Coffee & Treats in Casas Adobes

Sweet Things Cupcake Shoppe was founded by two working moms who escaped the corporate grind by converting their part-time love of baking into a full-time career. Cupcakes are baked fresh each day in the duo's Foothills Mall storefront, where the rotating selection of flavors includes options such as lemon drop with creamy lemon frosting, pumpkin with cream-cheese frosting, and french vanilla with rich buttercream. Featured alongside the shop's selection of coffees and ice creams, each tiny cake boasts its own delicious design, as well as a sweet, unique name inspired by the owner's family members and favorite TV weathermen.

The scents of baked desserts and warm brews waft through the interior of Something Sweet, emanating from the kitchen's oven, which churns out everything from brownies to cheesecakes to the aptly named "Oh My God, You've Got to be Kidding" éclair. These confections pair with a cast of specialty beverages including 20 hot teas and sodas imported direct from the carbonated mountain springs of Italy. The shop also whips up light café fare including soups, salads, sandwiches, and melts.

But Something Sweet isn't just a place to eat and invent geometry theorems. The staff invites patrons to stick around and play board games, read, or participate in events such as book exchanges. They also foster good-spirited competition with the Sugar OD Challenge, which invites participants to devour a mountain of brownies, cheesecake, and ice cream in hopes of winning immortality on the eatery's wall of fame.

Surely the world would be a better place if the potentially lethal gold in Olympic medals were replaced with festive-ribboned cookies. Today's Groupon gets you $20 worth of delectables from The Khaya Cookie Company's online store for $10. Like a munchy bobsledder in the heated comfort of your own living-room bobsled, you'll feel like a celebrated winner who has helped put this glorious nation one cookie further ahead of arch-rival Sweden in the rankings.

Floor-to-ceiling windows adorn the front wall of Sparkroot, showering light onto a small tree that sits at the center of a circular wooden table. This café space, lined with the work of local and international artists, aims to spark creativity with paintings, varied seating options, and a lofted area that takes advantage of the towering ceiling. Within these confines, tunes blast from a classic jukebox, harmonizing with the chatter of conversations and fingers typing on laptops.

Of course, customers don't watusi into Sparkroot just for the atmosphere, so the staff works to create a menu as innovative as the decor. Behind the counter, baristas brew espressos and lattes using Blue Bottle coffee, a small roaster that uses organic and pesticide-free, shade-grown beans. The drinks, which also include craft beers and wines, are complemented by housemade vegetarian meals, including pressed ciabatta sandwiches and crunchy granola.

Helmed by Marseilles-born chef Coralie Satta, Ghini's offers a bevy of made-to-order eats crafted from locally grown ingredients. The exhaustive menu ensures palate-pleasers for all tastes. Early-morning cereal swillers can branch out with an international breakfast, including a café au lait with croissant ($5.25), a three-egg omelette ($6.75) served with sliced hot-house tomatoes or sliced oranges and toast, or a duo of stuffed ham and Swiss crêpes ($8.25). For a more-decadent day-starter, try the hot, buttered apple rum and chocolate crêpes ($8.25). Lunch options include thick sandwiches, crisp salads, and Ghini's originals. Wrap lips around a quarter pound of oven-baked turkey breast, imported swiss, cranberries, lettuce, and mayo stacked on a French baguette ($6.55 for a half portion, $7.55 for a whole), or fork heaping bites of parmesan-sprinkled romaine, garlic croutons, and black olives ($5.95 for half portion, $7.95 for whole). On Tuesday, social eaters can take advantage of Ghini's tapas menu by passing small plates of freshly baked ciabatta bread ($6), French melted double-cream brie and grapes ($6), and house-made pâté with cornichons and hot-house tomatoes ($8) in between devising plots to wipe out the Superfriends.