Detroit family masters the sweet potato at Sweet Potato Sensations

DETROIT (FOX 2) - If you're looking for Southern-style meals and incredible desserts, Sweet Potato Sensations is the place for you.

It started as a love story and turned into a community staple for a Detroit family.

In 1987, the husband and wife team of Jeffrey and Cassandra Thomas opened Sweet Potato Sensations on the city's west side. 
 
"My father loves candy yams. My mother does not," their daughter Espy told us. Papa's love for sweet potatoes caused an adorable back-and-forth with the couple, which led to Mom baking some cookies.
 
"So my mother loves cookies. She said I'll make you a cookie to shut you up. And she made him a sweet potato cookie back in the '80s, and it was good. Fast forward, we did a 30-block garage sale in Rosedale Park; we had 125 bags of cookies and less than 3 hours, they were all gone."
 
Thirty-two years later and this family business is all about sweet potatoes.

"Sweet potatoes galore, all day, every day. Fresh sweet potatoes, every day, all day," Espy said. "We go through probably upwards of over 60,000 lbs. of sweet potatoes a year."

They have plenty of sweet and savory items on their menu. 
 
You can watch in the video player above as Josh Landon tries out the sweet potato grits, waffles and pancakes. But the menu item that stopped him in his tracks was the sweet potato cheesecake. 

Josh says the family has mastered the concept of sweet potatoes. 

Sweet Potato Sensation is closed on Mondays, but it is open 10 a.m. - 7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and 11 a.m. - 5 pm. on Sundays. It's located at 17337 Lahser Road in Detroit.