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After years of selling out at Chicago farmers markets, Dorothy’s Bakery has found a permanent home in Lincoln Park. The shop, which opened in mid-September, marks a new chapter for owners Brian and Taylor Bruns, who have been offering breads, pastries, and bagel sandwiches since 2021.
Brian Bruns, a veteran of Chicago’s restaurant scene, says the idea for the bakery started almost by accident. He and his wife Taylor Bruns had been running barbecue restaurant Flat & Point in Logan Square before the pandemic forced it to close. Out of that came an unexpected opportunity.
“One day, my wife just asked me to make some sourdough bagels because we hadn’t had a bagel in a long time,” Brian Bruns recalls. “And, you know, there was just something that we both liked. So I tried my hand at it, made a couple test batches, and started to see that people were interested in buying them.”
That early success quickly grew into a full-fledged farmers market operation. The couple began selling at Green City Market, where 500 to 600 hand-rolled bagels would disappear within hours, and converted the Flat & Point space into a production hub. They soon expanded to markets around the city, building a devoted following along the way. But while the farmers market model worked in the short term, it constrained growth and brought challenges like food spoilage and sudden weather disruptions.
At the new location, Dorothy’s offers familiar favorites, from sourdough breads to pastries such as crème brûlée-filled croissants, canelés, cookies, Danishes, and more. Customers can also enjoy sandwiches — including classics like bacon, egg, and cheese; BLT; and club — served on their choice of bread or bagel, or build their own creations. Brian Bruns says that a top seller is the Frankie, a bacon, egg, cheese, and apple butter sandwich named after his daughter.
The shop allows Dorothy’s to widen its offerings, too. Unlike at Green City Market, which requires vendors to source ingredients from the surrounding region, the Brunses can now make items such as chocolate cookies and croissants, and lemon tarts. Smoked salmon is another store-exclusive product — Brian Bruns says that selling it outdoors on a hot day was never ideal. While Dorothy’s has a new storefront, all the breads and pastries will continue to be produced at the Logan Square facility that was once the Brunses’ restaurant.
For Brian Bruns, Dorothy’s isn’t just a bakery, it’s a family project. His father helped build the shop’s display cases and both his parents still work the stand at the Downers Grove farmers market. The bakery’s name is a tribute to the woman who first sparked Brian Bruns’ curiosity in the kitchen at a young age.
“The store is meant to honor my grandmother,” Brian Bruns explains. “She got me into cooking and let me be the person that I wanted to be. She was always very supportive of me.”
Dorothy’s will maintain its presence at farmers markets, showing up not only at Lincoln Park’s Green City Market but also in West Loop, Lincoln Square, Wicker Park, and suburban Downers Grove. Brian Bruns notes there’s been strong demand in Downers Grove specifically and wouldn’t be surprised if an outpost opens there in the future. For now, though, the team is committed to quality over quantity and taking things slowly.
“We stand behind our products 100% and we want our customers to know that,” Brian Bruns says. “And I find that it brings me a lot of joy to watch people have our products over and over again, and tell their friends and family about us.”
Dorothy’s Bakery, 2318 N. Clark Street. Open Wednesday to Sunday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
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Jeffy Mai
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