5 Places To Get Your Paczki Fix Next Tuesday
Chicago is home to one of the largest contingents of Poles outside of Warsaw and their culture and cuisine is embedded in the city's fabric. One of our favorite Polish foods is paczki — doughnuts stuffed with either fruit or custards.
Paczki is a popular pre-Lenten treat and Paczki Day is next Tuesday, Feb. 28. Here are five bakeries to get your Paczki Day fix.
1. Weber's Bakery
Location: 7055 West Archer Ave.
Must-order: Apple-cinnamon, rolled in cinnamon sugar
Nearby Developments: Weber's Archer Heights location is near the city limits with Summit, Bridgeview and other Southwest Side suburbs teeming with infill retail and industrial development.
German immigrant Erich H. Weber founded this bakery in 1930 in Brighton Park. Weber's moved several times before Erich's son, Erich R. Weber, moved the bakery to its current location in 1979. Today the bakery is in the hands of Erich H. Weber's grandson Michael, and Michael's daughter Rebecca.
2. Bridgeport Bakery
Location: 2907 South Archer Ave.
Must-order: Apricot, dusted with powdered sugar
Nearby Developments: Bridgeport real estate activity is brisk in retail and restaurants, infill industrial and adaptive reuse.
Bridgeport Bakery, in business for less than 40 years, has found a new audience with the neighborhood's changing population demographics. The lines for paczki often stretch down the block the closer we get to Paczki Day. Come for the doughnuts and pick up some bacon buns while you are there.
3. Delightful Pastries
Location: Two locations at 5927 West Lawrence Ave. in Jefferson Park and the Chicago French Market, 131 North Clinton.
Must-order: Jameson whiskey with chocolate custard
Nearby Developments: Milwaukee Avenue intersects Jefferson Park, which makes the neighborhood ideal for TOD development running parallel to the Blue Line. But residents have voiced concern over several proposals, most recently a mixed-income development.
European pastry enthusiasts Dobra Bielinski and Stasia Hawryszczuk founded Delightful Pastries in 1999 in the heart of the highest concentration of Poles in Chicago, Jefferson Park. The bakery proved so successful that they opened a second shop in the Chicago French Market a decade later.
4. Dinkel's Bakery
Location: 3329 North Lincoln Ave.
Must-order: Cherry
Nearby Developments: Dinkel's is a short walk from the Paulina Brown Line 'L' station and at the epicenter of retail and multifamily TOD activity in Roscoe Village and Lakeview.
One of the oldest bakeries in Chicago, Dinkel's originally opened in 1922 and has remained a family-run business for four generations. Dinkel's has been in its current location since 1932 and has thrived as the neighborhood has changed over the past 80 years.
5. Kolatek's Bakery & Cafe
Location: 2445 North Harlem Ave.
Must-order: Caramel bacon
Nearby Developments: Harlem Avenue serves as Chicago's western border. Nearby suburban activity includes John Hancock's August 2016 acquisition of Oak Park Place and Golub delivering Vantage Oak Park.
The paczki at this Montclaire bakery are amazing, and the staff at Kolatek is committed to healthy baking in the European tradition. While you are buying your paczki, pick up some sprouted grain breads, which are higher in B vitamins and minerals than store-bought breads.
