Twisted Sister Bakery and Honey Cafe- Reviews/Thoughts???

These are two places I have been wanting to try but have not been able to find out much info on them...

Twisted Sister Bakery is downtown and I saw it mentioned briefly in Chicago Magazine....

Honey Cafe (http://www.honeycafe.net) in Glenn Ellyn looked interesting (mostly concerned with bakery items)......Chicago Mag loved their Cookies (Peanut Butter ?)over the summer

any thoughts/reviews about either?

Thanks.

Twisted Sister Bakery
1543 North Wells St
Chicago, IL 60686
312-932-1128

Honey Cafe
499 N Main St
Glen Ellyn, IL 60137
630-469-0000

I tried Twisted Sister Bakery at the beginning of the summer, not long after it first opened. I had the chocolate cupcake and left thinking that there are many better cupcake options in Chicago - the main complaint being the small amount of frosting (although I'm the type of person who likes almost as much chocolate frosting as cupcake).

When I was there they were offering samples of many of their cookies, and I would definitely go back for those. Unfortunately, I don't remember the specific types but they were diverse and sold in by weight.

I hope this helps - I know it's been a while and I'm lacking a lot of specifics. I live nearby so I'll try to visit the bakery again soon and report back.

JackieK-
I too am a HUGE frosting lover...actually probably more than the cupcake itself...any info is greatly appreciated...thanks!

Hi PBandFluff,

I've been to Honey Cafe twice, for lunch and breakfast. It can be a noisy space, but not unpleasantly so. (It was noisy even when it used to be a clothing store. It has an older, noisy wood floor and bare walls.) For me it's a welcome addition to the area. We've had excellent service, and they were very welcoming to our toddler the one time we brought her. Sometimes things can be a little confused when you enter as they figure out if you're coming for the restaurant or the bakery/cafe bar only, but it's not a big problem. There are benches and stools lining the large windows in the front room by the coffee bar as a seating option as well as the regular table-based restaurant seating in the rest of the space.

Food wise (and this is where I'm going fail you in your quest for information), I've never had any of the bakery items. I'm a sucker for baked goods, but I'm vegetarian (including eggs) and didn't feel like investigating if they had any eggless items during my visits. I have had the yogurt parfait which was very pleasant and had a surprisingly high proportion of fruit and granola compared to yogurt. It's served in a wine glass, so it's a nicely smaller serving. I would get this again. I've had the grilled cheese sandwich with pesto, arugula, and tomatoes. I'm a fan of grilled cheese and the flavor combination worked well. The greens side salad that came with was underdressed for my taste in that I prefer a little more acid in my dressing. A spritz of lemon or vinegar would have helped quite a bit. Their fries are thickly cut, seasoned (herbs plus parmesan maybe?) and fried a fairly dark color. I enjoyed the fries and recommend them over the house potatoes which lacked any color or crisp at all. I think their tofu scramble is a little bit of a misnomer given the texture of the dish with its large pieces of tofu. It's not a dish that I would order again, but my husband enjoyed the flavor quite a bit and said he'd get it again. A note on the children's menu: the bread for the sandwiches is toasted (although it doesn't say this on the menu) and is sliced quite thickly. Our toddler's peanut butter and jelly sandwich was easily two inches tall, and she was able to fit it in her mouth with only the greatest difficulty. In ordering again, I would ask if they could slice the bread in half widthwise and not toast it just to make it a more manageable sandwich for her. All in all I really like Honey Cafe, especially because of the number of tasty, veggie-friendly options that they have.

All the best,
Jen

Honey

499 N. Main Street (SE corner of Main St. and Pennsylvania Ave)
Glen Ellyn, Illinois 60137
630-469-0000

We tried some Twisted Sister offerings at an event we catered. I didn't like the cupcakes, the frosting being too sweet without much flavor. Of course, cupcakes aren't my favorite (I do love frosting though, when really buttery and not too sweet). I did think their cookies were pretty good.

I've been to Twisted Sister Bakery. The cupcakes were good, but not the best in Chicago. The interesting thing is that they frost them on demand. So, I didn't get a cupcake that had been sitting in the display case. I got a naked cupcake and then they frosted it on the spot. I'm not sure if this is the norm, but it was nice to get fresh frosting!

We went to Honey on Saturday and saw that they offer gluten-free cupcakes and bar cookies on Tuesdays. They also offer a gluten-free bread alternative for their sandwiches for a $2 surcharge everyday. The waitress warned that the gluten-free bread slices are quite small however. Also, on Wednesdays, Honey has vegan cupcakes.

All the best,
Jen