Aracely’s Bakery

BOMB breakfast sandwich for cheap.

Do you love Tres Leches Cake? Do you want to pick your fillings, cake flavor and size? Let the pros at Arecely’s help you! You won’t be disappointed and the prices are great!

I missed my go-​to panaderia in Albany Park, and I always have «conchas on my mind.»
Technically, the lyrics should be «empanadas on my mind,» which rhymes with Georgia. Aracely’s is located in downtown Franklin Park, near the metra station. Going to a pandaderia for me is like a kid in a candy store: I get to pick at least six (6) bakery items for less than $ 3.
At around 1730 hour on a Thursday, full selections of bakery goodness at Aracely’s were still available. To meet the minimum $ 5 purchase for using a credit card, hubby and I ordered couple of small mokalitos (abeulita with a shot of espresso) to ease our cravings for caffeine.
Other than the Mexican/​Hispanic bakery assortments, tortas, and tamales, there are donuts, cookies, turnovers, and cupcakes. My guava empanadas and conchas were sufficient enough for our spontaneous late-​afternoon tea.
I have noticed that many panaderias don’t post the price under each item. While that never bothers me, I would try to budget as closely as possible based on my experience since many of them are cash-​only.
«A face of George Washington» is like a million bucks in a panaderia. Thus, create your own punch-​card system and start collecting coins after people at a train station. You will feel so accomplished when there is a concha blanca in your hands with that 60 cents you’ve thrifted!

Very good pastries. Fresh. Flavorful. Balanced. Multiple choices but not overwhelming.
Also, good tamales.
Suggestions:
*Just because business may be successful for such a long time doesn’t mean it shouldn’t try new things or make upgrades.. Meaning, dab into some new changes /​suggestions…
— Make some «new style», creative pastries.
— STAY AWAY from ARTIFICIAL flavoring
— Provide a better and more inviting set-​up /​table /​seating area
— Offer better coffee, not just some commercial type coffee. Try something local, network with the local community… There are many local coffee roasters in Illinois. It’s worth the extra few dollars.

I love this place! Best tamales around, always fresh and hot. Lately I noticed they have been using a lot of maza, making them very thick but they are still good.

Glad I Found This Place So Close To Work. They Open Very Early And Have Everything Out Ready To Be Bought And Eaten. The Bread Was Soft And Very Tasty. They Have Sandwiches You Can Buy Along With Tamales. They Have Tamales That Are Spicy And Non Spicy.

I’ve eaten a lot of Mexican pastries and these are as fresh and moist as they get! Aracely’s has amazing bakery items, a variety of sandwiches and beautiful cakes that won’t break the bank. And people are lined up early in the morning for their tamales, which are better than any I’ve had living in Pilsen for three years.

Good tamales, im pregnant and had been craving tamales for a while read the reviews and i had to send my husband to get some they satisfied my craving and there walking distance so even better.

The ham Mexican tortas here are delicious. My son loves them. The product here is really good. The tamales though, nice try? Not so good. They’re small for price and taste is not really not there.
The service is HORRIBLE by the cashiers. Whenever you call they either hang up or have HUGE ATTITUDES. If they hate their job maybe they should look into something else that’s not customer service relatable.

This is the best bakery for miles around! This morning I went to another bakery and instantly regretted going there! Aracely’s is the place to go! The bread and food and drinks are high quality and super tasty!
PS (the bakery I went to was in melrose park and the bread was mediocre at best)

Great Mexican bread! They also make delicious tamales, just order a day ahead because they go fast. They have a lunch menu with toasted tortas, horrchata (rice water) and much more. You can order ahead or eat there. Employees are friendly and quick with check out.

My friend had bought some tamales from here and they were super delish! They were so fresh, not to dry and the perfect kick.
One day I ventured in to buy a tray and I must’ve came at the wrong time of day because I got home so excited for some tamales and they had a burnt flavor to them –_​– every.single.one.of.them. I oredered the red and green chicken. The red ones tasted much better than the green. I think it was the green that were burnt, but the flavor leaked into the red.
I’ll be back for sure bc I love tamales and these are the best around town. Minus my 1 bad trip. I’m not holding any grudges tho!
Aracelys you absolutely have my vote!

Ridiculous. I’ve never eaten anything so good in my life. Unfortunately this place is on my way home from work and I have stopped in about a million times since I discovered it. :-)
Everything is SO FRIGGIN SOFT! Nothing is dry or crumbly or stale. My friends beg me to stop there and bring them the huge sugar donuts. I can’t even explain how delicious they are with a cup of coffee. I really love the cheese pastries too… oh so moist and sweet.
Every time I go there I get one different pastry just to try it. Last time was a blueberry muffin that left me speechless.
Dammit, now I need to stop there today on my way home.

Have been here a few times and everything has been good (have tried the tamales, bread, and their tortas). The tamales are nothing out of this world and note they dont have any sweet tamales like some other places do. I’ll stop by IF I’m in the area otherwise I know other awesome tamale places in Chicago.

Yum. Yum. and YUM!
Everything here is just good! Okay lets just dive right in because my mouth is watering right now–
The tamales are the reason I came here. I saw the good Unilocal reviews (thanks Unilocalers, you always point me in the right direction). I live about 5 minutes from here since its located right on Franklin Ave across from the high rise condos (that I’m not even sure if people actually live in?!) They open at 4 am and the tamales and bake goods are first come first serve, so if you go later in the day, sorry your going to be SOL. But I woke up early on Saturday and leashed up the pups and headed on my journey to stuff my face.
When you get there, you will see trays where you can grab as you please. So load up the tray baby! They have deals, were you can get 6 for $ 9 ($ 2 savings) and so on with higher amounts. I personally LOVED the chicken and green sauce. These taste like my childhood, growing up being best friends with a boy who is first generation here, his mom would makes these on the weekends and I would go there and eat them. It just brought me back.
They also have baked goods and sandwiches. The doughnuts are $.50 and are so fresh and good. You can tell they were made just hours before. I’d love to go back and try and the sandwiches, which are priced $ 3-​$ 6 only! The place was packed and lots of people were ordering them and grabbing tamales.
This place is a gem! I would honestly say if your in the area, there is absolutely no excuse for not trying them out!
Helpful Tips:
–Cash only Seniors and Senoritas!
–The earlier you go the better!
–They are super nice and the women ringing up notice I don’t speak Spanish so she saw I was a little confused so she answered all my questions and was super friendly. So don’t stress about questions – Ask away!

This bakery is seriously a hidden gem. It is tucked nicely in the heart of franklin park and I would not have known of this place if it wasn’t for a referral. They have some of the best baked goods I have had in a while. One suggestion that I do have is to try their jumbo sugar donuts. Also, when I say jumbo, it’s not to be taken lightly because they seriously are huge; and only for a dollar, that’s a bargain. Definitely worth the commute if you’re looking to have a nice treat.

I missed my stop on the Metra and was stuck in Franklin Park for an hour, so I stopped by this place to kill time and grab a quick bite. I asked the nice young woman behind the counter to surprise me, and she presented the ‘Mexicana’ Sandwich, which was absolutely delicious. Perfectly crunchy bread, spicy, fresh avocado and deli meats.
I also wanted a pork tamale, but they were out, so she gave me a poblano and cheese tamale to try at no cost. Didn’t try anything from the bakery, but it all looked wonderful.
I was in and out in 10 minutes, full of awesome food, and it was $ 4 and change. What else can you ask for?

When someone needed a ride to the airport, I happily obliged. You see, months ago they went on and on and on and on about the tamales from here and after going one day on a whim, I had been craving them ever since.
There aren’t many reasons to wake up at 4:30 in the morning. These tamales though… they’re a solid enough reason. I’ve had the pork and chicken and something else and they were all good. Bigger than average, not skimping on the meat, the masa is moist (nothing worse than a dry tamale) and the green ones actually have a good amount of heat.
Don’t come here expecting some cheap tamales though. A dozen is $ 18, but they are so, so worth it. Now I understand why they felt the need to tell me about their superior tamales while scoffing at my usual go-​to spot. I can’t hate though, they were right.

Mmmmmmm! Tamales!
«What do I eat for lunch? I’m tired of fast food.»
Turns out Aracely’s was my answer. I can honestly say that their tamales are the best tamales outside my home. Pork, Chicken, Rajas, Red, and Green. ALL GOOD! A good tamale and coffee in the morning can’t be beat. If tamales aren’t your thing, then try one of their sandwiches. Ham and Egg on a bagel or on a croissant. Or maybe try a torta de jamon or a torta with a tamale for lunch.
I was pleasantly surprised on how fresh and tasty all of their bread was. Conchas are my favorite, so I would suggest trying one for yourself. They also offer coffee, desserts, specialty cakes and even the morning newspaper.
So if you’re in the Franklin Park area and would like a snack that’s a change of pace, head over to Aracely’s. You’ll like it, trust me.
Cheers.

In the back room at Aracely’s, there’s several women mixing powder and other components to make a product so pure and potent. It’s truly grade A stuff. It’s got me fiending for more. I’ve got an empty house because I sold all my possessions because of my addiction. You’ll have to shell out a little more cash, but trust me, you don’t want to be geekin’ off that low grade stuff anyway. I just picked me up a brick this morning.
I’m talking about their tamales. They’re the best I’ve ever had. The masa is fluffy and moist, and there’s a generous amount of pork (or chicken if you prefer). My favorite is the green chile pork. If you’re one of those simps that can’t handle spicy food, stick to the red pork or chicken.
I’m about to sell my laptop for $ 10 so I can cop me another brick.