First Place: Insomnia Cookies

Insomnia Cookies is a popular nationwide late-night bakery brand that specializes in a variety of sweet treats including multiple cookie flavors, ice cream choices, brownies and more for reasonable prices.

The brand was created in 2003 by Seth Berkowitz, and the Kent location is one of 17 Insomnia Cookies in the state of Ohio. 

“As soon as people walk into Insomnia Cookies, they can expect to immediately smell cookies,” said Ashley Edgar, the general manager at Kent’s Insomnia Cookies’ location. “That’s something pretty much everybody says when they come in is, ‘Oh my goodness, it smells like cookies. It smells so good here.’”

Edgar describes the atmosphere of Insomnia Cookies as happy and fun, and that the business aims to create a positive environment for all customers.

She said the purpose of Insomnia Cookies is to provide a late night hang-out option for college students to study and bond with their friends while munching on Insomnia’s freshly made cookies. 

“We always try to have fun,” she said. “Like, I always have a smile on my face. There’s always music playing just to make sure the atmosphere is light. We do always get busy, especially when it gets nice outside, and there’s a lot of people walking around. So sometimes, it can get tough, but we always keep it happy and fun.” 

Insomnia Cookies is located in downtown Kent on 295 S. Water St., and is open Sunday through Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m., and Thursday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 a.m. Students and locals can either order in-person or through the website. 

Second Place: Ming’s Bubble Tea 

Ming’s Bubble Tea is a small business that was started in Kent by Ming Xie and Yueming Dong in 2016, after seeing a demand for authentic bubble tea in the area.

Since opening Ming’s Bubble Tea, the small cafe has continued to grow in popularity due to their carefully crafted menu. According to Camryn Myrla, a shift lead at Ming’s, the customers are what makes Ming’s such a special place.

“I knew about Ming’s before I started working here,” Myrla said. “It was one of the top places where people in the community liked to hang out. Like if you have free time during the day, it’s like, ‘Oh, let’s get some drinks at Ming’s.’ It’s just a nice treat for students, especially around finals.” 

Ming’s Bubble Tea is also known for its noteworthy interior, which embraces a whimsical wall of post-it notes from customers that have little messages and adorable doodles. 

“Originally, it was a wishing wall,” Myrla said. “It started with those wooden blocks where people would just throw down their wishes, and then it slowly diverged into anything and everything.”

Ming’s Bubble Tea offers a variety of drinks on their menus. From the signature milk and fruit tea to classic hot drinks, Ming’s has several high-quality options for students around campus to sip and enjoy.

The shop is open every day from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., and is located on 1699 E. Main St. Additionally, students can order Ming’s Bubble Tea either in-person or through the website. 

Third Place: Daisy Pops 

Daisy Pops was started by Amy Mucha in downtown Kent in 2023, with the small business specializing in making and selling cake pops.

According to Mucha, she started Daisy Pops as a way to bring joy to people in her community. 

“Daisy Pops is a cake pop bakery where we have lots of different pops, so all sorts of fun cake pop flavors, and fun designs based on the holidays and such,” Mucha said. “Or we can customize cake pops, too. … we can take any cake pop dreams, and turn them into reality.” 

Mucha said that what makes Daisy Pops such a special place is the business goal—to make the experience for customers memorable and feel part of a community. 

“Two things we do when people walk into our doors or visit the pop-mobiles that are out and about is that we have them flip our pop counter, so that’s a yearly count of how many cake pops we’ve gone through,” Mucha said. “The other fun thing is that we ring a bell, and then we make them yell cake pops. So it’s just a little fun thing, and then people remember it.” 

Whether it be Frosted Animal Crackers, Fruity Pebbles or Lemon Blueberry Muffin, Daisy Pops has a large selection of cake pop flavors to choose from.

The bakery is located at 154 N. Water St., and it’s open Monday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Students and locals can purchase cake pops in-person or through the Daisy Pops website.

Ava Dunn is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].
Tatum Werntz is a reporter for KSTV. Contact her at [email protected].