Where To Find Paczki On Fat Tuesday In The South Suburbs

They’re rolling out the paczki all across the south suburbs in preparation for Fat Tuesday, which this year falls on Feb. 17. While the rest of us sleep, bakeries around the Southland are busy mixing, scaling, frying, cutting and filling paczki (pronounced ponch-key), which are Polish donuts filled with different kinds of sweet fillings. Typically offered the Tuesday before Lent, paczki are known to draw lines around the block.

The yeasty Polish pastry offered Christians in Poland one last sweet blast before Lenten fasting. If you have paczki on your mind, Patch has rounded up area bakeries that are offering this sweet Polish treat. An early wave of paczki have already flown out the door for Fat Thursday, the last Thursday before Ash Wednesday, when Poles traditionally eat paczki.

The entire region is covered with places, so no one should miss out on the fun. And if you have to stand in line awhile to order paczki, the wait is well worth it.

Fleckenstein's Bakery, 19225 S. La Grange Road, Mokena
Iversen's Bakery, 12948 Western Ave. in Blue Island
The Velvet Bakery, 5168 W. 95th St. in Oak Lawn
Witek's Bakery, 8807 W. 95th Street in Palos Hills
Wolf's Bakery, 3241 W 95th St., Evergreen Park
Talerico Martin Bakery, 7334 W. 63rd St. in Summit