Joining the selection of Boar’s Head sliced meats, Burton creates mouth-watering signature sandwiches with 12-hour, slow roasted and seasoned beef brisket and corned beef brisket.
It was only fitting I began and ended my meal at Sweet Tooth Cafe in Gloucester Village with a sweet treat.
The restaurant and bakery on historic Main Street fools a lot of folks with its name.
Although the eatery is filled with sweets—the scents of baked bread, chocolate and coffee greet customers at the door—it’s more than a bakery.
Owner and chef Crystal Burton has an extensive menu of salads, sandwiches, soups, wraps and paninis. She prepares fresh and local whenever possible and offers vegetarian, gluten free, low carb and healthy choices.
A self-taught baker and chef, Burton is a graduate of Middlesex High School. In September 2015, Sweet Tooth Cafe opened with a full menu, expanding what was once Sweet Tooth Parlor Cupcakery into a full bakery and cafe. The cupcakery was originally in the Morgan Building just down the street from its current location at 6655 Main Street.
The cafe is about to make another move, back down the street to 6566 Main Street. Burton recently purchased the two-story building with plans to move in by mid 2023. Remodeling is underway now, she said.
The new space will double her current indoor seating capacity of 41 to 80. Sweet Tooth also seats 40 outside on the patio and will have that same outdoor seating capacity at the new building.
Sweet Tooth offers breakfast—croissants, sausage melts, wraps and bagels—along with lunch and an early dinner. I decided to head to Gloucester with my father a few weeks ago for lunch. I’d skipped breakfast in preparation for what I knew would be a hearty meal.
The aroma of coffee and the list of speciality drinks lured me to order a latte. Normally a white chocolate mocha drinker—and that was on the menu—I was intrigued by the seasonal drinks and opted for an iced, decaffeinated, pumpkin cinnamon latte. Of course, the drink came topped with a swirl of whipped cream and cinnamon sprinkles.
Along with an extensive menu—there are 14 sandwiches, nine signature sandwiches, seven salads and six wraps—the cafe offers weekly specials including soups and quiches.
Joining the selection of Boar’s Head sliced meats, Burton creates mouth-watering signature sandwiches with 12-hour, slow roasted and seasoned beef brisket and corned beef brisket. My father’s first choice was the Man Cave, a signature sandwich piled high with corned beef brisket, oven-roasted turkey, Black Forest ham, smoked bacon, two cheeses, onion, lettuce and tomatoes and a chipotle aioli on a grilled honey potato bread.
We were upset to hear from our waitress, Violet, they’d sold out of the customer favorite corned beef brisket. So my father went with another customer favorite suggestion, the Ultimate Grilled Cheese, one of six different grilled cheese sandwiches on the menu. The Ultimate was a ooey-gooey blend of Boar’s Head havarti, muenster and provolone cheeses on grilled honey potato bread. It came with either a soup or salad. He chose the sweet, creamy butternut squash soup, one of three soups offered that day. It was buttery, super creamy and full of fall flavor.
I started with a strawberry salad—a heaping bowl of romaine lettuce smothered with feta cheese, walnuts and strawberries—with sweet, tangy red wine vinaigrette and a warm, buttered baguette slice on the side. With an add-on of grilled chicken, vegan chicken or filet tips, it’s a meal in itself.
With the slow cooked corned beef brisket off the menu, I chose a gourmet turkey sandwich with a side of pasta salad for my main course. The sandwich was a perfect combo of Boar’s Head meats topped with havarti cheese and a basil pesto, that was salty and nutty. I saved half for later to make room for dessert.
The huge refrigerated case was full of cakes, cupcakes, pies, cheesecakes and bread puddings. My dad chose a rich, creamy chocolate silk pie, which came drizzled with extra chocolate, and I opted for one of Burton’s “fall flavored” bread puddings, a heaping portion of apple-walnut bread pudding. It was served hot and drizzled with caramel and included large chunks of apples and walnuts.
The seasonal caramel apple cheesecake, pumpkin cheesecake and pumpkin praline bread pudding are on my list to try next time I visit. Maybe I’ll sandwich my meal between two of those sweet treats!
