Honey’s Favored Sweets & Eats, a local Black-owned business, offers an assortment of mouthwatering, savory snacks and desserts for the Bryan-College Station area.
Located inside Halftime at Highway 21 in Bryan, the booming business started on Demonica Young’s porch in May 2017 while she sold banana pudding and strawberry cheesecake dessert jars.
“My friend told me that I should try to fry cheesecake, so I said okay and did it,” Young said. “Since then I’ve been frying desserts, and now we’re making food, too.”
Though Young has been making desserts since 2017, Honey’s has only been in business since April 2020, and the grand opening was only two weeks after COVID-19 was declared a national emergency in mid-March. Much of the publicity and marketing for Honey’s Favored Sweets & Eats was done through Facebook, Young said.
“God led me to open my own business,” Young said. “I’ve always had a passion for cooking, but I’ve never desired to be a person who makes cakes and sweets. One day I was feeling down, and I couldn’t find any work that worked with my schedule of having three kids by myself, so God gave me a business.”
A Bryan-College Station native, Young said her personal history with the area turned into a desire to serve Aggieland in her own way.
“I watched multiple people opening businesses growing up here, and I even worked for some of them,” Young said. “I think that opening a local business myself gives the people around me and my family something to motivate them and look up to.”
Young said she loves seeing customers’ reactions when they get their food and desserts because the presentation of food is not usually what they’re expecting. Young douses her desserts with syrups and whipped cream, and adds garnishes like jalapenos, cheese, bacon or pickles on her snacks for extra flavor.
“The community has been my biggest influence in running my business,” Young said. “The support is crazy. I didn’t expect to have so many people rooting for me.”
Dessert jars and funnel cakes have become staples at Honey’s, and Young said she is often recognized when she goes out in the community for her delectable desserts.
The restaurant posts daily and weekly specials, game night giveaways, profit shares, donations, pictures and updates on business on their Facebook and Instagram pages.
“On a typical day, I usually get to work at about nine o’clock, then start to make all the food and desserts for the day,” Young said. “It usually takes two to three hours to do the food prep, then I stay here all day taking orders and serving my customers.”
Young said her family has been supportive of her starting and operating Honey’s.
“When I first started, [my kids] were definitely my biggest support system,” Young said. “They’d tell their teachers and people at school about the food I was making. My kids, particularly one of my sons who’s always in the kitchen with me, will continue to run the business one day.”
Early childhood education sophomore Kathryn Vale visited Honey’s to participate in her sorority’s profit share supporting Pretty Brown Girl.
“Ms. Demonica was friendly and welcoming,” Vale said. “The desserts there aren’t your typical ones — they’re fair food with a twist. Her recipes are all uniquely hers.”
Supporting independent businesses such as Honey’s Favored Sweets and Eats is integral to fostering innovation and helping the community thrive, Vale said.
Business management senior Priya Basin said Young is extremely helpful when answering customers’ questions, and her food is prepared fresh and fast.
“I’ve noticed Honey’s and similar small businesses give extra attention and care to each individual customer and really care about everyone having a positive experience,” Basin said. “Therefore, it’s important to support small businesses like Honey’s, especially during a pandemic. Our support is what is keeping them afloat and allowing them to remain in business during these times.”