Over the past few years, new businesses have boomed in popularity and caught social media by storm. One of these new businesses —  Crumbl Cookies, has caught the eye of many. Established back in 2017, the small chain, with a location in the Upper West Side, has benefited from a new wave of social media hype surrounding their cookies. TikTok to be specific, where a multitude of people — from well known influencers to everyday people like ourselves, post videos weekly about the new flavors. Their allure of amassing so many customers is changing the flavors every week. Every week, the business comes out with five new cookie flavors, and like clockwork, by the end of the week, these flavors are gone and replaced with new ones.  Customers must hurry to get to the store before the end of the week, because as soon as the clock strikes midnight on Monday, Crumbl comes out with an all new menu of cookie flavors.

This business idea is quite genius, forcing consumers to attend weekly to try the newest flavors before they’re gone. Because once they’re gone, there’s no telling when you’ll have them ever again. The newest Crumbl location, opened up in the Upper West Side, just a short train ride away from the iSchool, and has become a very popular way to spend time after school.

The lines to this location are long, people often spend half an hour waiting in line just to get a cookie. While this may seem like a lot of dedication all for a small dessert, many would argue otherwise:

Mareez Hasaballa, a junior at the iSchool, comments on her experiences waiting on line at Crumbl, “It was freezing cold that day and I waited for like thirty minutes in the freezing cold. The lines  were so long but it was like everyone was super dedicated to getting the cookie, which is sort of insane to think about.”

Leo Godsberg, a senior at the iSchool adds, “I personally didn’t have to wait on the line, I think I went on a Monday so the very start of the week and not many people were there.” He adds, “I think that the cookies are good enough, but I wouldn’t really say it’s worth it to wait in line for almost an hour. The overall fun part is getting these weirdly special cookies that you might not try again, which is probably why Crumbl is so popular.” 

This makes sense, since Crumbl is constantly changing up their flavors, there is never a guarantee that you’ll enjoy every single flavor they put out. More so, it seems like it’s less about the cookie and more about the experience at that point. A unique cookie — one you’ll never have again. Weirdly, we’ve all become cookie connoisseurs. 

Dylan Tisman validates this, stating, “The flavors are actually really cool. They had a key-lime pie cookie the other week which I thought was so cool. It may not seem worth it to spend so much on a cookie, but sometimes the flavors just make it hard not to want to try. Especially if you know you’ll never get that flavor again.” 

Quincy Orr seemingly agrees, “I check the flavors every week, even if I’m not gonna go. It’s fun to see, and really exciting, you really never know what flavors to expect which makes it so fun.”

The real question is, though, are the flavors worth the agonizing long lines? 

“I can’t believe I had enough self-restraint to do that. The cookie was decent, but I don’t think it was worth it. But then again, you can’t really judge it because it all really depends on the week. The flavors are total hit or misses and that really dictates if it’s worth the long wait,” Hasaballa explains.

Castle Bloodgood adds, “I love Crumbl, it’s just exciting getting to try the new flavors, I get how the lines may be kinda annoying but I don’t think it matters. If you want the flavor enough to wait in line, it’s definitely worth it.” 

Rather, Emilia Bercow seems to disagree, “I don’t know, I personally didn’t have a good experience, the cookies were good, there’s nothing wrong with them, I just don’t see why I would wait in line for them if they’re not life changing by any means.” It seems that no one can really come to a consensus or a final conclusion as to how they feel about Crumbl. They’re good, but are they great? Who knows, maybe that’s the fun in it. You’ll really never know until you try them for yourself.