Dolce Amore Sweets weathered the pandemic, adds new menu items

A lot of poeple know about Peruvian chicken, but fewer know about the sweeter side of Peruvian cuisine.

That’s why Jennifer Solis opened Dolce Amore Sweets Peruvian Bakery in Manassas. She and her family moved from Long Island, New York to Manassas in 2014.

They started their business selling sweets at the Manassas and Dale City farmers markets, and it grew from there. 

Solis opened Dolce Amore Sweets in June 2019 with plans to have a dine-in cafe and bakery. Their menu consisted of Peruvian desserts made in-house and six to seven tables in the dining area.

However, when the Coronavirus Pandemic hit, Solis and her team had to change their original plans. They applied for a PPP Loan and were approved, and made changes to their operation.

“We opened in June 2019 and then in March, that’s when the pandemic came. We weren’t even in business for a year, we were in business for a couple of months,” said Jennifer Solis. “It was kind of hard for us because we were just starting to get people to know us in the community. So we were trying to get people to come to the store and that’s when the pandemic came, and it was a really big impact for us.”

They had to change from dine-in to carryout and change their hours to close earlier to provide free delivery after 7 p.m. and started using disposable containers instead of their planned coffee mugs, glasses, and plates. They also changed their number of tables to only three in the indoor dining area and on the sidewalk. 

In addition, they expanded their menu to include a greater variety of food, including sandwiches, breakfast, smoothies, and ice-cream.

With new additions to the menu, and as the pandemic subsides, Solis hopes hungry customers headed back out to eat come to visit.

Dolce Amore Sweets is located at 8641 Sudley Road in Manassas.