13 Beloved Illinois Bakeries That Have Kept Their Traditions Alive For 50 Years
Nothing beats the smell of a bakery that’s been perfecting its recipes for generations. Some of these Illinois spots have been rolling dough and frosting cakes since before your grandparents were born, and they’re still drawing crowds every single morning.
Walking into one of these time-tested bakeries feels like stepping into a delicious piece of history, where every cookie and loaf carries decades of tradition.
These 13 bakeries have survived changing tastes, tough economies, and countless trends because they stuck to what they do best: honest, handmade baked goods that taste like home.
1. Ferrara Bakery – Chicago (Little Italy)
Chicago’s Little Italy would feel incomplete without Ferrara’s pastry cases glowing on Taylor Street.
Roots go back to 1908, when the Ferrara and Lezza families opened Ferrara-Lezza & Co. as one of the city’s first Italian pastry and candy shops, turning out wedding cakes, cookies, and confections for neighborhood celebrations.
Walk in now and it still feels like a family celebration waiting to happen, with cannoli, syrup-soaked cakes, and Italian cookies piled in generous rows.
Generations of Chicagoans have ordered their big life event cakes here, so every slice carries a little neighborhood history with it.
2. Scafuri Bakery – Chicago (Little Italy)
On another corner of Taylor Street, Scafuri Bakery feels like a time capsule with a rolling pin.
This family bakery dates back to 1904, when Luigi Scafuri started baking for fellow Italian immigrants and built up a loyal crowd around his breads and pastries.
A later generation revived the shop, keeping the original recipes for biscotti, Italian cookies, and sweet breads while adding a cozy coffeehouse vibe.
Locals still pop in for espresso and a sfogliatella, telling stories about grandparents who stood at the same counter decades ago.
3. Lutz Café & Pastry Shop – Chicago (Lincoln Square)
Step into Lutz on Montrose Avenue and it feels like someone teleported a European pastry shop straight into Chicago’s North Side.
This café and pastry shop has been serving European-style tortes, petit fours, and butter-rich cookies since 1948, complete with old-world presentation and an outdoor garden.
Families come for elaborate birthday cakes with marzipan roses, while others linger over slices of dobos torte and coffee the way their parents did.
Every torte and layered slice keeps that mid-century European café dream alive, no passport needed.
4. Bennison’s Bakery – Evanston
Downtown Evanston starts to smell like butter and yeast before sunrise thanks to Bennison’s.
This North Shore landmark has been around since 1938, specializing in European-style breads, pastries, and award-winning viennoiserie that still come out of traditional deck ovens.
Morning regulars line up for croissants, doughnuts, and coffee cakes, while weekends bring long lines for decorated cakes and seasonal treats.
Staff members talk about their sourdoughs and laminated doughs with the pride of people guarding a family heirloom, because in a way, they are.
5. Allegretti’s Bakery – Norridge
Italian pastry dreams live loud at Allegretti’s in Norridge. The sign proudly calls it an Italian Bakery since 1947, and that history shows in every tray of cannoli, butter cookies, and cakes.
Families swing by after church for cookie assortments packed in white bakery boxes tied with string, a ritual that hasn’t really changed in decades.
Lemon knots, cannoli filled to order, and cream-filled pastries keep locals coming back for every birthday, holiday, and random Tuesday treat.
6. Calumet Bakery – Chicago & Lansing
On Chicago’s far Southeast Side and out in Lansing, Calumet Bakery is that old-school spot where just one doughnut somehow becomes a whole box.
The Calumet Bakery family has been baking for the Chicago area since 1935, and their own materials emphasize that they still use the original recipes for sweet rolls, doughnuts, nut rolls, and more.
Regulars swear by the classic cake doughnuts with thick frosting, nut rolls, and towering special-occasion cakes.
Walking through the door feels like stepping into neighborhood history, with generations of customers pointing out my favorite in the case to anyone who will listen.
7. Lezza Spumoni & Desserts – Elmhurst & Bellwood
Spumoni might as well have its own family tree at Lezza. The Lezza family brought their spumoni recipe from Italy to Chicago’s West Side in 1905 and built a business around that signature dessert, keeping the recipe in the family for more than a century.
Today, the wholesale operation in Bellwood and the retail bakery and gelateria in Elmhurst turn out classic layered spumoni swirled around a whipped cream center, along with cookies, cakes, and cannoli.
Locals pick up Lezza spumoni for holidays the way others pick up pies, treating it as a non-negotiable family tradition.
8. Underbrink’s Bakery – Quincy
Quincy residents grow up with Underbrink’s the way kids in other towns grow up with playgrounds.
This neighborhood bakery opened in 1929 and still calls itself a made-from-scratch bakery for all occasions, with daily cases full of cookies, breads, pies, and cakes.
People drive from around the region for the famous iced angel food cupcakes, which feel almost weightless under a thick crown of icing.
Vintage-style signage and a no-nonsense counter setup make it easy to imagine parents and grandparents standing in the exact same spot, picking out birthday cakes and Sunday treats.
9. Jubelt’s Bakery & Restaurant – Litchfield
Along historic Route 66 in Litchfield, Jubelt’s is the kind of place where you can get both a hot plate of comfort food and a box of cookies for the road.
The business traces its roots back roughly a century, and today it operates as a full bakery and restaurant right off the Mother Road, with breads, donuts, cookies, and pies alongside soups, sandwiches, and all-day breakfast.
Road-trippers treat Jubelt’s as a required stop, while locals use it as their go-to for birthday cakes and family dinners.
That mix of travelers and town regulars gives the dining room a lively hum that feels very Route 66, very Illinois, and very much rooted in tradition.
10. Duke Bakery – Alton & Granite City
Down along the Mississippi River, Duke Bakery has been part of Alton’s daily rhythm since 1951.
Three generations have run the business, turning out doughnuts, breads, and custom cakes that show up at everything from Little League celebrations to milestone anniversaries.
Locals talk about specific favorites like they are old friends, and many remember getting pink bakery boxes from Duke’s after school or on Saturday mornings.
Additional locations, including Granite City, extend that same small-town bakery feel to more communities without losing the original charm.
11. D’Amato’s Bakery – Chicago (West Town)
Grand Avenue on Chicago’s West Side has serious old-school energy, and D’Amato’s fits that vibe perfectly.
This Italian bakery has been family-owned since 1970, firing bread and pizza in a coal-burning oven that gives everything a signature flavor and crisp crust.
Customers come for crusty loaves, focaccia by the tray, and stuffed bread that doubles as an easy dinner.
Subs on fresh bread turn lunch into an event, and many Chicago families have grabbed D’Amato’s bread for Sunday pasta night for decades.
12. Lou Mitchell’s Restaurant & Bakery – Chicago (Downtown)
Travelers starting a Route 66 road trip in Chicago often fuel up at Lou Mitchell’s, where breakfast and bakery goods have been part of the city’s story since 1923.
The family diner near Union Station built its reputation on all-day breakfast and house-baked breads, and is widely recognized as a Chicago institution and Route 66 landmark.
Guests still receive little treats like donut holes or Milk Duds with their meals, a quirky tradition people love to tell friends about.
Between the eggs, skillets, Greek-influenced dishes, and bakery counter, it feels like stepping into a classic diner scene that somehow never went out of style.
13. Jarosch Bakery – Elk Grove Village
Elk Grove Village leans heavily on Jarosch Bakery for birthdays, graduations, and every holiday in between.
This family-owned shop has been in business for decades and is widely described as a long-standing traditional bakery known for custom cakes, butter cookies, coffee cakes, and everyday breads.
Customers praise both the old-fashioned recipes and the ability to create modern designs that still taste like something grandma would approve of.
Holiday lines can snake toward the door, which tells you everything about how deeply woven Jarosch is into local family traditions.