Palermo Bakery — Restaurant in Norwood Park Township

I NEVER write reviews but Palermo Bakery deserves this one so here we go....My Dad's 82nd surprise birthday party was two years in the making- I wanted to throw him a huge bday bash when he turned 80 but then COVID. So needless to say this was an important event for our family and friends. We had been shopping around for cakes but everything was so pricey and nothing felt special. It only occurred to me a week before the party to get him a custom designed cake in the shape of dentures. Why dentures you ask? Because Dad has been making teeth and dentures for more than 50 years!!! So teeth are near and dear to his heart. Like a madwoman, I frantically searched for a bakery that could make this delicious, denture masterpiece. I contacted a lot of those fancy custom cake designers- some didn't answer, some couldn't do it in the timeframe, the others were very pricey. By sheer luck, someone recommended Palermo Bakery to me and the rest is history. They answered immediately (on a Sunday via FB messenger) and said they could absolutely make the cake and at a fraction of the price. So immediately my paranoia kicks in- this isn't going to look right, it's not going to be big enough, it's not going to taste good yada yada yada. I can't express the overwhelming delight we felt when we picked up this cake- they nailed it. It turned out EXACTLY like the photo I submitted and we were absolutely thrilled! The cake reveal at the party was by far the most special part of the night- it brought a smile to everyone's face and something my dad and our family will never forget. Not to mention it was delicious- they recommended white cake and chocolate cake with cannoli and mocha filling. Thank you to Palermo Bakery for making it a night to remember- quite literally it was the icing...

I 🩷 Palermo bakery! I saw on their instagram that they have pupo con uovo. My Nonna used to make them every year, but is unfortunately no longer with us. This would be our 4th Easter without them. We called Palermo first thing this morning to put in an order. We also ordered Iris, which they didn’t have today but made 10 for us, on a super short notice. (WOW!) I picked up the order, and all of the employees were so kind and welcoming. (As always). I also got a slice of eggplant pizza, which I devoured before even making it home. (Amazing). we were absolutely blown away when we got home and opened the boxes. The iris are HUGE, and very generously filled! We split a pupo con uovo in half, not having very high expectations. (What’s better than Nonna’s baking?) to our surprise, they were absolutely perfect. The best pupo con uovo we’ve ever had. (Sorry Nonna.) we also picked up a reginella cake here 2 weeks ago, which was phenomenal as well. Thanks to Palermo, this will be the best Easter we’ve had in years. I definitely recommend following them on social media, they always post what they’re making for the day. Will be stopping by every weekend...

We tried a plethora of things from Palermos. Unfortunately nothing truly stood out. Of the things we tried: *one pound of italian cookies The pine nut cookie was best received of the assortment we had. Some of these cookies were super soft and lacked a true cookie texture. *cheese danish. It was okay, and nothing against them, but in recent weeks I've had cheese danishes from 2 other bakeries that were superior to this one. *cheese/nutella stick. Thought it was a churro initially, probably wouldve been better if it was. Definitely needed to be filled a little more. *Arancini. Similarly to the danish, had one of these from another nearby bakery that was just superior and better filled.

We also bought a foccacia round which was nice and easily the best thing we purchased.

Some of the prices on things like cakes and the cookies (by the pound) I thought were high, but smaller things like danishes and breads seemed very reasonable. I did not see any markdown racks or discount items here.

The young man assisting us was very helpful and patient with us as we decided which cookies we wanted. So the service was notably good and the cases looked...