Bennison’s Bakery

Stopped by Bennison’s Bakery this morning for some local bread and sweeties. The place was mostly empty when I arrived but filled up quickly during the course of my visit. They had a wide selection of cakes, cookies and doughnuts but were out of some things (liked filled long johns).
I purchased some ciabatta rolls which are jumbo-​sized and delicious. I toasted them up for a breakfast sandwich and was blown away. Great chewy bread and crust with giant oven spring pockets. Nicely done! Excitedly I also spotted some macarons and ordered from their wide flavor selection. I ordered 2 key lime and pistachio flavored macarons and were so impressed! Perfect, crunchy shell with a chewy, sweet inside. Perfectly sweet and flavored, truly macarons like the French make them! Excited to know they are a constant item. My final treat I ordered was an apple fritter. Though the yeast donut base was delicious, the fritter lacked the vital component of apple! They were about 4 pieces of apple baked into the bottom but the fritter had no gooey, apple-​pie flavor or mouthfeels. My fritter was essentialy a large donut with the occasional apple and raisin accompaniment.
There is a large selection left to sample and I will definitely return! I will try the cakes and cookies next while always saving room for my beloved macarons. See you soon Bennison’s!

Brownies are the best I’ve ever had
Macarons are only really good on Monday or Tuesday. Otherwise, they start to taste stale.
Most of the other stuff I’ve tried had been just OK, including the cakes

I ordered a custom cake for my girlfriend, the cake turned out pretty cute and exactly what I wanted. I’m not sure if it worth the fifty buck tho.

Amazing almond croissant! Warm and fresh and delicious. My only complaint is that it was so crowded, and they were out of every kind of donut except plain. The food, though.excellent. I’ll drive back just for another croissant.

Although, I won’t be tasting any of the delicacies that I bought today. They are gifts for my sisters, my niece and daughter number two’s boyfriend. I am quite confident that everything will taste wonderful. The bakery is very very popular and although I was there shortly after they open at seven they quickly filled up with customers that seem to be regulars. I’m quite sure it was obvious that I was not a regular customer especially since I was buying cakes at seven in the morning still, I would have expected to receive the same service and thoughtfulness that other customers received. I spent over $ 100 at their bakery. My cakes were personalized with different names however the names were not written in the boxes so I’d have to open each box to see that it was going to the right person, since each one was different. They were not placed into a large shopping bag but individual plastic bags. They were placed in these plastic bags so that they did not sit flat but at an angle, of course then causing the cake to slide to the side of the box so I had to rearrange them.
Perhaps the service clerk was a little flustered since the regular customers were standing in line for their coffee and their muffins and their donuts… but I nearly quadrupled their profit for at least 20 customers at about an average of $ 3 each in one shot and they received more care. I guess what I’m saying is that I’d like at least, minimum equal service, if not a bit more.

I don’t know. I’ve had pastries and cookies from here quite a few times and it doesn’t really do it for me. I can’t get over the hype. It’s not terrible but its overly sweet. The cookies have the same short-​cake like texture and flavored differently but it doesn’t really stand out to me.
hey, it could be me cuz I’m not a sweets type of guy.

First time here lots of choices from coffee cakes, macroons, donuts, cakes and bread. I purchased the almond coffee cake and it was really good. I also purchased cappuccino macroon it was good. I would come back here to try the cakes and breads.

Got a basic chocolate cake with a printed picture on it. It was $ 28 or something for a very small cake, and the printed picture part was supposed to be edible becuase it was made of sugar. It was inedible! And the cake was ok at best. It was very clear that they did not care about designing/​decorating the cake other than the printed picture part. THE PRINTED PICTURE was not even cropped to fill up the cake it was just awkwardly placed on top of the cake. I was thinking I should’ve just printed a picture myself on a paper. I would recommend $ 9 Whole Food’s chocolate cake than getting this $ 28 sprinkled-​mess. Definitely not coming back for a cake.
**just read their reply. passive aggressive. also, they mentioned the pick up time mistake that i chose not to mention but they did so ill mention it. they acknowledged that they made a mistake and made me wait 15mins. but apparently they still think its my fault now? shows how they think of their customers.

I love the macarons they have here, especially the red velvet ones. Their red velvet cupcakes are also very good. I didn’t care too much for their cronuts but other people have said it’s very good. My only complaint is that they sometimes run out of certain items early in the day, like at 2pm, and don’t make anymore.

I’m leaving another review for this place. This place should be called «Lotto Bakery.» When the pastries are good, it definitely would be the best bakery. However, this place’s deceiving acts tell you otherwise. Last time I have bought two cupcakes from this place. Cupcakes’ cake part was very stale, and it tasted as it was on the shelf for at least 3 days. I have complained and the manager squashed the cupcake and told me «it feels fresh.» How in the world do you know its fresh by just squeezing a cupcake? I was about the say «Then eat it,» but I didn’t wanted to make a racket with couple of bucks that she refunded to me.
Seriously, this place does not throw away pastries that are a day old.
To Bennison: You think you might be smart by selling «yesterday» bread as if they were baked today. Well, guess what! We all know how today’s baked bread taste like. It doesn’t stick to your roof of your mouth, and it certainly doesn’t chew like a piece of cardboard that has coated with butter.

I am constantly ordering cakes and tortes from Bennison’s for birthday parties at my company. They have never disappointed! They are a bit pricey, but the desserts are definitely worth it. They are rich, sweet, and never lacking on the fresh fruit!

Their selection is very good. They sell design cakes with Disney characters, Thomas and Friends or similar for kids, too.
The only thing I would NOT recommend is their (too sweet) pizza that was one of the worst. For pizzas, go to Gigio right across Davis St.

Bennison is great.
Their espresso drinks, first of all, are affordable. I got a chocolate croissant here and it’s flakey and buttery. The people who work here are über friendly and nice. They’re down to earth and willing to have a conversation with their customers.

Just through random conversations ‘Bennison’s Bakery’ was brought up so many times. People would be like «Omgosh! You have not been yet?» or «You have to go!» or «It’s Evanston’s little gem»… So I was in the neighborhood one morning and decided to finally stop by.
The neighborhood screams Northwestern Alumni Love. There are Northwestern sticks on all of the parked cars. It is a very quiet neighborhood and the bakery had people constantly coming in and out. Also right along the bakery there is ample amount of parking on both sides.
When I walked in, i joined the cordially formed single file line of people and started looking around. I noticed different types of breads, desserts, cupcakes, pastries and donuts! I love donuts and really really wanted to see if they had any old fashion glazed donuts but they apparently have those only on Thursdays. The closest thing to what I wanted was a lemon poppy seed glazed donut but I was like nah.
I ended up getting a raspberry filled danish. I loveddd it!!! It was perfectly baked and glazed. It reminded me of this amazing pastry I ate in Puerto Rico every day that was filled with Guava jam. This raspberry filling in the danish tasted exactly like the Guava jam which was awesome. I wanted to get another flavored danish but the whole time I was telling myself «a moment on the lips is a lifetime on the hips». so I decided to just enjoy one this time. (Always a struggle to stay in shape and enjoy the good stuff).
Until next time Bennison’s…

This review is from an experience on January 5^th.
Walked in on a whim to pick up a birthday cake for an impromptu get together. The staff was cordial and the bakery had only a few selections, none were as striking as I was hoping, but there was a variety to choose from nonetheless. The woman behind the counter asked if we wanted it personalized and saw to it that we got what we wanted. I had been coming to Bennison’s on and off for over 10 years when I lived in Skokie. It was nice to see that the quality is still there.

When I first came to Bennison’s it was to pick up a coworker who ordered pizza from Bennisons. The pizza was thick square cut pizza that was pretty darn tasty.
Came back the next day to get a donut but then I saw in my peripheral vision a nice selection of Parisian Macarons. Omg. I was stoked!!!
Had a lemon, a lime, passion fruit, piña colada and raspberry. All were equally delicious and fresh. Chewy texture on the bite with a delightful filling that matched the flavor. The lemon was so tasty and refreshing. Goodness I know where I will be all the time. Lord help my budget.
I hear their scones are delicious so that is s next on my list…, maybe tomorrow.
Yum!
Nice bakery and service with a smile from all those at the counter.
Happy gal!
#reasonsWhyImFluffy

This bakery has been here for ages and ages. They even have an eating competition around Valentine’s Day!
They have family sized cakes and smiley face cookies, macarons, mini cakes and one of my favorites — a certain pastry called the Opera. According to my friend, it’s always sold out after a certain hour. The Opera is chocolate-​y and delicious!
I tried a few of their macarons and a mini chocolate cake. The macarons were pretty average compared to the other bakeries I’ve tried in Chicago, but the opera and the mini cake I bought were wonderful.

Cute bakery that many locals flock to satisfy their sweet tooth. It’s steps from the metra Davis station, CTA Davis purple line and several CTA bus routes so many can stop in before or after work. We had a taste of almost everything: a chocolate croissant, glazed donut, m&m cookie, pecan roll and chocolate cupcake. Our sweet tooth was definitely satisfied. Everything was newly baked. Nothing was overly sweet. Great for breakfast or dessert.

Simply a quality bakery that’s been doing it right for over 75 years. I’ve been coming here for a long as I can remember. They make everything in house with the exception of the cannoli shells. On a good day you can smell their fresh baked goods from the street, which I had the pleasure of doing a couple days ago. Whenever I’m in town, I come here. I have a friend’s kids who love their cookies so they count on Uncle Darren to bring them every time I visit. And for myself, I get their macaroons which are great. Specifically the chocolate flavor. Everyone working there is always really nice and helpful too.
As long as I’m here and as long as they’re here, I’ll keep coming back.

I have enjoyed baked goods from Bennison’s Bakery a couple of times. Bennison’s is a well-​established bakery in Evanston at the corner of Davis and Maple (its website declares it a «North Shore Institution Since 1938»). Earlier this year someone brought over a King Cake from Bennison’s to the office. The boxed King Cake was decorated with an over-​the-​top color scheme that is very appropriate of the Mardi Gras treat, but more importantly it was very yummy if you like your desserts extremely sweet and sugary. Last weekend I bought a large cherry coffee cake for a party. The cake was sweet but not overly so and there was a good amount of cherry filling throughout the length of the coffee cake, so it was a big hit amongst the crowd. That was good news /​bad news, as I was happy that people liked the coffee cake, but it was all consumed so I had no leftovers to take home. Oh well.