'Mallow' Out At New Sweet Treat Bar

If you've got a sweet tooth, you've also got a new option: The Mallow Bar in Rossville is open for business.

Entrepreneur Nikki Lewis, who runs the business Mallow Crunchies, recently opened the combination store front and kitchen where she makes her delicious crispy rice cereal treats.

Patch wrote about Mallow Crunchies—then called Mallow Munchies—back in August, and that's when we first learned about Lewis' plans to open The Mallow Bar.

"It's been awesome here—traffic has been great," Lewis said. "People just driving by—we had a lot of traffic from Facebook and, in addition, farmer’s market people are extremely loyal."

Lewis sells the newly rebranded Mallow Crunchies at farmers' markets around the Baltimore metro area.

"I'd love to see more people from the neighborhood coming in," Lewis said.

Her desserts are made from the divine combination of Lewis' scratch-made marshmallow and crisped rice cereal and call to mind the gooey snacks you might have made in the kitchen with your mom as a child.

The new cafe also features her signature dessert—in flavors like original, caramel, chocolate and trail mix—along with marshmallow squares called Mallow Softies.

"I have a lot of other local businesses in here I’m trying to support. Dirty Carrots—we sell her cupcakes and muffins. Zeke’s Coffee—we sell bags of the beans and we freshly grind the beans and brew it here. A lot of people keep coming back just for the coffee," Lewis said.

The Mallow Bar is also a great place to pick up Mouth Party caramels, and Lewis uses caramel sauces made at the Carney candy shop in some of her recipes.

"Promoting local businesses is important to me," Lewis said. "The focus, though, is on the Mallow Crunchies."

Lewis explained that she envisons her cafe as a place where people can come to enjoy desserts and relax—similar to Max Brenner's chocolate lounge in New York City.

"We've got free wifi and tables both out front here and in the back, if you want some privacy," Lewis said. The Mallow Crunchies brand was built on the backs of repeat customers at area farmer's markets and The Mallow Bar rewards loyal fans through a discount program.

"Also, we've got a program called Sweet Mallowdies—people on Facebook decide the music that we play in the cafe," Lewis said.

For now, it's all about engaging her customers at the cafe—Lewis said that she is hoping to find someone who can help her by selling Mallow Crunchies at farmer's markets during the week, freeing her up to focus on the cafe and the wholesale portion of the business.

Then?

"I want to make The Mallow Bar a brand that people recognize and love — when the cupcake bakery trend started out, people had to get their head around going to a place for just one thing," Lewis said. "I would love to open up a space in DC or Atlanta, my dad and stepmom live there. I would love to expand the brand across the country."

The Mallow Bar, located at 6787-A Philadelphia Road, is open Tue.-Thu., 11 a.m.-6 p.m. and Fri.-Sat., 11 a.m.-8 p.m.