Visited Busken Bakery for the first time on a recent trip to the Cincinnati area with some of my…read morefamily. We were in town to visit other family members who are local to the area, so we stopped here to pick up some treats to bring along with us on our visit.
Busken Bakery is a third-generation, locally owned business in Cincinnati that has been around for nearly 100 years. They have 4 locations listed on their website, with one of them being in Eastgate/Batavia. The selection here includes a variety of homemade breads, cookies, cakes, donuts, pies, and more. Various coffee and other drinks are also available to enjoy with your treats.
This location specifically is in the Eastgate/Batavia area, at the intersection of Glen-Este Withamsville Road and Old State Route 74. The storefront is the right corner unit in a small strip mall-type complex called Glen-Este Village Centre. As someone who is not from the area and had never been here specifically, it is relatively easy to navigate to. Their branding is visible on the larger sign for the shopping center, which can be read from the road.
Parking here was no issue There are two rows of parking spaces at the front of the shopping center. It was not at all crowded in the complex at the time of our visit, so we easily got a parking spot just steps from the bakery entrance.
Our visit here was around 12:40 PM on a Saturday in September. I am assuming the crowd for this place comes in the morning time, given the type of business it is. There were no other customers in the store at the time of our visit.
The bakery also has some aspects of a cafe. There are a few bar-height tables, four-top tables, and even a kids table available for patrons in the front of the store. It would be nice to grab some goodies, a nice drink, and hang out for a little bit in the space. They even had some different reading material available for free, too.
We took some time to look around at all of the different items in the bakery before deciding what we wanted to order. They have a few bakery cases at the counter filled with different cookies, dipped treats, and other pastries that can be purchased individually or in various quantities. Behind the counter was a selection of donuts. The pre-made cakes sit to the left, and are displayed so it is easy for the customer to see.
Throughout the store, there are different tables and displays with the breads, pies, pre-packaged cookies, and seasonal items. I loved the nods to the Cincinnati area all around the space, including the Bengals-themed cookies, the "Chew Dey" sign, and the variety of orange/black/white items to choose from. It was fun to look around at the different items and decorations the staff put together.
On the left-hand side, there are a few different coolers with a variety of cold drinks. Also, there are coffee urns with self-serve hot coffee. Greeting cards, candles, and other retail items are in this space as well.
The family we were going to visit has a few young children, so we chose to get a tub of the Original Iced Cookies that were pre-packaged. They were decorated as yellow smiley faces, and were a nice size for a child or for an adult as a little treat. We liked the taste of these, and they lasted for several days afterwards. The cookies in the case looked delicious but with the nut flavoring and our particular occasion that we were buying them for, we decided against them. I personally would have loved to try them, as they all looked and sounded so good!
Overall, there was a healthy selection of items throughout the store. I thought they would have more variety in terms of cookies, as it seemed like there were only a few different kinds. Same sentiment for the breads. I am not sure if it was just because we were there later in the day, or if that is the way it always is. Maybe next time I will need to stop earlier to get the full experience in this regard.
The staff were attentive and helpful. Since we were the only ones in the space, I think they were overly-attentive at points, but that is fine. I am more of a shop on my own-type of shopper, so not my favorite when employees are watching my every move. However, I understand they are simply doing their job and we essentially had their undivided attention.
Glad that we found this local bakery to stop at during our trip to Cincinnati! Their products were good, the storefront was decorated and appealing, the staff were all friendly. I would love to return in the future to try more of their items, including these infamous donuts I have been reading about here in other people's reviews. Would recommend giving Busken Bakery a try if you find yourself in the area.
