Insomnia Cookies opened a new location near IUPUI Campus in the strip mall by Lockefield Gardens and the Avenue. They held their grand opening on Jan. 14 giving away gift bags with coupons and other items during the event.
Per their website, the idea for Insomnia Cookies was created by a group of college students who were craving a late night snack. As a company created by college students for college students, they market towards being accessible and flexible for the average college student. This is also why many of their locations are on or near college campuses.
Store Operations Manager for Insomnia Cookies Ashley Carroll believes that Insomnia Cookies is perfect for a campus like IUPUI.
“We drive ourselves to putting locations in college campuses, of course we do have some in bigger cities. Our main focus is college students and college campuses, so with IUPUI’s campus I think it’d be fantastic,” Carroll said. “We’re open really really late at night, and I know that a lot of things in the area start closing down 10-11 o’clock, we’re going to be here till 1 a.m. Sunday through Wednesday and 3 a.m. Thursday through Saturday so that kids can come in on late nights and enjoy the cookies.”
According to Carroll, their late-night business model is what sets them apart from other bakeries in the area.
“I think it’s our late night focus, we kind of own the night in that aspect. I know a lot of more local bakeries will close pretty early, so I think our late night business model is perfect for students because they’re up late studying, up late on the weekends going out and having a good time, they can come in and enjoy our cookies,” Carroll said.
Ryan Stump, a senior media arts and sciences major, who attended the grand opening also believes the late hours will be a key draw for IUPUI students.
“Yes, especially because you’ve got lots of people staying up late working on school work, actual work, going out with friends kind of thing, studying etc. I do think it does a good job of accommodating students because there is a place called Topper’s Pizza that is open until like 3 a.m., and it’s always busy. I think the late nights really help,” Stump said.
Until now, the closest Insomnia Cookies was in Broad Ripple. With the new, closer location, Stump believes this will also be a draw for students.
“Lots of people like cookies, and, in the past, some of my friends and I have gone up to the Insomnia Cookies out in Broad Ripple,” Stump said. “I’m sure there have been lots of students who have done this as well. I know it’s also popular in a bunch of other areas. Since the Broad Ripple one is the closest Insomnia Cookies, and now we have one closer, I can see lots of people liking it.”
Insomnia Cookies offers a variety of flavors including some options that are vegan and gluten free
1. Chocolate Chunk - This cookie elicits a really nostalgic feeling, and serves as a perfect fill in for students that may be missing home baked chocolate chip cookies. Before you’re even done with your first bite you’re already craving more.
2. Peanut Butter Chip - Perfect for any peanut butter lovers, gives the perfect flavor without being too overly sticky or chewy. Like the Chocolate Chunk, it’ll be hard to stop yourself from having a good few of these.
3. Double Chocolate Mint - For anyone who is craving Girl Scout cookies, these taste exactly like thin mints. The chocolate and mint flavor balance each other out without being overpowering.
A Note About Allergy-Friendly Options from Abby Godsen
Insomnia Cookies offers three vegan options as well as one gluten free option. As someone who has been gluten free since I was eight-years-old, I was a little disappointed with the selection of allergy friendly options. When there are three vegan options, I would have hoped to see at least an equal amount of allergy friendly options. Since they have a gluten free chocolate chip cookie, hopefully other cookie recipes can be adapted in the future too.
Another issue I had was the fact that there were no allergy warnings on the ice cream they had. Just looking at the flavors it is hard to tell if some of them have wheat in them or not. It would be really useful to add allergy labels to make this more clear to customers.
Overall though, I liked the gluten free chocolate chip cookie. I think that if someone with Celiac’s Disease or a gluten intolerance had a craving for a late night cookie, this isn’t a bad one. It isn’t the best gluten free cookie I have ever had, but I would buy it again if I was in the mood for a chocolate chip cookie.
These cookies are perfect to satisfy a late night sugar craving without making you feel horrible afterwards. There are a strong variety of options available, but we would hope to see more allergy friendly options available in the future. For those who are looking to try Insomnia Cookies for themselves, their hours are 11-1 a.m. Monday through Wednesday, 11-3 a.m. Thursday and Friday, 12 p.m.-3 a.m. Saturday, and 12 p.m.-1 a.m. Sunday. The storefront is located at 917 Indiana Ave, across from Lockfield Garden Apartments, and they also do delivery.
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