Baton Rouge residents now have a new location to cater to their sweet tooth and inability to sleep.
Insomnia Cookies, a chain of privately owned dessert shops, opened a Baton Rouge location Friday afternoon at 128 W. Chimes St, in the area formerly occupied by gelato dispensary Bacio di Roma.
The idea for selling late-night sweets came from the mind of founder Seth Berkowitz in 2003 while he was a student at the University of Pennsylvania. From there, the store has grown to 65 locations.
“Since opening, we’ve felt really welcomed by the community,” said marketing director Giana Marinelli. “People seem to love it.”
Entering the shop, customers are greeted by a smiling team of workers and a wide variety of cookies and brownies. The shop’s seating is limited, but as it settles in, more options will be brought in to suit customers who wish to dine in.
The menu features cookies, brownies, cookie cakes, ice cream, frozen desserts, toppings and cold milk. Customers can enjoy these in store from 11 a.m. to 3 a.m. or choose to have them delivered around campus from noon to 3 a.m.
Cookie flavors and offerings range from traditional flavors like sugar, peanut butter and snickerdoodle to other creations like double chocolate mint, cookies à la mode and cookiewiches.
Insomnia Cookies also offers various ice cream flavors and toppings, which include M&Ms, Snickers, Reese’s Cups, cookie dough and walnuts.
“After tasting the lemon white chocolate cookie, I realized this was no ordinary cookie,” said biology senior Austin Wong.
In addition, the shop participates in fundraising events in which a percentage of the day’s sales will be donated to a charitable organization. These fundraising days are held Monday through Wednesday, while the other days of the week consist of cookie donations.
Community reception of the shop has been strong.
“Once we got the green light to open and turned on the sign, we’ve had people coming in from then until we turn it off at 3 a.m.,” Marinelli said.
Weekly deals will be available to customers who visit the shop’s website. The current deal lets customers purchase eight cookies for $8. Customers can also visit the shop’s official Twitter page for a coupon for a free cookie.
Regular deals include discounts for large events or parties. Residence Hall specials offer 50 cookies for $52, up to 300 cookies for $275. Similar discounts are available for office meetings, weddings, holiday parties and other events.
Starting today, customers will receive four free chocolate chunk cookies for placing a delivery order.
The current delivery area extends from near the River Center downtown to West Lee Drive and some of Perkins Road. Customers can order online at Insomnia Cookies’ website to see if an address is in the delivery area.
For interested customers, there is an option to sign up for email blasts, which will let them know each Monday the deal of the week.
“It’s a really good vibe for Chimes Street,” said biology junior Justin Yan. “I like the novelty of it.”
You can reach Ashlyn Rollins on Twitter @ash_r96.

Gallery • 10 Photos

Emily Brauner

Insomnia Cookies opens its doors Friday, March 27, 2015 at 128 West Chimes Street and offers cookies, brownies, and ice cream for walk in or delivery.