Tommy’s Pastries

This place is outstanding. One of the few bakeries in town my late, great Oma would have approved of.
His pogasca (bacon and cheese) are superb.
The pastries are all top notch especially the cheese danish.
Croissants as big as your head are tender and flaky delights.
The strudel is delightful and he makes a mean Dobosh Torte, not as good as my mom’s but still good.
All at more than reasonable prices.

Every city has a hidden gem that is a place that you only find through word of mouth or being lucky. This is not a fancy bakery it is primarily a commercial bakery but they bless the public with some items daily from 5:00 — 10:00 am and the items are 7 – 10 items. My group tried a pepperoni croissant, cinnamon croissant, and cheese Danish. The croissants were a good item, but the cheese Danish was top notch supreme and even better when you get it warm. I did not try the other 3 sweet Danish options but I bet they are excellent too. It is a nice size cheese Danish made fresh in the morning and elite. This is the best cheese Danish I have had in my 50 states and 4 continents of travel. It is like you imagine from years ago a real no preservative or fake items Danish. This is one of those hidden gems that is a must to support to keep it going. You will see postman and police offices getting items here which tells you the top notch of the item.

A last minute find on my trip to Cleveland. This place from the outside does not look like much. The owner is a wonderful gentleman from Hungary. They sell
mostly to local places but have a few trays of pastries available. The star of the show is a cheese Danish. A MUST have! It was the best cheese Danish I have ever eaten. Other items were good but the go for the Danish.

Visited first time. Was greeted and treated like we were old friends. Great bakery. Also very delicious bacon biscuit type pastry. Bought all they had left. We drove about 15 miles to try this bakery. Well worth the drive.

I had heard about Tommy’s Pasteries before and had lived in Lakewood but never went there. I figured it was time to pay them a visit today (8:00 am).
Much to my surprise, the only items that were fresh were a variety of 6 types of danishes, that’s it. I also picked up a poppyseed roll from their storage/​cooler.
The two danishes I had were good — apricot and rasp./cheese and the poppyseed roll also looks very good, although I have not tried that. Good enough for me to run back there — probably not. I’m not one to get excited over danishes.
The biggest point to me was the lack of selection. They had a few stragglers in their counter, but not much.
I just need more than one offering — danishes. Their were two men working and a lady working the counter so they had the staff. I’m not sure if this is everyday or not.
Just a little odd.

Awesome old-​school bakery. Delicious apricot and cheese danish. I get the cracklin’ biscuits to give to my buds when we go early morning fishing. The place reminds me of the Sowinski bakery in the old hood (St Clair/​Superior). The bakers, the aroma, the prices– all beautiful! Can never let it go away.

When I walked in an old man was smoking by the front window. I would have turned right around and walked out had I a bigger set of ovaries.
I gave this place two stars because the older gentleman serving me was so nice and I left with two giant bags of pastries of only $ 4. Sadly, I also left smelling like smoke and I was too afraid to eat the pastries because of the smoking indoors and they fact that he picked up my pastries with his bare hands.
I also give them an extra star for just not giving a shit. You gotta respect that.

Freaking amazing. Best pastries I’ve ever tried. And really nice guys working there. Kind of hard to spot at first, and to tell if it’s open. Definitely worth getting up early so you can get something still warm from the oven!

An excellent bakery.
At first I was planning on going here because it was the only place open at 4 AM, when the Amtrak gets in. I even called ahead of time to make sure that they would be open that early, and the jovial Hungarian man on the other end assured me that they would be. And they were!
The place itself is a bit dark, so it took my eyes a moment to adjust before I started to realize that I was surrounded by piles of delicious pastry. I might still be there, staring in stunned delight, if the baker hadn’t asked me what I wanted and offered some suggestions. He was the one who’d answered the phone earlier, and was even nicer in person.
I ended up with a raspberry-​cheese pastry, a poppy seed pastry, and the aforementioned jovial Hungarian baker also threw in a little twist of pastry with nut filling. They were all excellent. The pastry dough is flaky and buttery, the fillings are just the right amount of sweet. Everything is best fresh out of the oven, but I saved one danish for the 3 AM train ride that night, and it was still delicious. Also it cost $ 2.50 for everything. That’s $ 1.25 per pastry. I still can’t quite process that part.
It’s possible that I have had better pastries at some point in my life, but none are coming to mind. As I walked out of the bakery munching on the nut-​filler pastry, I seriously considered moving to Cleveland.

You have probably had something from Tommy’s since coffee houses and other places buy from Tommy’s, particularly the croissants.
Many of my favorite places have closed and it has made Cleveland a lesser place for me. Thank everyone who continues to frequent Tommy’s as I am not sure I could take these doors closing.
Madison Avenue is not the best route for me to get anywhere but none the less I take it so I can stop at this tiny bakery. Cookies, strudels, cream tortes, crackling biscuits, nut rolls, and simply everything reveal the skill of the Hungarian baker. Nothing is basic, everything is elevated to elegance in the true meaning of that word. If you preach farm to table you gotta love buying directly from the baker who did far more than pull a carrot out of the dirt.
Not even your grandma made so many things this well.

Where to start!?! I had to wait a while for it to reopen after lunch, but it was worth the wait!
It is small, and kind of dark, but everything appears to be homemade. The strudel is different than what I am used to. It is sheets of phyllo dough with a fruit filling. You can buy a full size or a half portion. The half portion I purchased is a good foot in length!
The linzer cookies were good. A nice buttery flavor. I do not know what they are called, but it is a long tube filled with a walnut mixture. It tastes like a nut kolacky! They are wonderful.
The danish is WONDERFUL! It is a nice sweet yeasty dough.
I also tried the biscuits. Both the cheese and the bacon. I liked the cheese better.
I walked away with a large bag of things for $ 11 dollars! It is cheap and it is GOOD! I can not wait to go back.

My family has been buying its strudel, tepertos pogácsa (fried bacon mixed into a dense biscuit), and other pastries from Tommy’s for as long as I can remember.
As a Hungarian family we have always supported small Hungarian business owners, but in this case I know we went because nobody else does it as good. For pete’s sake even the Hungarian churches, picnics, and other social gatherings will often proudly offer their pastries.
People often use the term «homemade» and «authentic» rather loosely, but I can tell you that they make their pastries the exact same way that I remember watching my blessed grandmother when I was just a small child.
Stopping in to their shop reminds me of the several trips to Hungary I’ve made. There’s just an undeniable «Old World» nostalgia about Tommy’s, and for that reason alone it’s worth stopping in.
Get there early though. We Hungarians are known to be early birds, and will buy all the best stuff while most everyone else is still in lala land.

I can’t believe that I haven’t written about Tommy’s. Every Christmas, we make the family pilgrimage to go grab our holiday cookies, bacon «pogácsa» and poppy seed/​walnut roll. The owners are very nice and the «old world» definitely lingers in the little minimalist shop. It really reminds me of Hungary.
The best part of all my experiences there was last year. I took my (California dwelling) Slovak father in-​law to the bakery: One bite of a Kipfel/​Kalacski and his eyes welled up with tears. These were cookies made using the same recipe as those of his grandmother. Like an edible time machine, they took him back to his childhood in P.A. If a pastry can do that; you know its special.
So with the holidays looming, it might be a good idea to get your order in early. Give them to people at work. You might even get a raise! Also, you DO NOT want to miss out on the cheese sticks with your Christmas ale. I’m counting the days till I get back to Cleveland so I can indulge in all of Tommy’s goodies.

Two things you gotta know … Tommy’s has excellent pastries and cookies … and they are DIRT CHEAP! It’s a little bakery, run by a couple of old Hungarian guys (and Hungarians KNOW how to make killer pastry). The shop’s interior is nothing to write home about … but don’t worry about the lack of amenities in the shop, because you’re there for pastries, and these are the real deal. The cookies were wonderful, too!