By Elena Kadvany
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I am a perpetually hungry twenty-something journalist, born and raised in Menlo Park and currently working at the Palo Alto Weekly as education and youth staff writer. I graduated from USC with a major in Spanish and a minor in journalism. Though my first love is journalism, food is a close second. I am constantly on the lookout for new restaurants to try, building an ever-expanding "to eat" list. As a journalist, I'm always trolling news sources and social media websites with an eye for local food news, from restaurant openings and closings to emerging food trends. When I was a teenager growing up in Menlo Park, I always drove up to the city on weekends with the singular purpose of finding a better meal than I could at home. But in the past year or so, the Peninsula's food culture has been totally transformed, with many new restaurants opening and a continuous stream of San Francisco restaurants coming south to open Peninsula outposts. Don't navigate this food boom hungry and alone! Feed me your tips on new chefs and eats and together we'll share them with the broader community.
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Throngs of pre-teens flooded into Sugar Shack after school on Tuesday, Oct. 8, the second first day of business for the downtown Menlo Park candy store.
The original Sugar Shack
closed in 2014 after seven years of selling candy on Santa Cruz Avenue. Owner and Menlo Park resident Suzi Tinsley recently decided to reopen a few blocks away at 883 Santa Cruz Ave., across the parking lot from Draeger's.
A crowded Sugar Shack on Tuesday, Oct. 8. Photo by Elena Kadvany.
While she continued offering custom candy for private events after closing the shop, she "missed the community piece."
"I've missed all of this," she said on Tuesday, gesturing to the crowd of kids filling plastic bags with jelly beans, watermelon rings, lollipops and candy bars in the brightly colored shop.
The new Sugar Shack resembles and sells the same candy as the old store, though it no longer has a soda fountain bar. The new shop will be open seven days a week; Sugar Shack wasn't previously open on Sundays.
The candy selection at Sugar Shack in Menlo Park. Photo by Elena Kadvany.
Tinsley signed a one-year lease for the space, so the store is a pop-up of sorts. If it's successful, she said she’ll consider renegotiating the lease to stay longer.
Sugar Shack is open Monday-Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
