Karsh’s Bakery

Per evening news this place will close its doors today March 26, in t-​minus 5 minutes. Wish I could have visited them in their heyday.

For those in Phoenix, it is indeed a sad day. Karsh’s Bakery, a staple in the Phoenix area for almost 50 years is closing it’s doors tomorrow. There is no other bakery that even comes close to the quality and flavor that came from their shop. Karsh’s will be missed.

One of the last great bakeries in Phoenix… in Arizona for that matter. No one compares to the Jewish bakery that has been operating in the valley for over 30 years. Although the original owners are no longer running the operation, the business has been handed off to a friend of the family who has done an amazing job with continuing the tradition. Everything at Karsh’s is great… no lie. From their bagels, to cakes and cookies, pastries, and more… you’ll never leave with an item you don’t like. You can try (taste) pretty much every item available before you purchase, and their staff can customize any order to fit your needs. Some people might think their cakes and cookies look basic… they aren’t. And yes, their Black and White cookies are cakey… just like they are supposed to be. Karsh’s is Arizona’s finest Jewish bakery.

Great service, fresh and amazing selection. I always leave with 10 dessert items. Love this place!

I had such high hopes for this bakery when I moved into the neighborhood last year. I’ve made quite a few visits there and I think I will not be returning.
First, the service. EVERY time I’ve gone, without fail, I have been put off by the service. There are usually 3 or 4 people behind the counter, just awkwardly STARING at you as you browse the baked goods. They either ignore you completely or try to rush you into choosing, either way I always leave feeling like my business inconvenienced and annoyed them.
Second, the food. Honestly, it’s just not any good. At all. Cookies, bagels, muffins, pastries, bread… they are all pretty bad in quality and are WAY overpriced. I’ve gotten, and will continue to get, better quality products for way less at the Bashas bakery 2 doors down.
Today was the last straw. The rather rude employees actually made comments to each other about another customer as soon as that person left the store. I couldn’t even FINISH some of what we bought today which really says something. Never in my life have I ever left a sweet treat unfinished! And my loaf of «fresh sourdough» was stale and completely tasteless. I have no clue how they’ve been in business so long, or how they’ve gotten so many glowing reviews.

What a fun little bakery. My husband has been in love with the Coco Bars since childhood (I personally am not a fan, but that is ok). Any time I need to score brownie points with him, I stop in on my way home from work and grab a few.
The cake bites they have are wonderful. We got a variety of them for our Easter Egg dyeing night with family and everyone loved them.
The cupcakes are always good.

Karsh’s Bakery has been around forever — with that kind of staying power, you would expect great things when you walk through the door. How else did they make it so long here?
Well, I don’t have an answer for you. After a recent visit, I still have no idea. The place felt very sterile and there was a lack of personality behind the counter. Perhaps that is because there was a lack of confectionary wonderment in the bakery cases. Sure they had basic cookies and cakes, and some sweet breads, but Momma L and I were hard pressed to find a special birthday treat for her.
It could be the curse of an afternoon visit that could be blamed for the lack of variety, but they did seem to have plenty of cookies left. And their cakes looked amazing but there was only the option to purchase a whole cake. I’m sure they do quite a bit of catering and it could be well worth it for a special cake order. But for the occasional visit as a special treat for the eyes and tastebuds, this was not the place.
We did purchase an 2 eclairs — since that was the most exciting option — and can’t say that it was a memorable birthday dessert that night.

Karsh’s has been a favorite of mine since I was a little girl — well over 20 years now.
I have lived in Phoenix on and off since going away to college, and I still crave the butter cookies (melt in your mouth amazing) and the kichel (bow ties) they make when I am not in town. In fact, I have lived in St. Louis, San Francisco and Austin, and I am yet to find kichel as good as the kichel at Karsh’s. And believe you me, I have tried! They also have some of the best black and white cookies around, and their challah always hits my egg craving spot.
I go out of my way to make a trip down to 7^th Street when I’m back in Phoenix. I suggest you do the same.

First it was kosher. Then it was kosher-​style. Now it’s kosher again (and has been for several years.) The recipes never changed — the politics of this silly town did.
And all along, it’s been my favorite little Jewish bakery in town. Chompies is nothing in comparison!
The Raspberry Delight cake has been my favorite cake EVER, consistently, for about 20 years. I’ve even given it as a birthday cake and anniversary cake to loved ones. Don’t let the small size fool you — this thing packs a wallop of flavor!
The breads are always consistently really good. This morning, the Fantastic Mr. It’s Complicated and I were in, and he opted for a marble rye. A gorgeous, perfect, deceptively heavy super crusty rye. YUM!
I avoid the butter cookies as much as I can. Mostly because once I eat one, I won’t stop until they’re all gone. Yes, I have eaten almost a full pound in one day. Not a pretty sight.
All the other cookies, cakes, mondelbread, hamentaschen, etc. are top notch, too.
So nice to have a real old school kosher bakery in the hood!

I love this place! Since moving to Phoenix I miss my favorite Kosher bakeries and am so happy to have found Karsh’s. They have the best Challah bread I’ve had since I moved here, I love their egg bagels, and the rolls are delicious. Next time I’m going to try the rye bread.
Their butter cookies are melt in your mouth delicious and the rugelach and decos were delicious. I was so happy to find an apple strudel like my great grandmother used to make, that even though this place is a drive from me (I’m in E Mesa) I will definitely be making more trips here in the future.

Best Cakes around!
This may sound crazy, but I’ve never actually been in this place. But I’ve tried so many different things they have.
My job goes through Karsh’s for all the anniversary cakes, catering, and special events. We get cookies, cakes, and other assorted pieces of heaven from Karsh’s. Recently, my coworkers wanted to try something different. They got an eclaire, cake balls, and mini rainbow cakes. The rainbow cakes are the best thing to ever go in my mouth. I could eat those for days. They just melt in your mouth plus they’re covered with chocolate. What? Yes!
My friends also got me a Karsh’s cake for my birthday a few years ago. I wish I had a picture of it. It was so pretty with a butterfly on it. And it tasted amazing.
Though I’ve never been a paying customer and I’ve never walked through their door, I love this place and highly recommend it for any event you may be throwing.

My baby sister and I were pregnant at the same time last year, and my family was thrilled at the coincidence, so imagine my crushing disappointment when my pregnancy turned life threatening and I was sent to Good Samaritan Hospital for bed rest at only eighteen weeks! That meant I was going to miss my little sister’s baby shower! :(That made me incredibly sad. What made me even sadder was her tearfully explaining to me that the baby shower her (bossy) mother in law was organizing for her was a hot-​ass mess, AND that her mother in law was refusing to provide a cake for the shower!
«Ah ha» I thought! «I can save the day from my hospital bed AND provide a kick ass cake for her baby shower! Yay!!»
So I called Karsh’s because they have some of the most YUMMYTASTIC cakes I’ve ever tasted… Well, my first call to Karsh’s didn’t go so well because the first employee I spoke to didn’t seem too interested in helping me AT ALL (it was close to closing time apparently) so I decided to call back the next day. On my second call to Karsh’s I reached an employee who said he was a manager, so I explained to him that I was stuck in the hospital, but that I would like to order a baby shower cake for my little sister’s baby shower in a couple of weeks and that I would pay for it over the phone with my credit card and that my husband would pick it up for me the day of the shower. He said he would be happy to help me with this order. I told him what size I needed and what flavors we’d like for the cake and then he asked me about a decoration for the cake and I told him that her baby shower theme was baby turtles and baby owls, and maybe could they do something with that theme in mind??? He said ‘sure’ and I assumed that dealing with a professional bakery and all, that they’d do something nice within those parameters.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, was I dead wrong about THAT.
You see the day of the shower arrived and my husband ran over to Karsh’s Bakery and picked up the cake (and trust me, it wasn’t a cheap cake) and then he brought that big, pink bakery box over to my hospital room so that when my little sister popped in to see me before going to her shower, I could surprise her with a beautiful cake to take to her party.
Well, let me tell you what, my husband opened the tape sealing the edges of that pink bakery box so I could get a sneak peek and my face just froze in an expression of utter horror… The idiots who decorated her cake over at Karsh’s Bakery went and printed out an ugly black and green edible image of a giant sea turtle and plastered that monstrosity across the front of my sister’s baby shower cake! And then in teeny tiny pink letters at the bottom of the photograph wrote «Welcome Baby Emma».
I have never cried so hard in my LIFE! I think my nurses were worried I was going to go into labor I was so upset and sobbing. Seriously, I was a wreck.
I was crushed. It was the ugliest, MOST disastrous mess you’ve ever seen. I seriously cried for hours and I couldn’t even look at my little sister when she came to my room to see what the «big surprise» was that I had for her that day. I hid my face in my pillow quietly sobbing and pretended to be sleeping when she came by.
It was the most unprofessional thing you’ve EVER seen. :(
We should have taken a picture of it for the cake wrecks blog, but I was so distraught that I didn’t want to look at it anymore.
My family still put on a brave face and took that monstrosity to her baby shower, while I hid in my hospital room and sobbed, and while everyone who saw it all agreed it was hideous, they also said it was quite delicious.
Thankfully my sister was quite a good sport about it and thanked me profusely for the gesture. I think she knew my intentions were good.
So there you have it; take it for what it’s worth. Karsh’s makes delicious cakes, as long as you don’t mind your ‘adorable’ baby shower cake looking like some Jacques Cousteau nature photograph out of a dusty old circa. 1960’s textbook with some tiny, unprofessional greeting piped out frosting at the bottom of the ridiculous photograph.

Employee wasn’t overly helpful or friendly.
Bummed they don’t do any gluten free. Got a couple cookies for my girls. They thought they were just okay… and didn’t finish them.

First time here and the Challa and the butter cookies were «to-​die-​for»!!
Great service great baked goods and we will be back… over & over & over!

Their chocolate cake is perfection. I’ve bought it for Mother’s Day and birthdays, and always wowed people. If you enjoy Cheesecake Factory’s chocolate mousse cake, this is better.
I’m thankful they have poor hours, otherwise my waistline would be in serious trouble.

Growing up in Phoenix, Karsh’s was the only «Jewish» bakery in town. Back in the day, Phoenix was small and the Jewish community was tight knit (or so my memory goes-​TBI on Thomas anyone?) so all of the parties, Shivas, Bris’s, Oneg’s, (you get the picture) had something or many somethings from this bakery. I don’t know about the changes in ownership or any of ins and outs of the business here, but I have always have had a fondness for their marble rye-​which I lovingly referred to as «zebra bread». In fact, their rye bread in general has been my gold standard for years and years.
Now that I live in the Bay Area, whenever I come to town, I knew I would get my deli fix at Miracle Mile (the only Jewish style deli on the West side of town and sadly now closed) and I knew my hot pastrami would always be perfect because they used Karsh’s rye bread.
On my visit in January and on the way to Sun City from the airport, I had my Mom (Grandma in tow) take me to Scott’s Generations (next door and review to follow) and after a disappointing meal there and an obvious lack of using Karsh’s rye for my sandwich, I asked Mom to get a loaf of «zebra bread» for me to eat at her house (best way is toasted with cream cheese and strawberry or raspberry jam). Within minutes (while I was escorting Grandma to the car), she came out with the loaf of rye and a very memorable pink box with a round chocolate chip cake thing that I never can remember the name of that tastes delicious with a steaming cup of Peet’s Garuda blend (I brought the Bay Area with me of course)!
I think when my Mom comes to visit next month I will ask her to bring a couple of loaves of zebra bread. I may actually break my vow to never ever freeze bread (those of you with a Jewish Grandma might know why)…

Went in this morning and I was on my phone so I didn’t get greeted, but I thought I would when I hung up the phone since I was the only one there, but no… I decided to greet her instead. No smile on her face… how disappointing. Moving on to the pastries…
I ordered a strawberry, cream cheese, and blueberry danishes. I’m still trying to finish the strawberry one. All 3 cost 5.30 which I don’t think is too bad. It’s a good size portion and just enough balance to be sweet, but not too sweet. I thought the fillings were great and the cream cheese itself. Overall, it started my morning pretty great! (They just have to work on their greetings.)

Holy crikes this rugalach is amazing! Cheese-​filled with fruit and I think chocolate.
Walking into Karsh’s with my Groupon in hand, I thought I’d landed back in mama’s womb. Pastry is one of my comfort foods. Flaky, buttery and chilled to the right temperature. I’m not saying mama’s womb was flaky but…
I also got an eclaire, some mini-​pastries and a white cake that’s covered with chocolate icing, then rolled in coconut. That’s in the freezer until book club night!
The service was wonderful! I got to try a bunch of different sweets and left with a huge bag of stuff. For my $ 20-​valued Groupon, I will be eating this for a week. A WEEK.
Only bad thing is that it’s close enough that I can walk there.

So why is it there are either German bakeries or Jewish bakeries?
Discuss.
What no Scandinavian bakers out there? I grew up in Minnesota where German bakers ruled. Every day after school and before my extracurricular activities (which included trombone lessons, practice with the B squad basketball team and a fitting for my scoliosis brace) I would get a cinnamon crisp and a blueberry filled glazed dough nut.
After feeling nostalgic for those pimply, greasy haired in the closet days… I wandered into Karsh’s. So. Glad. I. Did.
Yummy on the Cinnamon crisp and double yummy on the blueberry cheese danish. I assumed the service would be friendly, I mean, after all, how can you be crabby when you work with frosting all day. And I was right. Each time I’ve been, they’ve been sweet as sugar and always offer a free sample.
Free sample. One bonus point for the Jewish bakery. I don’t remember the German bakers giving out free stuff. Hmmm…
Discuss.

For Valentine’s day, I wanted to get my friend something a little nice to celebrate the day so went to Karsh’s. How many times do you celebrate someones 89^th valentines day. I walked in and looked at the cases. I hear laughing in the back. I walked around and looked at all the cases again. I saw the asst manager look through the window to see if someone was out there. I looked through all the cases twice more and walked out and went to Bashas.
Maybe they don’t like me there?
A week later I went to buy some marbled rye bread there because didn’t have the time to go to LaGrande Orange. Two people immediately asked to help me. This place does something to my head. I wish I could like the idea of going there. I DON’T but do so for my friend only now.