Something Sweet By Serina

I became familiar with Something Sweet by coming to the Riverside Street Fair on Saturdays and I am sure glad I did. Not only are the cupcakes F ANTASTIC, but Serina is very sweet and welcoming into her shop. Try everything!

Stopped in to Something Sweet by Serina and was looking for just that… Something Sweet but not overpowering! After meeting the owner Serina she gave a few suggestions and I walked out with a Pumpkin Cupcake with Maple Frosting… it was nothing short of amazing and satisfying… full of flavor, very moist and bigger than expected! It was a pleasure!

This place is incredible! My mouth is watering just thinking about the cupcake I just ate! Serina (owner and baker extraordinaire) was super nice and made great recommendations based on our wants for desserty snackness. Cupcakes are a good size, very moist, the frosting is perfectly proportioned and the prices are totally fair. It’s tucked away near the back of an alcove near The Upper Crust sandwich shop, so if you don’t know about it you might miss it… Take some time to seek it out if you’re a cupcake lover~ this one’s an absolute treasure! Can’t wait to come back :)

A lot better than Casey’s. I had the banana cupcake with chocolate frosting. It was very moist and flavorful. The frosting didn’t taste artificial like Casey’s. Glad I found this place.

Just went there and tried their Lavender Lemon cupcake, everything about it was perfect to me, and I’m notoriously picky about cupcakes. The cake itself is more dense than many other cupcakes, but not tough like you find in supermarket cupcakes. The cream frosting is absolutely wonderful, you’re actually able to taste the individual flavors as they stand out. The lemon in the cream gave a bright and citrusy bite, and was mellowed out by the aromatic flavor of the lavender. Presentation is relatively simple; no sprinkles or chocolate shavings here, but what they lack in flash, they more than make up for in product. I don’t like to compare business too much, but my friends fawn over Casey’s, so I just have to say that Something Sweet outshines Casey’s in almost every category, definitely bringing my friends here from now on.

We had 3 cupcakes and they were all great. We had the chocolate with chocolate buttercream, the strawberry with strawberry buttercream, and the lemon lavender with lemon buttercream. I may be butchering the names but they were all moist and delicious.

As an out-​of-​towner here on business, it cracked me up that there seemed to be a «cupcake war» going on in such a relatively small shopping/​eating district.
But once again here we have the standoff between Serina and Casey. And I’m not sure why Serina seems to be the underdog, because having tried goodies from both places, Serina winds hands down.
These cupcakes are bigger, tastier, and more satisfying. Yes Casey has impressive presentation and is trendy-​worthy, but if you really care about the quality of the baked goods, skip the Mission Inn and seek out Serina.
All the flavors I tried over the course of a few days were outstanding. PB & chocolate? Decadent. Lemon? Glorious. Vanilla? Sublime.
Yes its location is a little weird — tucked in an inconspicuous, recessed alcove between other shops on the street — but it’s worth finding.

Literally the best cupcakes! I ordered a cinnamon roll cupcake and a dutch apple one. The dutch one was the most amazing cupcake I have ever eaten! It was filled with apples and the frosting was so delicious. Love love love! So happy I came here!

Their cupcakes are really good. Very moist. The frosting on the red velvet was really good. I also got the Fauxstess, which is supposed to be like a Hostess-​type cupcake. Really good! I’d go back.

I was present after opening time to purchase cupcakes and pretzels. However, this cute little shop was closed. There were 2 women inside who obviously saw me but decided to ignore me. Unilocal staff removed my first review stating that it did not describe a first hand experience. Well I wasn’t able to purchase anything because the business was not open when it stated it would be. I am not the first to complain about their operating hours not being followed.
Also, why not have the courtesy to let me know their opening status? I was standing right outside their door. Here’s a helpful tip: don’t ignore your customers.

Fantastic cupcakes. My favorite is the maple cupcake! The frosting is killer, sand her pumpkin cookies will rock your socks! The strawberry lemonade cookies are addicting as well. To be honest, you can’t go wrong with anything here!

My prefered cupcake bakery. The freshest around and made from scratch (they use REAL butter in their frosting). I love this place! The owners are so friendly and fun to chat with. The lemon lavender and chocolate raspberry are my favorites. I have special ordered countless times from this shop and they never disappoint. Support this local business of Downtown Riverside!

This is my favorite cupcake store in inland empire. their cupcake is way better than caseys. And for those who wants to come here it’s right next to probation.

Enjoyed my lemon and lavender cupcake. Not to sweet and it was nice and fluffy. It had the right amount of cake versus cream. The prices range from 3.50−4.00 dollars. The store was small but had nice décor.

Normally my hubby and I go to Simple Simon’s then Casey’s. Today we wanted to switch things up so we went to Upper Crust and this place.
Both of these places are much less ornate than their counterparts a few hundred feet away.
Since everyone and it seems everyone compares Casey’s to Serinas, I’ll go ahead and jump on the bandwagon. First of all, Casey’s wins hands down for presentation. Casey’s is charming pink and white décor. The cakes are displayed in neat rows and their boxes and bags are the kind you keep for later use. Casey’s is a great gift purely based on their presentation and packaging.
So let’s get to the nitty gritty. Who has better cupcakes?
First of all. I’m vegan, Casey’s offers me a vegan option. So, for me that’s where it should end. Sirenas does not offer a vegan option.
But I’m not just writing reviews for Vegans, I’m writing for everyone. My hubby isn’t vegan nor is anyone else in my family. With that said, I purchased two cupcakes from Serina to bring home and conduct a taste off.
I’ve enlisted the help of my non vegan friends to help by testing these two. One is the lemon lavender, the other peanut butter cup.
The lemon lavender was a big hit from the first bite. The frosting is different than Casey’s, again not the best looking cupcake, no frills, no cute little lemon wedge or lavender sprig on the top, but let me tell you my tester was in heaven and devoured the lemon lavender in 2 seconds flat. The cakes are smaller than Casey’s and like I said no frills but the flavor is to die for. The cake was moist and the creaminess of the frosting and lemon with a tinge if lavender was pure bliss.
The chocolate peanut butter cup seems to be their best seller so I got one for my husband. He too devoured his cake. This one is topped with chunks of peanut butter cup and has a creamier less grainy frosting than the lemon lavender. The cake was moist and delicious.
My final assessment. If you’re looking to satisfy a sweet tooth and want to stray from the norm, keep walking a few hundred feet past Casey’s. This place isn’t easy to find, it’s tucked into an alcove between a hair salon and a sports medicine place near Upper Crust. There’s no big sign, actually I couldn’t figure out what it was until I saw crowds of people coming out munching on cupcakes. The décor is shabby chic American style. You can’t be more opposite of Casey’s pink and white stripes. The cases are smaller and the stock seems to run out faster. When I went in the lady literally had her apron on and came out from the back with flour and powdered sugar on the apron. It was very homey.
If you want pretty packaging, good cupcakes for about the same price, I’m sure you’ll be ok at Casey’s. But if you don’t mind simple, no frills, down home style then you won’t be disappointed by Serinas! I gave them both 5 stars. They shouldn’t really be compared. They are a different concept. They’re both delicious. Casey’s wins on presentation and she offers vegan options. I’ll be going back to Casey’s for that reason alone. For the cupcake eater with no limitations… you’ll be happy at either place. I’d recommend giving this place a try. You will be pleasantly surprised.

So glad I finally tried this place out. I got the strawberry cupcake with a strawberry frosting, chocolate cupcake with chocolate frosting, and a lemon cookie.
Everything tastes amazing and was so moist.
Had the chocolate cupcake right away and my son and I loved it. The frosting is light and the cake itself was light and reminded me of German chocolate. The lemon cookie we had two hours later at the park and the frosting didn’t melt and was lemon awesomeness. The strawberry cupcake was dessert. Recommend if you put it in the fridge leave it out for a few minutes. It was pretty hard but the cake again was still soft. My new cupcake place from now on. The customer service was great just need a little larger selection in flavors.

Super moist cupcakes! Really, really yummy. The cupcakes with the fillings, like the cinnamon roll with coffee frosting, are very decadent but not too rich. Way better than Casey’s cupcakes. Will definitely come back and bring my friends!

Wow what an amazing cupcake place!!! I was very disappointed in Caseys cupcakes so I kind of gave up on a good cupcake place in riverside.
I walked around to explore a little after I had lunch and this place caught my eye (not because it was flashy but because I was craving for dessert) I walked in and the décor seemed rather dull but the fat kid inside of me still wanted a cupcake. I didn’t have much to choose from since it seemed like the best were already bought and she was in the back making fresh batches. I decided to order a Dutch Apple pie cupcake «to go». She put it in a very odd container in which made it difficult for me to take out the cupcake when I got home.
I was able to take it out and let me tell you it was probably THEE BEST cupcake I have ever had (and believe me I’ve had my share of cupcakes!) I will be going again! Hopefully before the other flavors run out again.

This place is the best place that I have ever been to for cupcakes. They are out of this world delicious. I especially like the Reece’s peanut butter cup cupcake. She is always helpful when we come here. We have even had custom cupcakes made for a birthday party. She made special cupcakes with fondant decorations on them. They were all real good tasting.

Great cupcakes and service. I was reluctant to try this place after all the hype surrounding Casey’s and not liking it.
Something sweet by serina is definitely the best of the best when it comes to cupcakes in riverside.
Why? First and foremost, Serina’s cupcakes taste homemade. Perfect amount of moisture and sweetness. Secondly, I enjoyed their assortment of flavors. My favorite is the espresso.
Last and certainly not least, they also had fresh granola bars and brownies made of black beans and zucchini. I know it sounds gross but you would never know otherwise unless they told you, they taste great!