Just Eat Me Sweets: A Delicious Metairie Bakery You Need to Try
Have you ever had a cookie so delicious that the taste lingers in your mouth long after the last bite? What about a pastry so yummy that you dream about it until you can have it again? I have had many delicious desserts in my time, but very few have left me dreaming for more. Located in the 2900 block of Metairie Road is a hidden gem bakery home to cookies and pastries you’ll continue to dream about long after the last bite: Just Eat Me Sweets.
JEMS opened its doors late March 2024, but while the storefront may be only a few months old, owner and pastry chef Avery Grundmeyer has been creating delicious treats for years. Her passion for baking and innovative cookie recipes began in high school, where her teachers and fellow students were the first to try some of her delicious creations. After graduation, she took this passion to New York to attend the Institute of Culinary Education; passion and pastry training combined to give Metairie a must-visit bakery when Avery, at just 21 years old, opened her storefront.
Just Eat Me Sweets is a can’t miss sweet spot because of the vibrant decor, mouth-watering pastries, and the owner whose passion is so contagious that you’ll rave about these cookies and other delights to everyone you see.
You walk through the door into a spacious bakery with vibrant decor (complete with a fun and sassy pink mural) and an open kitchen design where you’re immediately greeted by owner and staff before the door closes behind you. The smells of fresh baked cookies and pastries make you immediately hungry, and the beautiful, yet simple, designs of the baked goods make leaving without one of everything very difficult.
Cookie flavors change monthly, but the chocolate chip, a heavenly blend of chocolatey and salty, and petty four, a buttery almond perfection, flavors have remained constant. Petit fours are my favorite sweet treat in the world, and these petty four cookies are the things dreams are made of. Other monthly flavors can be found on JEMS social media (past flavors include maple bacon, oatmeal cookie butter, espresso mocha, lucky charms, cinnamon toast crunch, and more). Cookie flavors are diverse enough to appeal to everyone, but so delicious that you’ll need to try them all!
In addition to cookies, Avery bakes up a variety of pastry options, such as different brownie flavors (my mouth is watering just thinking of the salty-chocolatey-fudgey original brownie and OMG the s’mores one…), creme brûlée bars, and her should-be-famous crookie (a crispy, flaky croissant filled with gooey cookie heaven… is there anything better?). In the months since it opened, JEMS has also added Italian sodas and select other beverages, daily pastry specials, gelato, and other mouth-watering delights.
And while the cookies and pastries are enough reason to visit, Just Eat Me Sweets also offers custom cakes and cookies. As if anything could match her pastries, these cakes and cookies are gorgeously well-done and super delicious-definitely a hidden gem (or should I say JEM) of the bakery.
Everyone should try this bakery because everything Avery and her team (which include her mom and sister) make is delicious and unlike anything you’ll find at other bakeries. At the very least, you need a petty four cookie and a brownie, because those will tempt you to go back again and again. My kids love to stop by to get cookies for the rest of our family (easy birthday or holiday treats) and other occasions (perfect teacher appreciation week surprises). I know we can get delicious treats anywhere in NOLA, but visit this bakery for the delicious treats, and keep coming back because you’re supporting a local business run by a young, female businesswoman who chased her dreams and is a great example of what hard work, passion, and a dream can do for anyone. As a mom of two little girls, I love that they can grow up seeing in real life that anything they dream is possible
