By Elizabeth Ladzinski
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
UPPER WEST SIDE — New Yorkers got a little taste of Beverly Hills on Tuesday — literally.
Sprinkles, the West Coast-founded cupcake shop that has been vetted by the likes of both Oprah Winfrey and Katie Holmes, started shelling out free cupcakes in Manhattan on Monday, and will continue to do so through May 10 in advance of the bakery's first New York location opening on the Upper East Side on May 13.
On Tuesday afternoon, the van made a stop near Lincoln Center on Broadway, between West 66th and West 67th streets, where driver Ellen Huggins, 30, gave out as many free cupcakes as visitors asked for.
"You don't need that money out! Put that money away!" she said, in between handing out bags full of cupcakes in flavors of Red Velvet, Lemon Coconut, Black and White, Strawberry and Peanut Butter Chip.
The "Sprinklesmobile" will travel to Central Park on Wednesday, Rockefeller Center on Thursday, and Times Square on Friday. Huggins suggested checking out the Sprinklesmobile Twitter page for location updates.
"A lot of people walking by are like, 'How much are the cupcakes?' And I'm just like, 'They're free!'" Huggins said.
She plans to give away 1,000 cupcakes each day, possibly splitting the giveaways into a morning and afternoon shift. After an hour on the street Tuesday, only 400 were left.
After hearing rave reviews of the cupcakes from her friends in Washington D.C. and Chicago — where the shop has other locations — Minde Christensen, 33, decided to try them herself.
"Everyone I know loves them so I thought I'd give them a shot," Christensen said, who came down to Lincoln Center from Harlem to grab a bag of the free sweets.
Her children, Riley and Chase, 2 and 4 years old respectively, seemed to enjoy them.
"I'm done with mine!" said Chase, after a few bites of a Black and White, made of Belgian dark chocolate cake and vanilla frosting.
"Who can beat a free cupcake, honestly?" Minde added.
Sprinkles founder Candace Nelson, who opened her Santa Monica Boulevard location in 2005, plans to open the new location at 780 Lexington Ave. between East 60th and East 61st streets, near Bloomingdale's.
The bakery will take over the space that formerly housed 65-year-old Italian restaurant, Gino's.
