Ideal Bakery has served Chicago’s Polish community for generations. The Kowal family arrived from Poland in 1995 with a simple idea: bake the way their family always had, and never cut a corner where anyone could taste it.
Every pączek still starts the same way. Dough made from scratch, proofed slowly, fried in small batches, filled by hand and finished the same morning it is sold.
Fillings rotate through the season. These are the ones you will usually find behind the glass.
Classic seedless raspberry jam, dusted with powdered sugar.
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Vanilla Bavarian creme, powdered sugar finish.
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Chocolate Bavarian creme under a chocolate finish.
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Sweetened cream cheese, lightly glazed.
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Powidla, the traditional Polish stewed plum butter.
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Bright apricot preserve, powdered sugar.
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Thick vanilla custard, powdered sugar.
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Whole blueberry filling with a light glaze.
See productAt Ideal Bakery we believe every bite should tell a story. Our gourmet pączki are handcrafted using an authentic old-world Polish recipe, brought to life right here in the USA by the Kowal family, a proud Polish-American family with generations of baking expertise.
These are not just pastries. They are a taste of heritage, filled with love, tradition, and only the finest ingredients. Whether you are Polish or just passionate about great flavor, one bite and you will understand why we say: smacznego.
It is a fair question, and the answer is short: real ingredients lead to real taste. There is only one real pączek out there, and it is ours.
Order at Ideal BakeryMilk, eggs, yolks and butter. We would never use a pączki mix from a bag, and one bite tells you why.
Small batches mean an even fry and a light, airy crumb. Never greasy, never sitting around.
Fillings go in after the fry, on the morning they are sold, so the dough never turns soggy.
Brought to the USA by a Polish-American family and kept unchanged through four generations of baking.
On Fat Tuesday, the day before Lent begins, Chicago eats pączki by the boxful. In Poland the day is called Tłusty Czwartek and falls on the Thursday before; the city adopted the tradition, moved it to Tuesday and made it its own.
We start frying in the middle of the night and do not stop until the last tray is gone. Lines form early, so it pays to pre-order.
Oct 13, 2026
https://wgnradio.com/chicagos-very-own-eats/jarosch-bakery-is-in-good-hands-and-still-baking-memories/
Read moreOct 13, 2026
https://www.audacy.com/wbbm780/news/local/bittersweet-goodbye-to-bakery-shop-open-since-1959
Read moreOct 13, 2026
Ordering, catering and wholesale all run through Ideal Bakery. Pick your fillings, choose a pickup spot and we will have the box ready.