Ingram’s Busy Bee Bakery

They messed up my son’s name on his first birthday cake… the lady that was working did a horrible job trying to fix it and tried to tell me that was the best they could do. Because my son’s party wasn’t that day I was able to refuse the cake and wait for the actual decorators to fix it. Had the party been that day I would have been forced to either take a messed up cake or scramble to find a replacement. I will go back for donuts/​pastries but will not trust them with a birthday or special event cake again.

Their Atomic Cake is the BOMB! Super friendly staff that actually cares to give you the best quality product and service. I would recommend them to any and all my friends.

I ordered a cake from them and had to cancel the order a few days prior. Good luck. I tried calling, it was busy CONSTANTLY. The phone never stopped being busy. This was 3 days in a row. Different times too. Ok, fine. I tried emailing the address on their website, it bounced back. Undeliverable. Well, great. Last resort: I handwrote a note and faxed it to them. I guess they didn’t get that either because they called me the day prior confirming my cake order. When i tried to call back, guess what? BUSY! Infuriating. Please join the 21^st century and get a second phone line, or call waiting, or a working email address. I’m sure your cakes are wonderful, but your customer service is well below average. Something to consider.

So I’m kind of disappointed. This bakery is not far from home. Figured I would try it out. All there pastries looked sloppy. The cakes looked like the ones you get at the grocery store. Their paper packaging for the coffee cakes and donuts are not sturdy. Half of the icing or fruit sticks to the paper. Way over priced. I would rather drive into the city to go to Weber’s Bakery, next time.

Busy Bee is a classic in DG! I can eat an entire box of their sprinkle cookies! Oh and their white bread is like eaten a piece of heaven! Seriously I can eat slices of their white bread plain straight out of the bag! Chocolate cake doughnuts are incredible no other bakeries compare to theirs! Ingram’s Busy Bee is truly a gem in DG!!!

Old fashioned bakery? Check! Friendly faces? Check! Great cake doughnuts? Check! Great yeast (raised) doughnuts? Hmmm… I’d say good… yes. But not as great as the raised doughnuts at my favorite bakery in Naperville.
After racing to said Naper bakery and discovering they only had doughnuts covered in nuts, my kids walked out with sad faces. We raced to Mo’s to find it was out of business. Looked up Busy Bee and saw that we had an hour until close. Off to Downers we went.
Parking in downtown Downers is abysmal. Hubs dropped us off at the door when the light turned red, we ran in and bought raised doughnuts and cake doughnuts. Waited for him to circle around again and jumped back into the car. –this is not ideal.
The cake doughnuts were light, moist, and had a slight crisp to them. The raised doughnuts were light. Didn’t have that slight crispy outer texture that I look for in a perfect doughnut. Didn’t quite melt in my mouth. Since I would have babies for a man who promised me divinely raised doughnuts, this was a small letdown.
While only a doughnut emergency would get me to drive past my favorite bakery, drive the 25 min to Downers and jump in and out of a moving car, I would still consider Busy Bee to be a solid choice for doughnuts.
Just not my first choice.

Great bakery. Everything I’ve tried there is wonderful. The Atomic cake is the best.

I love this bakery! The sugar cookies are the best and the staff is so friendly. I felt like I was in an old-​fashioned bakery, where everyone goes for all of their favorite cakes and cookies. I can’t wait to go back!

This is my go to bakery for any delicious need. You will not find a better chocolate cake doughnut in all the land. The food could be ugly as can be (it’s not, at all) and I will still keep shoving my face with it because it tastes that good. You can preorder anything which is typically recommended especially if you go later in the day or on Friday/​Saturday. See you for my weekly doughnuts tomorrow, Busy Bee!

I had the pleasure of stopping here with some family on a Saturday morning and holy moly, we have to visit again and try more! Between the four of us, we had their Boston Cream donuts (highly recommend), pumpkin and apple cider donut bites (mmm, definitely a ‘must’), and a cream cheese danish (YUMMM!!).
From what we heard, the long johns are next on our list to try. Everyone tried to order one but by 10:30 AM they were sold out. Also, their cookies and cakes looked amazing. This is most definitely a bakery we’ll be visiting again and again!

Picked up donuts for my Dad, the self proclaimed «Donut Aficionado» and he LOVES them. My Dad will drive an hour away for good donuts and now this is his favorite place and only 20 min away. For me, I only wish they had more novelty donuts like Maple Bacon or Peanut Butter Filled. But this place his so fresh and packed everytime I go in. These ladies know what they’re doing.

After moving out of state a year ago, Busy Bee Bakery wins for very best cookies (the sprinkle ones!) and best cake (chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream filling and white butter cream frosting with sprinkles and sweet pea flowers on top!) and best Bavarian cream filled donuts with chocolate frosting!

Best doughnuts and coffee cake ever!!! One of the things I like best about busy bee are the cake doughnuts. They are so fresh and moist every single time. My favorite is the peanut doughnut which they only usually have a few of on the weekends so get there early! Just in case you miss out on the whole doughnut they have amazing cake doughnut holes, too. Cake doughnuts not for you? They have the airy doughnuts too, which I will add my husband enjoys just as much:)
The almond coffee cake is another great choice. I pick it up on my way to work sometimes and it is a crowd pleaser with my coworkers.
If you are ever looking for a breakfast sweet this is the place to buzz into!

Coming from a person who doesn’t really eat sweets, I must say the Atomic cake was one of, if not, the best cake I’ve ever had. I called early on Saturday morning and ordered a cake for a friend’s going away party. The person I spoke with was super helpful and had the cake ready for us by noon the same day. It was DELICIOUS! Thank you so much & we’ll definitely be coming back for our next event.

Being a Downers Grove resident, I’ve popped into Busy Bee several times. I guess it’s only appropriate that I should write a review by now, especially since I can fully blame them for the extra inch or two around my waist! :-)
Busy Bee is hands-​down one of the best bakeries in Chicagoland (and as you can see from my other reviews, I’ve tried my fair share). This is truly an old-​fashioned bakery using old recipes, so you don’t get the artificial or preservative-​filled tastes like you do in the newer bakeries.
Their yeast donuts are where they shine — I love their glazed apple cinnamon donut, and they have the best Bismarck I’ve ever had in my life. Their chocolate cake donuts are phenomenal, and I would request one of their éclair’s as a last meal.
As the other reviews mention, Punski Day is done right here. I usually get a dozen for my office up north, and they all state the same thing — the BEST they’ve ever had. The fresh strawberry and chocolate buttercream favors are my favorite. Just make sure you place your order and pay well in advance — it’s a madhouse, with lines reaching around the block.
They also have awesome speciality tea cookies, though be warned, they are outrageously expensive. They charge by the pound, and six silver-​dollar sized tea cookies ran me about $ 7. Worth it for a splurge, but definitely wouldn’t buy them regularly.
My only complaint is that they don’t do a traditional apple fritter, or glazed crossiant. Everything is spectacular, but I think any established bakery should carry apple fritters — a true bakery staple.

This place always has the best coffee cakes and donuts! Everything is made from scratch, and is delicious! It is a little expensive, but definitely worth every penny!

Unilocal led me to Ingram’s back in February on national paczki day and I’m so glad it did! I was a newbie to trying this delicious Polish donut and I couldn’t have chosen a better spot to indulge.
Of course on this special day they had about 25 different flavors of paczkis to choose from. I stopped in later in the afternoon, so they were out of a handful of options. I’m a sucker for anything chocolate related though, so I immediately chose the chocolate fudge paczki.
The women working behind the counter were super friendly. The bakery is simple, cute, and clean. I think the packzi cost be like $ 2 and change and boy was it worth it (and pretty big). I was of course taking my treat to go so I could devour this little beauty shamelessly in private. They wrapped it up like a little present in an adorable Ingram’s Busy Bee box. If I were able to control myself from indulging in this dessert, I could have re-​gifted it right then and there!
But I didn’t. I kept it for myself and enjoyed every bite. The paczki was perfectly baked and sprinkled with powdered sugar. The inside… ohhh the inside. It was filled with a glorious amount of chocolate fudge that was so sweet I almost couldn’t handle it (in a good way). It was hard to restrain myself from finishing the thing, but I did. Mostly because I wanted my husband to try it and experience such delicious-​ness (also because I can only imagine the amount of calories and sugar it has!).
From what I could tell they sell all sorts of cakes, pastries, cookies, and breads. They even do wedding and other special event cakes! I believe they also have daily specials, so be sure to check that out!

Sweets treats and a trip in a time machine– bonus!
It really does feel like stepping into a museum, the cakes on the wall may be dated but the tasty treats are spot on. Grab a number and then use the wait to debate which of the treats behind the glass will be yours.
Highlights include long johns, chocolate chip coffee cake, brownies, cupcakes (go for the fudgy chocolate), and butter cookies.
Little touches like giving the occasional free cookie to the eager toddler or free samples adds to the homey grandma feel of the place.
Be sure to preorder around the holidays, it gets crazy in there!

Ingram’s Busy Bee certainly did not disappoint when it comes to one of the busiest pastry days of the year, Paczki day!
I will admit, I procrastinated and did not place an order ahead of time. Also, I didn’t know that this bakery existed before last week. Boy, do I know for next year.
I called Busy Bee at about 10:30 on Paczki day (i.e. Fat Tuesday) to ask if they still had paczki left. They said they had plenty, and to come on by. Since it’s only about 5 minutes from my office, I hopped in the car on my lunch break and zoomed over.
What I did not expect (but should’ve known better) was the LINE OUT THE DOOR with people waiting for paczki. Procrastinators like me.
Luckily, the ladies at Busy Bee kept the line moving quickly and efficiently. Since I was waiting, I figured I had to get more than just enough for me and the mister, so I decided on a whole dozen of assorted deliciousness to bring back to the office to share. I purchased: Bavarian cream with powdered sugar, chocolate custard, strawberry, apricot, prune, and cheese.
I brought them back to the office and immediately offered to my co-​workers. Every single one said it was the best paczki they had ever eaten. Even the prune got rave reviews. The cheese got the best — our receptionist said she has been eating paczki for 50 years, and this was the best one she’d ever had, the consistency of the cheese filling was more like whipped cream.
I will certainly be placing an order ahead of time at Ingram’s Busy Bee next year for my paczki fix, and you should too!

Closed Ash Wednesday??? WTF?! I wanted to order my daughters birthday cake on Fat Tuesday but realized your place was mobbed with paczki grabbers.
Returned Wednesday with toddler in tow to order and found your store closed. No sign, no recorded message.
Must be nice to post hours of operation and don’t follow them.
It was great to walk downtown DG in bitter cold to «bee», disappointed.
I took my $ to a Mexican bakery, and guess what? They were open, and I probably saved $ 20!
Thanks, but this bee has left the hive for good!