Candy Cloud started in 2019 as a cotton candy food truck. The founders, married couple Alex and Paityn Edwards, saw potential success with the idea, and in 2020, decided to take a leap of faith. Alex quit his job as a firefighter to pursue entrepreneurship. They opened their first storefront in 2022, and their success has continued to grow since franchising opened in November 2022. Candy Cloud now has locations in Illinois, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Ohio, Texas, and Florida.
I drove by a new Candy Cloud franchise on its opening day, and the place was slammed with a line out the door, wrapping around the building. I was impressed. Going into it, I thought for sure this place was a gimmick.
This Candy Cloud franchise opened Sunday, Nov. 20, at Lennox Town Center, neighboring Nothing Bundt Cakes. As I walked in at 8:30 p.m. on a Sunday night, there was a fairly large crowd, and the lighting was atmospheric and bright, with a big menu to the right of the line. The line was honestly a good thing; it gave me time to survey the vast menu. As I was talking to people in there, it seemed like the horchata drinks with boba in them were the most popular. However, I went a completely different route and got the dirt pie soft-serve shake and the better-than-anything layer. The layer is soft serve with layers of cookies. A regular size was enough for me, and after the shake, I was full. The dirt pie shake was good; it was fluffy and not too sweet or rich. It was airy and interesting. For such a unique product, $6.50 per shake makes sense to me. The shake also came in a cool cup that looked like a soda can with its poppable tab. It was unique and fun. The better-than-anything is a caramel lover’s dream, the layer was very good and crunchy, but just way too much caramel for me. It was flavorful, and the soft serve was super fluffy. The layer in it was interesting and unique.
Overall, the shake was a 7.8 out of 10 and was lacking some flavor. The layer was solid, but just too much caramel, 6.5. Visiting Candy Cloud was something different and a fun trip on a Sunday. I’m excited to go back and try the real drinks, like their famous lemonades and coffees. Those seemed like the most popular products there. Candy Cloud is Aiden-approved.
