Nortown Bakery

How have I gone all these years without reviewing Nortown? It is an enigma, to say the least. First off, it is not in a historically Romanian neighborhood; if you were to tell me I could find this place at Michigan Av and Central, for sure, I would expect it. Rather, it is at Seven and VanDyke, which means you have to make a special trip over. Their Sibiu style smoked sausage (salam de Sibiu) is perfect. Even if you ordered it from Toronto or Chicago, you could not get a better tasting product. It tastes exactly like the good stuff you can get overseas. Their bread is old school Romanian style: crusty, dense, hearty white bread. The groceries are kind of sketchy… I can just advise you to check the dates if you buy anything packaged. The owner is a nice guy, very talkative and will tell you of the many adventures he had had in life and in running the bakery. It makes me happy to know this place is still in business because it is authentic!

Best bread of any bakery on the east side. More than just a bakery, this place has some surprisingly good sausage and socată (a delicious Romanian soft drink made from elderberry flowers). The owner is friendly, talkative and has a definite, but understandable, Romanian accent. The bread and sausage are fresh and affordable, but the canned foods seem a little dated.
As Sabrina said, it is located in a really rough neighborhood. However, I have been there several times and never had any problems. The locals seem to keep their distance from the shop — I guess the owner has scared them away. Yes, there are bullet holes in the windows and he is still there. He is one tough dude and he takes care of his customers.

Bread. Simple, delicious bread. There is a reason it is called the staff of life.
I read a feature about this place a while ago and had made a mental note to try it for myself since I love good bread, especially European style bread. I have ended up a regular customer ever since my first visit and try to get here as often as I can. I hate that soft, preservative laden, styrofoam crap grocery stores try and pass off as bread.
Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I think a little background information is necessary here before I give my review. The bakery is not in a good part of town; there is no polite way to put it. For those of you who never venture farther south of Hall Rd. or only come to the city to see a game and then leave, this place is most likely not for you. The exterior is worn, the glass is covered with stickers which in turn are covering bullet holes; in other words, this is not your cute suburban bakery.
The owner (who is the only person working there) offers large or small loaves of his bread. There are no varieties here; it is white bread. Your choices are a large or small loaf, darker or lighter brown and sliced or un-​sliced. One loaf of large is $ 3 or you can buy two for $ 5. The shop also has a lot of Polish and Eastern European meats, sauces, and other various foodstuffs that I have not tried yet and to my untrained eye, look to be authentic. Oh and he also makes paczki for Fat Tuesday. They are delicious, calorie laden, filled bliss (see pic).
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On my first visit, I picked up a large loaf, still warm from the oven. We got in the car and my friend opened it up and before we even got home, we had eaten almost half the loaf. It is THAT good. Perfect chewy, bready, yeasty goodness made even better once some real butter was slathered on it. It toasts up great too; a big buttered slice in the morning with coffee is to die for.
So in short, if you enjoy great bread while supporting a cool local business, stop by and pick up a few loaves — you won’t be sorry.