Artemio’s Bakery
1443 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Chicago, IL
Every time we go to Wicker Park the landscape is slightly different than the time before, with upscale stores and eateries seeming to carve out a larger footprint each visit. Time marches on, however there are some places that stay the same even though everything around them changes. One of those stalwarts is Artemio’s Bakery, which seems like it is a transplant from another era. Walk in the front door and you will feel like you are in a time warp – the bakery is crammed with wooden cases and the strong aroma of butter and sugar is unmistakable. But don’t worry, in this case a time warp is a good thing, the pastries are old-school and everything is unbelievably cheap! 25 cents for a cookie? Heck – 25 cents for anything?!?! Even in Brazil the smallest piece of candy was usually 50 cents apiece (R$ 1). Cookies at Artemio’s are only 25 cents and larger pastries like croissants or conchas are barely a dollar.
The selection is wide (though unlabeled, so you may have to guess or ask), and you can get nearly every kind of Mexican pastry, as well as American classics. We spotted croissants, cupcakes, coconut macaroons, many types of cookies, tarts, elephant ears, doughnuts, sweet rolls and cakes by the slice including chocolate and tres leches. This time around we ordered several black and white cookies and a giant sugary croissant – both delicious – and they set us back less than $2. As we trailed sugary crumbs down Milwaukee avenue we were satiated and happy. Definitely check out Artemio’s for a cheap sugar fix and for a time warp back to old-school Wicker Park.
Eating The World 