Chrusciki Bakery

So… since TODAY is Paczki Day, not next week Tuesday, I decided to go to my favorite Polish bakery to get some Polish doughnuts. There is a Chrusciki located close to work (College Park) and I’ve been planning to go for over a week now. I start work at 7:30 am so I think… GREAT! This is perfect. I pull in at 7:28 and the bakery is closed… dark…doors locked… nobody in sight. The website says it opens at 6:30 am. I guess that’s not the truth. Unless all of my clocks are wrong? So here I sit, sans paczki for myself and my co-​workers. Bummer! I’m so very disappointed. I will find another bakery to go to, unfortunately that won’t be today… Paczki Day… one of my favorite days of the year. For their food I would give them 4 stars, but for their service they get a 1. Because this is not the first time I had a bad experience. When this location first opened I went to pick up some baked goods in the morning. There were tables set up in the lobby of the building and someone was there putting all the sweet goodness out for display. I asked she was open for business. She sighed so loud she made me feel like I was bothering her. I asked her a question and she snapped the answer back at me before I had a chance to finish. Sorry Chruschiki… I would rather so out of my way to go to another Polish bakery so that I can receive proper customer service. You’ve lost a customer.

Eclairs are huge and delicious. Had the pierogi sampler– 2 mushroom and 2 potato cheese. Delicious.

Most people are probably familiar with the Chrusciki name from the Broadway Market. But the store on Delaware in Kenmore is a great little cozy place. The store is beautifully arranged with many tempting sweet treats and various breads. There are tables to sit if you’d like to sample a little something there and the customer service was friendly both on the phone when I called ahead, as well as in person.
I purchased my Placek and butter lamb here as well as cheese pierogi. But they offer a variety of creative pierogi beyond the standard cheese, potato and kraut. From the chalkboard menu, it would appear they offer breakfast as well. There were also plenty of printed menus available.
This place warmed my little hybrid heart with the essentials for my Polish Easter breakfast as well as Italian treats such as Pasticotti and Cannoli. If I lived closer, I would visit more frequently.

This is a tale of two visits. A tale of highs and lows, and ultimately redemption that is deserving of five stars.
So, it was my luck to pick the very first birthday in my work’s Birthday Club. I asked my coworker what she would like. «I really like lemon cake» she said.
Okay, so a cake that involves lemon. I thought about picking Wegmans, but I wanted to do something special and really get her exactly what she was looking for. Checking around, I came across Chrusciki. I’d seen them in the Broadway Market, and I had heard they were good.
They also had 3 options for lemon! Lemon Cake, Lemon Filling or Lemon Jelly filling, and Lemon frosting. It was an incredible range of choices! So, I gave them a call and asked them what their turnaround was. I was told I’d be able to pick it up on Monday if I ordered by Saturday. So, I made a note to stop in on Saturday with Lee.
Lee and I went in to this location, and it was clean and bright, with a large array of pastries. I got a cherry Danish and Lee got an éclair. Both were tasty. I ordered my cake. I noticed they were only open until 5PM on Monday, so I asked the girl behind the counter if 7AM Tuesday would be ok, so I could pick it up before work.
She paused, and then said, «sure, that’s okay.»
So I paid for the cake and we went on to our other errands, assuming everything was fine.
So, today, I went in to pick up my cake. This girl looked at me and said, «but our delivery isn’t here until 9!»
My stomach dropped. I asked her to look in the back to see if perhaps it had come in the previous night. No luck.
I was very sad. I would either have to miss out on work or show up cakeless.
BUT
She offered to have it delivered, no charge, all the way out in Williamsvile. And so they did. Cake arrived, intact and beautiful. There was more than enough for everyone, and my coworker got to take the rest home. Everyone loved it!
So thanks! Even though it was a little 12-​person cake and I would imagine that things could have easily just been blown off, they really came through and provided incredible customer service. The quality of the product also put it over the top as well. You have earned a loyal customer.

Well, this was highly disappointing. I was excited by the two reviews I read and I was looking for cute, cozy, bakery/​café where I could go and read while eating delicious food and sipping coffee. This was clearly not it. The menu was outside, but I was too cold to read it so I went in (mistake #1). There was no menu inside, so I asked the woman at the register, she said the only menu was outside or on the chalk board beside her (which seemed more limited than what I had glanced at outside). I asked her if they have espresso, she said no, just drip coffee. So, I asked for a coffee (mistake #2). I then asked for the belgian waffles and she told me they only have that on Sundays (so, why was it written on the chalkboard for everyday??). I finally ordered the french toast (mistake #3). I also added a cannoli to the order. She asked «for here or to go» and I had it there (mistake #4). I was the only person there and it seems like she was irritated that I was a customer. I took my coffee and cannoli and sat down. There was no milk or cream for the coffee and the woman had disappeared to talk with somebody in the kitchen. I finally found the table in the hallway to the back which had sugar and coffeemate creamer (eww). The coffee was about the same quality as at the gas station. The dining room furniture is patio furniture reinforced below, so it’s not very comfortable. It’s covered with cheap plastic tablecloths. My french toast came out and it was ok, a little bland, but it was served with fresh strawberries, so that was nice. Unfortunately the food (for dining in) is served on a flimsy plastic plate with a plastic-​packaged fork/​knife/​napkin/​salt/​pepper packet. This was just tasteless, and the cutlery was so flimsy it was difficult to eat. At one point I put the coffee down on the table cloth and the table wasn’t underneath, which meant my coffee spilled into my lap and fell on the floor. I picked it up, found the waste bin, threw out my rubbish food and left. Maybe this place is good for wedding cakes, but certainly not as a local bakery/​café.

Cute little bakery on the «Avenue» in the heart of The Village. Very good pastries and they serve breakfast also! We will be back and I’m sure you will enjoy this fine establishment also.

The Kenmore location of Chrusciki Bakery, Inc. opened today! We haven’t tried the other locations, but were very pleased with our experience today. The bakery has something for everyone: pastries, cakes, cookies, and more. We brought home a selection of goods. We were excited to try the paczki, but the customer in front of us purchased the last six. Apparently, Chrusciki not expecting an opening day rush! Everything was fresh and delicious. Our favorite was the poppyseed cake. We will definitely be back for more!