What’s the deal with Cinnabon?

Let me start this article by prefacing that I love snacks. Junk food, snack food, chocolates, sweets, any and all things sugary are an ideal part of my week. So when a place opened up in the mall I work in that sells hot cinnamon rolls drowning with icing, I was obviously intrigued.

Until it opened up a few stores down from where I work, I had never really heard of Cinnabon. Apparently Cinnabon is a big deal. I honestly assumed I would just be able to walk up to the Cinnabon and get a snack like I could from any other pretzel stand or food kiosk in Crossgates Mall. I have never been more wrong in my life. Clocking out from a shift I decided to get some last minute holiday shopping done and thought I’d try out a warm gooey treat from Cinnabon. To my shock and horror, I was greeted by a huge line that stretched far past the small Cinnabon counter.

They can’t all be waiting for Cinnabon…can they? More than thirty people crowded in front of the storefront. The smell of warm cinnamon filled the air and seemed to make everyone who passed the daunting line smile and sigh at the idea of having to wait so long for their shopping trip snack.

The long haired women at the register called out a name for the next order up. I asked the family who belonged to the three boxes of Cinnabon how long they had to wait in line to get their snack. “45 minutes,” said the eager eyed daughter, “But it’s totally worth it!”

I was baffled. There was no way I was going to spend almost an hour waiting in line for a cinnamon bun, no matter how good they might have smelled. Needless to say I walked away from the line, finished my shopping and went home.

A few days later I had all but forgotten about the new Cinnabon and was waiting tables at my job as usual. I had a couple sit in my section they carried not one, not two, but six large boxes from Cinnabon with them. I couldn’t help but ask how long they had to wait in line to get their treats. The man explained how they too waited nearly an hour, and they had come to the mall, fighting peak holiday crowds I might add all the way from Connecticut JUST to go to Cinnabon.

I couldn’t help but laugh when the couple told me that they came all that way just for cinnamon rolls. They asked me if I had ever had one. I admitted that I had wanted to try one, but was not going to wait in line for a food court snack. The couple ate their lunch and paid and left. About an hour later I see the same couple walk back into my restaurant. They are now carrying at least a dozen large boxes from Cinnabon. The woman hands me one and says, “Merry Christmas!” and walked away.

I was stunned. Had they really waited in line again?!?! I was left holding the large Cinnabon box, still warm. I opened it up. Gobs of icing dripped down the large hot roll. My mouth watered. I excitedly tried a mouthful of the snack I didn’t have to wait in line for.

I now know what all the hype is about. It might have just looked like a cinnamon roll…but it was not JUST a cinnamon roll. It was literally the most amazing and intensely flavored cinnamon based snack I have ever eaten. If you have not tried it yet, go there! Now! After licking the last of the icing from my fingers after finishing the Cinnabon, I finished the rest of my shift a usual. I then clocked out and promptly made my way to the back of the long line.