Bennison's Bakery Banking On Big Business For Paczki Day 2022

EVANSTON, IL — Bennison's Bakery has ramped up its paczki production into full gear as the family-owned Evanston bakery prepares for Fat Tuesday — also known as Paczki Day.

Paczki, pronounced "punch-key," are Polish pastries traditionally baked in the days leading up to Lent. The deep-fried doughnuts are stuffed with a variety of fillings and covered in sugar or icing.

Bennison's, 1000 Davis St., opened in 1938 and has been owned by the Downer family for the past 50 years. The bakery sells thousands of paczki every year.

Owner Jory Downer, who has worked at the bakery since 1975, said last year's Paczki Day was presented with a perfect storm of challenges as pandemic-related capacity restrictions combined with a snowstorm.

"Growing up in the bakery, I knew one day that was going to happen," Downer said. "One day we were going to get dumped on with snow on Fat Tuesday, and last year was the year."

But with mild weather in the forecast, along with the end of local mask and proof-of-vaccination requirements, Downer told Patch he is expecting a big weekend of and big day Tuesday at the bakery.

"Overall, things are much more light-hearted now than they have been the last couple years, for sure," he said. "People are back in the mood, I think, more than they were."

Bennison's offers 11 different types of paczki, including fruit, chocolate and cream cheese fillings.

"I think next year, we're going to drop one and add blueberry," Downer said.

The most popular, by far, is strawberry and whipped cream, he said.

Downer said the paczki-eating contest, which began in 2010 but has not been held since 2020, will return next year.

Bennison's requires a minimum of 24 hours' notice for orders, Downer said, with about four out of five of them placed online.

"At this point, it looks like we're going to turn our phones off at noon on Sunday," Downer said, though the bakery may stop accepting online orders earlier.

"Don't wait, either way," Downer said. "At some point, we're going to say we've got all we can handle."

Those who miss out on pre-ordering the paczki of their choice can still head over to the corner of Davis Street and Maple Avenue, where boxes will be available to walk-up customers at an outside table, weather permitting.