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Thirty years after Magnolia Bakery first started drawing lines around the block in the West Village, the New York institution is taking its most famous dessert on the road.
Throughout July, Magnolia Bakery is celebrating its 30th anniversary with a citywide Banana Pudding Bar Tour, popping up at some of New York’s best-known attractions with limited-edition pudding bar flavors—and, in many cases, handing them out for free while supplies last. The tour features exclusive flavors at a different location at every stop: Chocolate Hazelnut kicked things off at The View restaurant yesterday and today, to be followed by Red Velvet at Magnolia’s Upper East Side Scoop Shop & Bar tomorrow, July 18.
Later this month, the tour heads to Brooklyn’s nostalgic Dial Up Days festival on July 25, where visitors can sample a Caramel Brownie Banana Pudding Bar. The following weekend, Top of the Rock gets the Rocky Road version on July 26 and 27 before the tour wraps with a Confetti Cake flavor at The Edge on July 29 and again on July 31. Magnolia will also make a special appearance at The Daily Show’s 30th anniversary taping on July 22.
While Magnolia first made its name with buttercream cupcakes after opening on Bleecker Street in 1996, its banana pudding eventually eclipsed everything else on the menu, inspiring cookbook recipes, copycats and a devoted fan base willing to queue for a cup layered with vanilla pudding, fresh bananas and vanilla wafers. The dessert’s reputation recently got another boost when Food Network named Magnolia’s banana pudding the No. 1 dessert in America as part of its latest ranking of the country’s must-try sweets.
Whether you’re a longtime Magnolia loyalist or simply looking for a free dessert between sightseeing stops, this might be one of the sweetest ways to spend the rest of July in New York.