Swedish Bakery

A Chicago classic, this place has been around longer then most of the patrons. There’s a bit of a wait when it’s busy, but this isn’t a big box grocery store bakery counter, it’s a homemade, attention to detail, authentic family owned joint.
Their traditional Swedish pastries are to DIE for, but if you want something specific you better order it because there is no guarantee that the family two numbers ahead of you hasn’t already scooped it up. When my husband and I tied the knot a few years ago they did our wedding cake and some AMAZING cupcakes that our guests still talk about today.
I am a total marzipan freak and can’t leave without taking at least one slice home. Not many bakeries offer marzipan these days so it is truly a rare treat.
You really can’t go wrong with any of their offerings, and again if it’s busy, you’ll wait. And it will be totally worth it.

Great place to buy your cake but filled with worst customer service. They are filled with attitude. Might find a better place where you spend money and have some respect. Never again

Awesome ordered for years king cake awesome birthday cakes awesome stag so friendly but order with good span of time to complete thank you

A road trip to Chicago is not complete without a jaunt to the Swedish Bakery. For our trips, we frequently have a list of things «we must buy» and then a separate list from my Swedish father with his want list. Something to keep in mind here, just because you might WANT something… they might not have it in stock when you get there. They are a true bakery in that they make stuff, & sell it til it’s gone. If you don’t see it, they probably can’t make it magically appear from the back room. I.E., Don’t get your heart set 100% on an almond coffee cake to gnosh on, because chances are the person in front of you will buy the last one (as was the case on our last visit). Shed the solitary, slow-​trickling tear for the loss of that delight, and then find something new to add to your «favorite» list from the Swedish Bakery.
Tips for your first visit:
* It runs on the «number» system. If it is busy, as soon as you get in the store, grab a number. Know that many people (like myself) are there to fill up a bag of goodies, and it takes awhile to serve everyone. While you’re waiting for your number to be up (this place is way more enjoyable to wait in than the BMV), walk around & solidify your selections. Make a physical list if you have to. Other patrons WILL glare you down if you are the «hmmm & haw’er» who won’t expediently make your decisions.
A few tips for the newbie:
*Try something new on every visit. It’s easy to do. Between cookies, petite pastries, bread options… There is NO Reason not to be adventurous here. Watch yourself though, it’s very easy to drop $ 30 – 40 more than you intended to spend with impulse purchases here. It’s all just so good!
*Do you like marzipan? Get a «Kaj» (frog). You might *think* they are for children… but in my mind they are the perfect treat for an adult. Delicate sponge cake, jam, whipped cream & a delightfully soft chewy layer of marzipan, all in a cute little froggy… What’s not to love?! (unless you are allergic to nuts, then this isn’t for you…) Know that these have to be refrigerated though, so if you are a traveler like us, be prepared (i.e. with plastic utensils ready to kill those cute froggys on the car ride home).
*Are you a rye bread fan? Try Limpa… it will rock your socks off. They have 2 versions, the Stockholm Limpa (available year round) & the Vort Limpa (available around Christmas time & Easter). I’m a Limpa snob, Swedish heritage & all, and I thought I made a «darn good» Vort Limpa. Then I tried the Swedish Bakery’s version & suddenly I’m afraid to make my brick-​like Limpa come Christmas time this year :-) (mine’s still good, theirs is better, I’m sure it’s the mill of the rye).

I waited over 45 minutes for a prepaid cake pickup that, when our number finally got called, took 1 minute and 56 seconds to process (seriously, I turned on my iPhone timer). Fine, if the cake were truly superlative and exceptional, I can live with that. But it wasn’t. It was average (and that’s being kind). We picked up the cake around 4:30 pm on Saturday and consumed it no later than 2 hours from then and the cake itself was dry and not at all tender or moist.
From the reviews, there must be some serious nostalgia that’s going on with this place because my experience was no less than awful. At this point, there appear to be enough negative reviews about the poor cake pickup process that you’d think that management would do something about it, but it appears that they don’t care because they feel that they bring in enough business that a few disgruntled cake people won’t have any affect on their bottom lines. Don’t be like me and get lured into the hype. All that needs to be done is to have an express line solely for prepaid cake orders. But no, let’s keep the status quo, and make people who have ordered and paid for their cakes wait with everyone else who wants to order and pickup regular bakery orders. That makes about as much sense as a restaurant operating a take out counter asking you to wait to pickup your take out with the people who are waiting for a table.
If you don’t value your time, by all means go ahead and order a cake from Swedish Bakery.
I, for one, am one and done with this bakery.

Awesome place. Been going for decades. Love it. Top Notch place.

Stopped in there on a busy Saturday right before Easter and had great service. The lady made some great recommendations and really helped me make some good choices. Even better, the cookies were amazing!

Half of these delicious looking pastries are stale. Purchased 4 items. See picture below. Two were OK not great (almond torte and apple pie) everything else was a waste.

Amazing selection, affordable prices and great customer service. Traditional and modern breads, cookies, sweet treats and more.
You walk in and take a number. Pay attention to the screen on the wall, as numbers move quickly. It’s best to look around while you’re waiting so you know exactly what you want to order when your time comes. It really makes all the difference, given the lengthy lines.
Highly recommend checking out the bakery if you’re in the area. We toured the Swedish-​American Museum first, then visited the bakery.

The Swedish Bakery is part of our annual Christmas shopping trip to Andersonville to prepare for the holiday smörgåsbord. We stock up on coffee bread (the Andersonville is my favorite), pepparkaka and limpa! To complete your Swedish cravings, try Tre Kronor restaurant in the neighborhood. Still looking for a good place for potato sausage in the area though (genes is alright, but always low on stock in the season).

This bakery is a staple in the Andersonville community. Came here to get some cookies before dinner. The smell walking through the doors is heavenly… and there were so many beautifully decorated treats to feast with the eyes. There weren’t too many customers but it was night time so I think that is expected. We bought too many baked goods to take home including the picture attached. I am glad this place is far from my home or I would be morbidly obese.

It’s nearly impossible to walk out without spending $ 25. They have the best of everything and I like trying their unique items. I always get a couple «frogs» for my mom, aka froggie. Their paczki’s are amazing and they’re actually too many flavors to decide… #oneofeach #paczkiday #fattuesday

If you are within 30 minutes of the Swedish Bakery, divert and go directly to the Bakery, park in their private parking lot, proceed to the entrance and go in, grab a number and prepare for some mind blowing, scrumptious, artistically decorated desserts!
The staff is super friendly and very patient while you hem and haw over which delights you want to bring home with you.
This is my 3^rd review for the Swedish Bakery and it just gets better and better. Stopped in right before Christmas (December 22) and loaded up with 2 stuffed boxes for the Holidays. Our treats stayed fresh in the fridge as they dwindled down to nothing.
OMG, I can’t wait to return but, I kinda gained 10 lbs over the holidays. Totally worth it.

My hair salon is across the street, so once a month I treat myself here after my appointment. I am kinda obsessed with their cake balls. Cake balls became a «thing» on Unilocal in 2007, so I am surprised that more bakeries do not carry them almost 10 years later. Swedish Bakery does a red velvet and a carrot cake version that are worth the splurge (calorie-​wise, as they really aren’t expensive).
They have virtually every kind of bread, pastry, cookie and cake you could possibly want. And they are all delicious!

I waited an hour and 45 minutes for a prepaid pickup, would have been another hour if I hadn’t found a discarded ticket from someone who gave up. Line moved slowly, I calculated 1.7 minutes each number, and that includes people who baled. There are way too few people working, and no «prepaid pickup» line. I got waves out of the lot so had to keep pumping the meter. Lots of unhappy people waiting for prepaid orders. When I got to the front, I talked to the manager and asked why they didn’t have an express line. «We tried that but it didn’t work for us, people would jump into that line.». I asked «but why did you serve them». She was curt: «you should be happy sometimes there’s a 3 hour wait.»
Whatt?! I don’t care if it is an amazing coffee cake I won’t be back. That is unacceptable.

Service has never fallen short of Amazing! My family have been customers of the Swedish Bakery for a really long time! I still remember being a kid and just going bananas for everything! Every family birthday party had a Swedish Bakery Cake to really top the night off. It wasn’t official unless you had a Swedish Bakery Cake, seriously! Even the most special family occasions ended with a Swedish Bakery Cake! I’m not a big fan of dessert, seriously, when it comes to these desserts I’ll never say no! Every bite reminds me of my childhood, the cakes tastes the same as it did when i was a kid! I recently turned 30 and you better believe I had a Swedish Bakery Cake, it was a surprise that had me in tears!
The quality they put into their baked goods is always on point, I have never once been disappointed by anything from this bakery! They consistently prove why they have been around for so long and you can’t beat that! The service totally reflects the kind of care they put into their work, placing orders and picking up is always pleasant. The staff is always nice!
One bite (of anything) and you will be hooked! You really get what you pay for and you’ll definitely be back! I definitely plan on continuing my families tradition with my friends and future family!

The place was really warm and friendly, the service was on point, but the things that i bought weren’t what i thought they would be.
I bought 2 small cannoli Swedish, 2 biskvier and some chocolate dipped cookies. The cannoli were tasteless and the texture of the pastry was weird. I don’t wanna talk about the biskvier because it made me regret i bought 2.
I still havent tried the other stuff they offer but i will update the review once i try new ones.

«You get what you pay for» could never be more true than at Swedish Bakery. The staff (Hola, new girl Maria D.!), are so courteous and friendly, the selections are amazing, but if you’re accustomed to the cheap, floury, greasy fried, sugar overkill of commercial doughnuts, you may be surprised and/​or underwhelmed at the cake doughnuts. Also, if you want a twist on the old standard rye bread, you must try the Limpa Rye lLoaf. Sublime.
WARNING!: NO DOUGHNUTS IN August!

I grew up going to this bakery. My friends worked here while we were in high school, back in the 90’s. I hadn’t been here in about 7 years and walking in again brought so many memories. It smells delicious, it was very busy, so many choices…
I bought a tart, a Napoleon, and some cookies. Those cookies are to die for!!! Years ago I ordered my son his birthday cake from them and everyone raved on how great it was.
I will always make a stop at the bakery whenever I’m in the area.
Delicious treats at a very good price.

While Swedish Bakery is churning out some delicious baked goods, it’s a little bit pricey compared to many other bakeries. This is a bakery I would come back to for a small treat for myself or someone else, but probably not to cater an entire party.
Everything we ate was so good! I had to get the giant rainbow frosted cookie. Even though it was just a sugar cookie, the cookie part and the frosting were so much better than I expected. The Almond Tart was my favorite and would be perfect with a cup of tea. The Rum Balls are also very good, dense little balls of chocolate which will totally satisfy in 2 – 3 bites. Dominic P also picked out a cannoli, although I am not sure why a Swedish bakery makes cannoli…
Our total for 2 Rum Balls, 1 Rainbow Cookie, 1 Almond Tart, and 1 Cannoli was about $ 15. Aside from the cookie, each treat was only a few bites and are not desserts meant to share.
The service behind the counter was very attentive, and they didn’t mind bouncing from counter to counter to help us.
I would definitely come back here, but I would make sure to keep track of what I was spending. During our visit, this could have easily spiraled out of control!

Birthday cake was a complete disappointment.
Special order of a marzipan cake with raspberry filling and chocolate cake.
It was picked up March 21.
The marzipan filling was dry and chewy, the cake was dry and was not chocolate, there was whip cream covering the outside of the cake, then it was covered in marzipan fondant. It was horrible.
Not a tasty cake.
It was difficult to cut as the marzipan fondant was dry and chewy. Tasted like hard paste with almond extract. Not authentic marzipan cake at all.
We left a vm but have yet to hear back. The cake sits in the refrigerator as I am not dashing to eat it because the flavors and fillings are the worst! The pink flowers on the cake are hard and dry. This cake was not fresh at all.
Unhappy!
Owner wrote and only agreed to voucher $ 10.00 of items at the bakery, no refund– cake was over $ 25.00.
Tip
Ask whats on a cake even if you special order it. There was whip cream under the chewy marzipan. I am allergic to whip cream. The cake basically was… Crap!
It’s prolly best just to order a cake that they are famous about. I am not sure what cake as I didn’t order the cake. It was a surprise!
A bad surprise.
Since, no monetary refund was offered. I suggest asking what the polices before buying anything from this establishment.
Also, ask for cake eating instructions, as that is what the owner stated. You have to eat certain cakes warm, even thou it has secret hidden whip cream.