It’s a rare thing to walk into a brand-new shop and know exactly what you want before you’ve even crossed the threshold, but Freed’s is itself a rare thing for Las Vegas.
The nearly 63-year-old local bakery, with multiple Valley locations, is one of Vegas’ relative few venerable city institutions, and it’s still family-run. Needless to say, when you walk into the Freed’s Dessert Shop in Downtown’s 18b Arts District—located adjacent to Esther’s Kitchen and Yu-Or-Mi sushi—you have some idea of what sweet delights to expect from the Fried family’s newest spot.
Freed’s cakes, cookies, cupcakes, brownies and rugelach are without peer, and this bright, cozy shop is packed to overflowing with them. I usually load up with cookies—they’re roughly $18 for a pound, $9 for a half-pound—and I always start a box with their raspberry butter cookies, melt-in-your-mouth golden flowers with a dot of preserves in the middle. Next are the almond shortbreads, speckled with almond slices, and the coconut macaroons. From there, I request the powdered sugar-coated Russian tea cookies, lemon cake cookies, white chocolate macadamia candies …
Look, to be honest, at a point I just say “I’ll take it all.” You can’t go wrong with Freed’s cookies. They’re heaven’s own chosen.
The same goes for the rich, glorious Black Forest cake ($6 a slice), the cupcakes, generously topped with Freed’s signature buttercream ($3 apiece), and the densely flavor-packed rugelach (prices vary), which Freed’s sells by the box. (Try the raspberry raisin.) Freed’s famous cakes are also available—cannoli cream, Parisian chocolate, vanilla cake with Bavarian cream and more.
And in a nod to their new neighborhood, this Freed’s boasts some great art—a wall of photos from Las Vegas circa 1959 (the year the original Freed’s opened), curated by local historian Brian “Paco” Alvarez, and a colorful mural by Shan Michael Evans. They’re nearly enough to pull your attention away from Freed’s outstanding edible art.
FREED’S DESSERT SHOP 60 E. California Ave., 702-989-9899. Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-7 p.m.; Friday & Saturday, 11 a.m-9 p.m.
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