Business & Tech

Pączki Day Isn't Just For Poles Anymore

People of other ethnicities are picking up the Fat Tuesday treat.

Lillian Osran had never heard of pączki or Oak Mill Bakery before Tuesday. But an article about the Niles Polish bakery in the Chicago Tribune intrigued her enough to make the drive from Evanston.

"I bought blueberry, lemon and custard," she said, motioning to her bakery box of pączki. Although her parents were from Lithuania and Russia, she grew up Jewish and didn't know the pre-Lenten Fat Tuesday custom. And in Freeport, in western Illinois, where she lived for many years, no one made the light, deep-fried jam or custard-filled delicacies.

Plenty of others, however, are familiar with Fat Tuesday, as well as Fat Thursday, the Polish pre-Lenten celebration that occurred last week.

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

Earlier: Video of Paczki Day in Niles

"It was crazy busy this morning--all day long, to tell you the truth," said Beata Szot, the manager at Oak Mill Bakery's Niles location. It also has shops in Harwood Heights, Arlington Heights and in Chicago on South Harlem Avenue,  North Avenue and Belmont Avenue. 

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

"We're starting to have more customers, not only Polish," she said. "Today it's even busier than Fat Thursday."

Last week was a busy one with Valentines Day falling Tuesday and Fat Thursday arriving two days later, but Fat Tuesday topped them both in the number of customers, she said.

Extra staffers waited on customers, who were still showing up in numbers at 6 p.m. They plucked the plump, light-as-air pączki, in varieties ranging from whipped cream to strawberry, raspberry, apricot and chocolate-topped custard, from ample trays resting on the top of the bakery counter. Other employees brought out more trays to re-stock.

Going into the 12th hour of pączki day, one staffer ringing up a sale griped to a co-worker, "I'm never eating another pączki again."

"Until next year!" an eavesdropping customer remarked.

Let's talk about food. Like Niles Patch on Facebook

 

 

 


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here