South Side Cheap Eats: Bridgeport Bakery

By Chuck Sudo in Food on Sep 15, 2006 2:50PM

If you know where to look, you can find scores of bakeries throughout the city that still bake their goods in the traditional Eastern European manner: full of buttery and sugary goodness. Since this is "South Side Cheap Eats", however, you can talk up the praises of the bakeries in K-Town and Milwaukee Avenue on your own time.

The Bridgeport Bakery is located in a small storefront along Archer Avenue. As you can see from the lead photo, if you can't find it, you're not looking. They make some of the most scrumptious coffee cakes, danishes, muffins, bacon buns, cakes, pies, doughnuts and cookies to pass our lips. Catholics flood the place during Lent to order paczkis; it's probably their busiest time of year outside of the holidays.

If you visit Bridgeport Bakery, you want to order the kolaczy. Light as air and filled with an array of fruits and cheeses, it's the perfect reward for a day in the salt mines. After all, "Bez pracy nie ma kolaczy" ("Without work, you won't get any cakes").

Bridgeport Bakery is located at 2907 S. Archer. They open at 5 a.m. seven days a week. Closing times are 1 p.m., Sunday and Monday, 5:30 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 6:30 p.m. Friday, and 5 p.m. Saturday. The phone number is (773) 523-1121.