Bakeries ‘rise’ to the occasion for fall items

Amelia Carlson and Jill Anthony

Great Harvest Bakery is one of the newest additions to the line of restaurants and stores along Main Street of downtown Downers Grove. Great Harvest, although a semi-chain restaurant, delivers some of the best year-round pastries. Since it is Halloween season, we thought it’d be best to order their “fan favorite” pumpkin chocolate chip bread. When we tried it, we understood why it was listed as the favorite.

Busy Bee Bakery is an iconic bakery that resides downtown Downers Grove. The store was bubbling with customers, people constantly walking in wanting to enjoy their timeless treats. The employees happily recommended their seasonal pumpkin donut holes and pumpkin shaped cookies. Needless to say, the treats gave a heartfelt feeling and stayed in our mind for the rest of our tour.

We weren’t originally planning on going to Balkan Bakery, but when we walked past in downtown Lombard, we had to go in. The store sells more than your average bakery, what caught our eye were the adorable mini cakes in the display case. Sadly, the only fall-specific item they had at the time were decorated cake donuts, but that was perfectly fine because they tasted fresh out of the kitchen.

Lilac Bakery is a small establishment located on the outside of downtown Lombard. We were met with a warmhearted welcome by the two employees. When we arrived, they recommended that we try their pumpkin sugar cookie and a slice of pumpkin pie. the desserts and our experience with the customer service only made us enjoy our time further. If you’re looking for a place with old school treats, this is the place for you.

Labriola is a restaurant, bakery, gelato parlor, and coffee place all wrapped into one. Focusing on the bakery, the only visible fall-related desserts were a red velvet and vanilla cupcake with frosting decorated to look like Halloween related items. We also impulsively bought a rice cereal treat in the shape of a Frankenstein. While the cupcake tasted like it was made a day or two prior, the rice cereal treat made the trip worth it.

Happy Dog Barkery was the one we were both the most excited for. We brought along Jill’s dog, Maple, for the experience and to dictate what to buy. Numerous styles of Halloween cookies were displayed and we settled on buying one in the shape of a ghost. While waiting in line, we passed a pumpkin shaped cake and we couldn’t resist. We presented our goodies to Maple, and of course, he was excited to taste our haul.