A Baker's Wife's Pastry Shop

Great bakery on the south side of Minneapolis My sister’s been a lifelong baker and she approves. That gives it five stars definitely worth the calories. ! lol I don’t think you can go wrong with just about anything you purchase here.

Great place and fairly friendly staff. I say fairly because part of the staff was friend who were assisting. I tried to just be nice to the others and just kind of looked at me. Other than that. Amazing sweets. Great selection. From cupcakes, cakes, to donuts!! It’s about a 15 - 20 min hike from airport but well worth the visit. Great coffee shop next door. Kill 2 birds one stone.

I want to love this place... Some changes could be made. I'm confused why old fashioned donuts are nearly impossible to come by and instead there are tons of raised donuts that don't seem to move. I had a slice of black forest cake last week and it was super dry--either a concern of cooling or old...regardless, I wish there were some standards to follow with regard to freshness. All this to say, I appreciate the kindness every staff member gives when I'm there. The croissant breakfast sandwiches are also pretty solid. I love neighborhood bakeries and this one could be better with some mindful choices of freshness and variety of offerings.

I stopped in the shop after driving by it many times, it was lovely. We had cake donuts and a cigar cookie both were very good, but the powdered cake donut was 10/10. I then ordered a custom cake and myself and my guests absolutely loved it. Tasted great and everyone is always so nice inside!

Very delicious donuts and very fair prices. It makes it worth it for me to get them almost daily.

Absolute excellence. I drive an hour to come here for special friends, special occasions, where I know what they provide will be spectacular! Only time I had an issue was with a hard donut. And only in the last year or so. But I'd recommend to everyone in and out of the metro area.

I got an Apple Cream Cheese Danish, Raised Glazed Donut, Mankato Butter Bar, Tea Cake, Cinnamon Roll and Maple Pecan Danish. Everything tasted just as good as they looked but the Butter Bar really surprised me the most. I also really liked the Cinnamon Roll too, they put cream cheese in it which is very different!

It's my Sunday morning go-to. Tea cakes are a must get for me. Plenty of other goodies, too.

Super small hole in the wall, family owned kind of gem. Donuts were decent but go for the teacake. You won't be disappointed.

I have been to this wonderful bakery shop twice, and both the times I have had good experience. I liked the variety of pastries and sweet treats they sell, their beverage selection, their pricing, and the good service. In my two visits here, I have gotten cupcakes, donuts, a cinnamon roll, almond puff, and a tea cake. All the items were delicious and to my liking. They were worth the purchase. I talky like them and would go back for more. I definitely recommend checking out this fine bakery shop.

We got a few treats from A Bakers Wife last weekend and they were delicious! We got the GIANT Texas donut, American Tea Cake, cinnamon roll and apple fritter. I would get all of these items again (if I have people to help me eat the Texas donut) except the cinnamon roll. The cinnamon roll was kind of meh. The American Tea Cake, which I hadn't heard of before, was the standout. Warm it up in the microwave for 30 seconds and it is perfect, flakey caramely goodness. I'll definitely be back for some repeat items and to try their other goodies, which they have PLENTY of. I thought they were reasonably priced, too. This place gets pretty busy on the weekend but the line goes by fast.

This place is going down hill and it is such a bummer. I used to argue this shops supremacy above all other donut shops. No more. I notice a lot of reviews from the 'regulars' that are also feeling this way. So many of the great things they used to have seem to have disappeared off the shelves. The donuts seem harder and harder to get fresh and are frequently bordering stale. I think this is all a result of being taken over by new owners a little while back. I've been holding this review back for months hoping against hope that things would return to the original greatness. Yet the decline seems to continue on slowly but steadily.

I don't know how much one can write about this place, but it is small, local, and powerfully awesome. I am not much of a donut eater, but man these are awesome. If you are a fan of cake donuts, raised donuts, fritters, or raspberry bismarks; they are always fresh and so well made. I would frequent this place if it weren't on the other side of the metro. It's a local gem and it should be supported.

I ended up staying at an Airbnb near A Baker's Wife and given there were limited breakfast options without a car, I ended up coming here multiple times. The vibe is relaxed, the donuts are reasonably priced for the times we live in now in donut pricing, and it tastes good. My friend also made a Borat impression with the name "A Baker's Wife," which as silly as it was, passed the time with laughter as we waited in line for donuts. I highly suggest perhaps you do that as well if you're waiting in line.

I've been going to this spot since I moved to Minnesota 21 years ago. Lots of chatter about change in ownership, and continued chatter about recent changes in quality - even since the ownership change. Yesterday I stopped in to see how the cake doughnuts were holding up and I got a maple glaze. It was sort of shocking. Imagine a dream where you walk into a place you've known since moving to a new land - and you buy a delicacy only to realize the delicacy is actually nothing but an iced bath sponge. Actually, if bath sponges had "sell by" dates (which I don't think they do but pretend so you get the full impact of the dream please) then you realize that it was actually an iced bath sponge whose sell-by date had passed 6 months ago. The dream is a nightmare. And you stand stunned on the sidewalk outside. I'm not saying the doughnut was stale. I'm saying it was the worst doughnut I've eaten in the past 23 years at least.

I found this place originally because I worked close by and it's the one place I really miss now that I'm not working in south Minneapolis. The people are friendly, it's cozy, the food is phenomenal - they have what is essentially adult toaster strudels - puff pastry, eggs, cheese, meat, ect. I would go there for a latte and one of those, then go about my day as a happy camper.

I've been coming to A Bakers Wife for years and have always had a great experience - the pastries are always delicious, flakey, buttery, and made with love I called them to place a very special order and they were able to accommodate! Very thankful that they could be part of a very special day for my partner and I. Will be coming back for as long as I can!

Ordered a loaded croissant and a Latte.. Both were excellent, Highly recommended! I'll go back for sure.

A very nomnom find with unique options. We placed a delivery order, and I guess they were out of the croissants we ordered (chocolate and the ham & cheese), so they substituted with a classic and everything and threw in a raspberry rosebud. Above and beyond customer experience and was greatly appreciated! The croissants were fine but not as airy structured inside as I would like. As we were hoping for the add one of flavor, it was hard not to be disappointed. I really appreciated though the flavor of the everything croissant as it was unique and tasty! The raspberry rosebud was amazing! I love the idea, and the subtly of the jam being between each layer was ingenious. The texture of the pastry itself was perfect as was the glaze, which was perfectly done and didn't pool in any of the crevices. The American tea cake was also very tasty! It was almost like a kouign amann was made with brioche dough. Appreciated the idea and flavors.

My daughter and I went to Baker's wife on Memorial Day 5/27/2024. We went in the morning, we bought 4 donuts. The donuts tasted like day old donuts. I've eaten their donuts before, and I know what their fresh donuts taste like. If they were going to sell day old donuts, they should have reduced the price and let people know. No one wants to pay full price for old donuts.

Delicious and creative cakes! I ordered this over the phone from California before my Minneapolis visit. I told them I wanted a "pig" cake and cupcakes. I couldn't have asked for a better outcome. Super cute and yummy! Thank you!!

Amazing Cakes and Donuts! Ordered 4 dozen glazed donuts for an event and they were definitely a favorite!

I stopped in on a Monday afternoon to get a sweet snack and I was not disappointed! I tried the American tea cake and a chocolate frosted cake donut, both were quite good. Service was very friendly and the selection was good, especially for the time of day. Seating inside is limited, but great for picking up something to go!

this one is sad to write because I have been going to bakers wife my whole life, my family literally has inside jokes about this place. We just went this morning and every donut we got was stale. Mourning this place and how good it used to be. Their ham and cheese croissants are still very good though!! (but they were already out at 8am today)

The quality hasn't been as good as before the shop was sold, but it was higher than it presently is. The bakery items are far too sweet (the cupcakes are so sugary I stopped buying them). The cookies are harder than they used to be, and I swear they use less butter (perhaps it's margarine? Whatever it is, there's less of it). The molasses ginger cookie used to be a favorite, but now I can't taste either molasses or ginger. The tea cakes are often burnt and hard. This last week the shelves were half empty. They say they're busy and selling things out, but even at noon they have very little on offer, which isn't the way it used to be. As of today they put my items in paper bags, not wax bags. They seem to be constantly understaffed. Some of their items are from Wuollet Bakery. I may as well go there! I love having a neighborhood bakery, but the quality and variety have dropped so much that I get my pastries from Lunds & Byerlys in Highland Park instead. They have much more choices and the quality is excellent. Also, and I must add this, I was there with a friend last June, and the PRIDE theme was being pushed very hard. I don't mind what other people choose to believe, and I'm all for some rainbow cookies and cakes, but the entire shop was drowned in PRIDE balloons, banners, stickers, etc. My friend's Catholic, and having the bakery employees promoting their beliefs with every cupcake made us decide to go elsewhere. We wanted pastries, not politics.

Good neighborhood bakery. We got apple fritter. Cheery danish and some other items that were quite tasty. They bake just about everything.

Don't waste your money. They have gone downhill so badly. We threw 6 American tea cakes in the trash this week. Burnt, dry, lumps of disappointment. This used to be our favorite bakery and the tea cakes were our favorite treat. We are just heartbroken over how bad they've gotten. Even the donuts couldn't be eaten without dunking in coffee or milk. SUCH a disappointment:(

This place is the real deal, honest to goodness straight up the best cake donuts you'll ever have. I'm not even really a fan of cake donuts it's definitely more I used to donut kind of person but these are like so not crumbly and not too sweet not too big. No wacky wacky flavors. Just classic stuff. Service is friendly and patient and very knowledgeable. We stopped in on a Friday afternoon to grab a little pick me up. I got the tea cake which they are also very well known for. It's basically croissanto that they mash inside of a muffin tin and then covering glaze. The outside is crispy and sweet and the rest is kind of ooey gooey pillowy chewy. My dining partner got a cherry donut and a chocolate glaze. They made me an Americano since I think later in the day they must not make a lot of trip coffee. It went perfectly with my donuts which we ate outside, they have a few patio tables and chairs. Everything was perfect.

Really great pastries and cool custom birthday cakes in a neat neighborhood. I love the tea cakes and the classic cake doughnuts. Employees are always friendly. Small shop but they turn out massive amounts of tasty pastries every day.

Frickin Fantastic! Classic traditional bakery with top notch items and a ton of variety. Fresh bread, donuts, pastries, bars, cookies, cake, etc, etc I've had a good assortment and my must have are Tea Cakes, ham and cheese croissant and spinach and feta croissant, Vienna bread and cherry danish. I'd imagine there are a bunch of things I've never tried that are equally as good, but these are my "go to" items. Post Covid there can be a long line...pro tip, call in advance and walk right in. Super easy to pay ahead of time and walk by the crowd!

I love this place. This is my second time visiting A Bakers Wife. They have a variety of selection of pastries from donuts to croissants. I had their chocolate donut with sprinkles, which was delicious.

Overpriced and the counter staff are rude Too bad It's a great location and want to support this business. Be kinder to your customers Donuts were dry

My aunt worked at the nearby-ish VA hospital for years, and apparently a frequently-observed make-coworkers-like-you tactic there is to bring in treats from A Baker's Wife. I came in because I received a coupon for a dozen cake donuts; I picked those up for a family dinner but I also grabbed a couple of cupcakes for myself for later. This was indulgent of me and I have zero regrets. Those cake donuts were WOW. I've had cake donuts before and I've had fresh cake donuts before, and these were just a step above whatever else I've ever had. My cupcakes were great also, and the prices are all of the sort you'd expect for a modest neighborhood bakery. They seem to have generous opening hours, even during late-stage pandemic times, so my recommendation is that you pop in and obtain more delicious pastries than are advisable by your family medicine practitioner.

I've heard such good things about this donut shop and had high expectations for this place. I went there on a Sunday around noon and was surprised to see the case pretty full. There is plenty of parking close by. I was welcomed with the smell of sweet dough. I looked in the case opted for a few donuts. I got the state fair donut and two maple donuts. The donuts were only $.65 which I wouldn't believe. There is a $5 minimum for using your card. It felt like I was going As soon as got back to my car, I took a bite of the maple donut. It was soft and fluffy but I wasn't super crazy about the dough and the fixing was too sweet. Later on I had the state fair donut. I wouldn't ever get that donut again.! It was pretty dry and flavorless. I'm disappointed with my donut experience here. There are plenty of good donut shops in the Twin Cities.

This place is the best bakery in the cities! I love coming here whenever I'm in the area. There is almost always a line, but it moves very quickly. Their Tea Cakes and Butter Bars are my favorite. They have all sorts of goods and even sell fresh sliced bread. It's a neighborhood favorite for a reason!

We used to live walking distance to Bakers Wife and it was our favorite treat! This bakery as evolved quite a bit over the past 5 years. They used to be cash only and now they take card. The American Tea cakes are our favorite. It reminds me of a mix of monkey bread and my grandma's homemade caramel rolls. Evil and a must have! Go and get some goodies here!!!

Two words: tea cake. It's their signature item, you won't find it anywhere else, and it's a flaky, just-sweet-enough dough accompaniment to coffee (or tea if you really must). Other things, especially donuts, are also good, and I need to get back to try their actual sliced cakes, but mainly, tea cake.

Really wanted donuts and saw the many many reviews of this place and had to try it. First, this place was so busy and loved the neighborhood so much! For about 8 donuts and 2 cookies, it was about $11!!! And the quality of these donuts were amazing! I would highly recommend the chocolate sprinkle donuts and maple cake donut!

I brought a cake from here to a bbq and everyone agreed I picked a good place. That's my education on what's considered a local gem.

The donuts are really great and you can tell they are fresh. I was in search of the best glazed donut. Staff is nice too.

This place is truly special. My family loves getting donuts here on special occasions. Recently we ordered a unicorn cake for my daughter's birthday. It looked absolutely perfect when we left the bakery with it. By the time we got it home though it had deflated some. I figured the car ride must have been too much for it, but when we brought it inside it continued to deflate and eventually looked like a sad puddle of frosting. We were disappointed because this was our first experience with ordering a cake. We ended up using a cupcake to sing happy birthday. The taste of the cake was also a disappointment, as it was so sugary we could barely eat more than a couple bites. We will continue to buy donuts when we have a special occasion but will not be ordering cake again.

This used to be the very best bakery in Minnesota. Obviously not run by the original owner. Their cake donuts were legendary, how on a Saturday are they possibly not fresh? What a disappointment.

One of my favorite places to stop in this neighborhood for a quick and freshly made pastry. Getting to this place is quite easy and parking is usually easy as well on the street. This is a very small shop with a HUGE assortment of cakes, cupcakes, donuts, cookies, packaged breads, and more. The staff are usually very friendly and very happy to help and explain the deets of the goods! Everything looks so good, I always leave with at least 4-5 different items. This most recent time, I got a cake donut, 3 cupcakes (choc. peanut butter, vanilla, and devils food) and a cookie. Dont tell, but I ate some of each! The cupcakes are my absolute favorite. I think they also make custom cakes. The prices are very reasonable. I'd recommend coming earlier in the day to increase your chances of seeing all they have to offer. I think they also have seasonal items as well. Will keep coming back when I need a quick sugar fix because they ALWAYS hit the spot and never disappoint.

This place is a bakery staple of the Twin Cities. Here's the deal - you're not going to find better cake donuts in Minneapolis, these just are truly the best! And you seriously can't beat the prices. For me I can't believe how good their cake donuts are - try every flavor and enjoy how soft and airy these bad boys are. Say goodbye to the days of eating dense and heavy cake donuts and let the angels bring you up to cake donut heaven at this bakery!! They definitely have other baked goods here, but I think the cake donuts are the true shining star that keep me coming back for more. Their raised donuts are good but truthfully they are nothing out of this world - just classic. They used to sell almond croissants which were also my favorite in the cities but for a few years I haven't seen them at their shop, hoping one of these days they pop up again! They sell other baked goods like freshly baked breads, cookies, cupcakes, bars, cakes, pies and tarts. I haven't tried these yet so I can't speak to them but people seem to enjoy whatever they get here.

We love A Bakers Wife and frequently buy pastries and other baked goods from you and have never before been disappointed. (Your savory croissants are out of this world!) However, my husband picked up a cherry pie from you for Thanksgiving and it had so much cinnamon, I actually felt like I was doing that "cinnamon challenge" that was going around on social media a few years back. I'm genuinely curious if that is your usual recipe for cherry pie filling or if someone made a mistake when making it. It was not just a lot of cinnamon for me - no one who tried it could eat more than a couple bites. It wasn't just the flavor either - you could feel the cinnamon powder in your mouth and then your tastebuds were "blown out" for awhile afterwards. The strangest part is that I've had pastries from you in the past that included cherry pie filling and they were delicious!

Love A Bakers Wife! The line can get long on the weekend (for good reason) but goes very quickly. They have an awesome selection of doughnuts and deserts. We usually end up getting the cake doughnuts or any of the glazed ones. Usually I'm not a fan of cake doughnuts, but these are amazing! We also have been loving their ham and Swiss croissants - perfectly buttery, crispy and savory! No space to sit on the inside, but when it's nice out, they have some tables on the sidewalk where you can sit and eat.

Great little cake donuts. Rest of the baked goods are not anything I'd necessarily write home about, but solid neighborhood joint for some donies ! The American Teacake isn't what it used to be (almost like a messed up kouign amann, which was delicious and tacky caramelly yumness) - they're drier now, not completely untasty but not what I remember. If you want coffee, go around the corner to Northern Coffeeworks.

I cannot stress this enough - SO many great goodies to choose from! I was so overwhelmed I will absolutely be back to try more. I ordered a maple cake donut and an almost pastry. WOW the pastry was soooo good! I'm going back tomorrow.

COVID REVIEW! About 11 am on a weekday I arrived. People were waiting on the sidewalk, about 6 ft apart from each other. Doors propped open. Nice. Everyone was alone or in a pair. Inside were two workers, and 2-3 customers at a time. Nice. Almost all customers wearing masks. And they take credit cards now? Good job not so new owners. As I was paying a third couple walked in. Feeling a little close, but oh well. Then a mom walked in with three kids. Yep, feeling way too close. Also her son was eating an apple and yeah actually that's an activity that doesnt seem essential... obviously the environment is always changing. The donuts are still excellent.

The ham and cheese croissant is one of my favorite foods and the cinnamon cake donut is so good! Everything is, can't miss here.

So every time I discover we're in the neighborhood and nearby a Baker's Wife, I immediately start nagging my husband about how we absolutely need to stop by! Sometimes he says no (ugh!!) but other times my nagging is just the right amount of relentlessness and I find myself happily staring at a case of donuts. I mostly have stuck to their cake donuts as I love cake donuts. They are fluffy but still filling. Even at 4 or 5 pm, they are not stale! I also love that these donuts are usually not overly sweet or layered on with a bunch of unnecessary frosting or toppings. They're just very good simple donuts. You can get a dozen donuts and bring them to work with you. I would highly recommend this (especially if you work with me!) as this is how I first found out about a Baker's wife. Stopping by for a box of assorted sweets is a great option if you need a last minute gift or need to get to a party. Or just do what I do and nag your husband to stop for 1 donut! Street parking easy to find out front.

I was excited to try this place because of the great reviews but unfortunately was a bit disappointed (maybe my expectations got too high). We ordered some of the fresh fruit danish, pineapple upside down cake, donuts and cookies. But I loved the Simpson references in the shop- funny and cute! Also the staff was friendly and patient. Overall- a good small bakery with a decent variety. The donuts were simple, a bit dry in my opinion, and really nothing special. The sugar cookies were hard and had too much icing for my preference but the sweetness of the actual cookie was just right and deliciously buttery. The pineapple upside down cake was great- sweet and not super dry which was nice. The star of the show was definitely the fresh fruit danish- basically tasted like if a danish and fruit tart had a baby together- the fruit was nice and tarty and balanced well with the buttery bread, only thing is I would have preferred it without the white chocolate drizzle on top (I think it was sweet enough without it). Although we were definitely not WOWED, we'll stop by again sometime for sure- to say hi to Mr. outside and check out other options.

Amazing cake donuts. Loved the cinnamon sugar and state fair donuts. Reasonably priced and probably the best donuts I've had in minneapolis!! They have outdoor seating and a there's also a nice coffee shop next door.

A great local bakery that has all you need for your sweet tooth fix! The small space is very modest and showcases all the baked goods they have available. They even have soft serve ice cream! I'll be honest, I don't consider myself much of a bread or sweets person... but "A Baker's Wife" surely put that to the test! I definitely recommend their American Tea Cake (it's the BEST and everyone I've introduced this to LOVES it!!!) and their maple donuts. A lot of their other stuff is pretty good too. They have friendly staff members that can help with recommendations or questions you may have. This bakery is a quick stop-and-go! Pick out your goodies, pay, and just head on out! They used to just accept cash, but I'm glad they also accept cards. I'll surely be back.

The American tea cake is a must but you have to catch them fresh and you need coffee with it NOT tea

This was my first time going to Baker's Wife since Gary retired and sold the bakery to the current owners several years back. Boy. Wish I would have left my memories of this little gem with the original and only Baker's Wife, Gary. I was surprised and disappointed to learn that much of the baked goods are from Wollets bakery. (Why not call the bakery Wollets, then?) What kind of "neighborhood baker" has a table of half priced Christmas treats on January 28! (Gary would weep if he saw it) Maybe they should rebrand as a Cub. ALL of Gary's baked goods were fresh, from scratch, made on site daily. The new owners cakes - yeah nothing special. If you were not privileged to buy a cake from Gary, you truly missed out. I had 3 graduations and one wedding cake made by Gary and they were phenomenal. What bakery in this city makes a sheet cake that is 6 inches tall with a beautiful raspberry filling layer and real whipped cream frosting? I'll tell ya, none. Yep. Can't get that any more at this bakery. But the biggest disappointment and disservice to the name, A Baker's Wife was the big "best in city 2016" on the wall. If memory serves, Gary still owned and ran the bakery in 2016. I guess that tells you everything you need to know about the new owners. Zero stars for false advertising and sub-par baked goods and especially for half off Christmas bakery items!! Those that have posted reviews of the bakery under the new owners after Gary retired and who think this bakery is "amazing" I feel sorry for you most of all.

GREAT pastries. TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE (which seems to be the standard and norm here in Minnesota).