Food and Wine Magazine names Indianapolis among best cities for bakeries. Here's why.
Indianapolis is — almost — a top-10 bakery city. But Indy's honorable mention on Food and Wine Magazine's list of the top 10 United States cities for bakeries should come as no surprise to anyone who has eaten a little too much butter and sugar throughout the Circle City.
Metropolises like New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago predictably dominated the list curated by over 180 food and travel journalists, but Indianapolis snuck in as a "plus-one." In an accompanying article, food writer Katie Chang highlights the convention-defying confections of Indy Dough and the decade-plus of delights of Circle City Sweets, among others.
Indianapolis has recently enjoyed a renaissance of bakery options, but its robust pedigree of sweetened dough dates back over a century. Taylor's Bakery opened at 38th Street and Illinois Street in 1913, while Long's Bakery has rolled and fried its famed donuts since 1955.
In more recent years, an influx of artisanal cafés and bakehouses have made a name for themselves around the city. Amelia's Bread opened in Fletcher Place in 2012, quickly became a local staple and now has three locations. Former Amelia's employee Josh Greeson opened Sidedoor Bagel in 2021 and quickly received national acclaim for his unapologetically unorthodox sourdough bagels.
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The enticing options extend beyond established brick-and-mortar bakeries. Walk around downtown on a given weekend morning, and you very well may stumble upon a pop-up by a chef concocting treats straight out of your sweetest dreams.
Food and Wine points out Bluebeard pastry chef Youssef Boudarine, who plans to open a physical location for his J'Adore pop-up soon. The Moroccan-born chef is seemingly never short on eyebrow-raising ideas; a sampling of Boudarine's works include croissant cereal, Willy Wonka-inspired dessert platters and king cake mochi donuts. Think of any physical object, and there's a decent chance Boudarine can make one out of pastry.
Then there's Chantell Kayyod, whose Beurre Sec pop-ups have drawn crowds over the last two years with a blend of authentic French viennoisserie and innovative novelties. Kayyod has recently sold pastry boxes out of Lulu's Coffee and Bakehouse while searching for a retail space.
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Those whose teeth have shattered through the seemingly infinite layers of Kayyod's croissants or chewed through the dense interior of Greeson's bagels already know there's no shortage of excellent baked goods in Indy. If Food and Wine's nod is any indication, that may not be a secret anymore.
Contact IndyStar dining reporter Bradley Hohulin at bhohulin@gannett.com. You can follow him on Twitter/X @BradleyHohulin.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Magazine names Indy among best bakery cities. Here's why.
