Marcy Haas has been running Sweet Things By Marcy (SweetThingsbyMarcy.com) for five years. What started as baking from her home kitchen quickly outgrew that space. Today, her business operates out of the old Culinary Kitchen building.

And don’t let the name Sweet Things make you think she only does desserts. Her current weekly staple of chicken and dumpling soup (available from fall to spring) will soon switch to a house-made Southern pimento cheese soup included in the Southern fare snackpack, with rotating soups like gumbo, hearty lentil, veggie beef, and white chicken chili. Each week brings new offerings, including a vegetarian option, available in pint, quart, and gallon sizes. She has also recently added paninis to the menu, and the turkey bacon panini is a must-try.

Kentucky Butter Cake

The exact location of Sweet Things By Marcy is across the street from the Bennett Martin Library and next to the Lincoln Foundation Garden—which, honestly, feels intentional. The garden is the perfect place to sit and indulge in one of Marcy’s sweets, soups, or paninis.

In addition to her downtown location, her products can also be found at Lila Mae’s Southern Kitchen, where desserts are ordered fresh each week from Sweet Things.

Bread Pudding with Homemade Bourbon Caramel Sauce

For Marcy, freshness and quality are non-negotiable. Making sure desserts are fresh and consistent every single time is a skill she has honed over years of business. Looking ahead to 2026, she is interested in expanding offerings and getting her products into the hands of more Lincoln residents, giving people a small break from their day and, hopefully, a mouthful of sweetness.

During our visit, we tried the Kentucky butter cake, bread pudding with homemade bourbon caramel sauce, red velvet cake, and peach cobbler. The bread pudding was incredibly moist and fluffy, while the red velvet was rich and dense with a surprisingly light frosting.

Red Velvet Cake

Marcy is largely a one-woman show, with occasional help from family and friends measuring ingredients or chopping vegetables for soups. That hands-on control shows up in the consistency of everything coming out of the kitchen.

“Honestly, I wasn’t planning on it going this far,” Marcy said. “This is more than I imagined.”

Peach Cobbler

There are no bells or whistles here. No over-the-top presentation. No wasted time or money. Just quality ingredients, careful execution, and food that tastes exactly like you hoped it would.