendous amount of great restaurants in that area, and the demographics of the area are also great.”

The company’s co-founders, Shannon and Florian Radke, opened the first Cinnaholic bakery in Berkeley, California, in 2010. In 2014, they appeared on ABC’s “Shark Tank.” After the show, they adopted a franchise business model and began expanding Cinnaholic locations across the U.S. and Canada.

The store was originally slated to open in early April, but the timeline was pushed back following the COVID-19 pandemic. The new opening date is set for September 25. Construction on the location required plumbing and electrical work to accommodate the restaurant, plus adding an additional heating and air conditioning unit and framing the walls.

“The good Lord probably had it worked out for me before I knew it,” Rumore said.

Rumore comes from a family of entrepreneurs and said he gets his drive from his father, Duke. His dad, along with Rumore’s uncle Joe, were part of the Birmingham radio industry for four decades, and his family was in the exterior car wash business. He and his brother Paul took over that business after his father retired and had four locations at once. After selling the last location in 2018, Rumore said he was looking to go in a different direction and explore a different franchise.

After doing his research, Cinnaholic caught his attention. The company broke into the top 500 in Entrepreneur Magazine as one of fastest growing bakery franchises. Rumore said coming from a large Italian family that loves to cook, he found everything about the company appealing.

“It’s a really good product,” he said. “My wife and I went to the locations in Atlanta and Knoxville, and they are really catching on. There are a total of 40 locations in the U.S. and Canada, with about 100 more in development.”

Cinnaholic’s menu will feature its award-winning, handcrafted cinnamon rolls, brownies, edible cookie dough and baked cookies. Everything is made in-house from scratch, and all of the products are egg, dairy, lactose and cholesterol free.

“That's the uniqueness of the concept,” Rumore said. “You can customize it any way you want with 20 different frostings and 20 different toppings.”

The most popular one is called “The Cookie Monster:” a cinnamon roll topped with cream cheese frosting, homemade cookie dough, chocolate chips and chocolate sauce.

Rumore said his favorite combination is “Mawmaw’s Pecan Pie,” which was developed by a store in Knoxville. It features maple frosting, house-made pie crumbs, fresh pecans and caramel sauce. His wife’s favorite is the “Toasted Coconut Pie Roll” with caramel frosting, toasted coconut, sliced almonds and chocolate sauce.

Cinnaholic will be partnering with Hoover-based Baba Java Coffee to carry its products in the store. Rumore said it will be a great partnership using the store’s products and will feature coffee, iced coffee, espresso and more on the menu.

Premade options will be in a display case for customers to see, but once ordered, a warm roll will be taken out of the oven and topped with frosting and topping choices by a staff member.

Rumore spent a week in Atlanta training and learning all recipes and said he will hire around 12 employees for the Lee Branch location. He has plans to open a second store in the Birmingham area, but the location is to be determined.

To find out more about Cinnaholic, visit its website at cinnaholic.com or Facebook at facebook.com/CinnaholicHooverLeeBranch.