Pekara Bakery and Bistro

Right next to aroma café, I heard this place has great baguettes and other breads for affordable prices. I never got any though but it was on demand. I like their smoothies. I got the very berry blend which was great for the warm day but I would get the mango smoothies next time (they didn’t have it when I went)! They also have a Barry with cookies and other pastries. The cookies are super cheap and taste fresh, this would be my go-​to place only if I lived closer! Don’t get the iced coffee, my friend got it and it tasted like airplane coffee loaded with ice cubes :(if you want a nicer cup, aroma café is right next door. They have outdoor and indoor seating and breakfast and light lunch items on their menu too! Definitely recommend this place for an early morning breakfast or evening tea :)
UPDATE: They have terrible omelettes. I got a prosciuotto and provolone omelette which arrived late and was a stiff, rubbery, overlooked omelette stuffed with tiny chunks of ham -.-
On the bright side, I found out that they have «Happy Hours» from 3−6pm when you can get a coffee drink and two cookies for $ 3 and a few dollars off other drinks.

I’ve lived in Champaign for 8 years, and I *want* to love Pekara and support local business. Even though many of their menu items are great, their customer service is atrocious. Specifically who I think is one of their managers, Alli, but also many of their behind-​counter staff. Whether it is stopping in to ask about their featured pastry, or calling in a catering order, I have experienced nothing but rudeness and argumentative aggression from Pekara staff for years, with two recent experiences putting the final nails in the coffin.
A few months ago I stood at the counter while 2 people cleaned behind it, even though it was still 30 minutes before closing and they had customers at tables. After being ignored for a solid 2 minutes, I said, «excuse me, can I please make an order?» One woman didn’t even look up from her tasks, and the other one said, «Yeah» flatly. I asked about one of the desserts and she gave me a one-​word answer. I wanted to take my business elsewhere, but I was supposed to pick up sweets for a party and figured I’d just deal with it this time. The woman flopped my delicate pastries in a box, flopped the box on the counter, rung me up without a word, and didn’t respond when I said «Thank You.» I opened the box as I left and saw my pastries were smeared along the box due to carelessly flinging them in there. I didn’t want to deal with the staff again, so I shared the story at the party and two people said they have had similar rude experiences at Pekara.
Flash forward to last week when I called to make a catering order, and manager Alli not only was rude to me on the phone, but continued to be rude even after I stated that I’ve had poor service before and would like to not be treated rudely for no reason. She continued to argue with me about a catering order I made a year ago, which I remember clearly and she was no part of. (She didn’t take nor deliver my order a year ago, yet she kept telling me I was wrong about my memory of the order). If I didn’t have to make the order for work, I would have hung up right then. Pekara is one of those places that is cute and has good product, but the EXPERIENCE of going there is what makes me want to run for the hills. When I complained about this experience to my fiancé, he said he’s long stopped going there for the same reason. I’ve given Pekara my money and forgiveness for far too long — I am now actively NOT a customer and will never recommend them to friends or colleagues again.

I came here with my mom about two weeks ago and I really enjoyed my quiche, tirumasu, and mango soda that I ordered! SO GOOD! But my mom did not like her decaf coffee that she ordered. She enjoyed her lemon bar though!

First time and so much to choose from! Maple bacon croi-​nut was so good! Dark roast coffee was perfect! Friendly helpful staff.

The bakery is great: croissants, baguettes, focaccia are among the best in the area. However, their espressos are undrinkable: bitter and bad quality coffee beans. Avoid at all costs. I will upgrade to 5 stars if they will get their coffee act together.

Have been stopping by this place after my shift for quite some time (night shift RN). Last time I stopped by I had the worst customer service I have had in a very long time! Not getting too much into the details but management needs to reevaluate their morning staff. I will not go back EVER again. I can’t give it one star because I don’t think its fair to the ownership and i really enjoy their pastries and lattes. However I can only give it 3 stars because their rude staff.

Pekara is my favorite bakery in Champaign-​Urbana. I believe they have the best desserts available in this area. However, their savory, non-​dessert items are some of the worst food I’ve ever had not just in CU but anywhere. For example, their quiches are otherworldly… And not in a good way. Something about their specific flavor profile of olives and eggs and spinach and mushy crusts reflected poor thought in product development. Their crepes are tasteless and sad. On top of that, I think the food is laughably overpriced for its taste and quality (desserts here are worth the price though). As an amateur baker and lover of baked goods, I think there is no competition when it comes to their confections.
Also, 1000% agree with the other reviewers: most of the staff are very rude and, well, lazy and cannot be bothered to walk more than a few steps to help you with questions or anything else. They act like being there is sucking their souls out, which might be true, but probably best not to make it too obvious.

Nice quaint bakery and coffee shop. Always delicious and fresh pastries, cookies and cakes. A great way to start a morning, especially on a weekend. Highly recommend the scones, croissants, and lemon bars. Generally relaxing and quiet place to get work done.

Pekara Bakery is one of my absolute favorites in Champaign! They have *the best* tiramisu and crepes in the C-​U area, and their crepes are to die for. In addition to their many bakery items, they have a great assortment of coffee drinks, sandwiches, salads, and more! It is the perfect place to go for breakfast, brunch or to get dessert. Always such a treat!
I will add that this is not an ideal place for large groups or meetings. They have a back room, but seating is kind of tight and the sound carries and can be very loud. It is *perfect* for small meetings, however. I really enjoy holding one-​on-​one meetings there, or meeting with a small handful of friends. In the summer, their outdoor seating is great too!
The only reason my review is 3-​stars and not 5-​stars is because the staff members are not the friendliest. I have had multiple encounters with different cashiers and their attitude is the same across the board. I have also had two incidents where they forgot about my order and I had to wait over 45 minutes to get it. My fiancé won’t come with me to Pekara because he feels the staff are so rude to us. I usually get our orders to go.

Their pastries are almost always stale. They have a lot of options, but not a ton of fresh options. Not the best bakery in Champaign-​Urbana.

We were travelling through and stopped by for breakfast. Organic eggs omelette drew me in.
Big mistake!
The cashier was courteous but not the staff. The omelette was cold and unfortunately did not taste any better than the breakfast chain ones. No ketchup. No gluten free options.
My husband had omelette with toast. They never asked what type of bread he wanted and gave raisin bread, which he did not like.
Will never go again.

Treated extremely rudely. The food is good, but your staff needs to learn how to treat customers.

I’m really a fan of Pekara’s crepes and baked items in general. When you walk in, you can’t help but to stare at their displays of baked items; all of which look delicious and the ones I have tried have tasted delicious so far.
During my visit I tried the La Parisienne crepes and the person I was with had the Nutella crepes with banana and walnut. I would highly recommend either of those sweet crepes if you are fiending for something savory and sweet for breakfast (or any time of the day).
Overall, it’s a nice little establishment to stop in and grab a bite to eat or grab a coffee. I will definitely be returning in the future because crepes are life.

Great quick lunch spot downtown. Roasted Red Pepper Gouda soup is wonderful and I usually get the salad of the day. One thing I wish they did was post their daily specials online on Facebook or Twitter so I knew when my favorite salad or sandwich was on the menu. That would cause me to go a lot more. Downtown Champaign has very few quick lunch options, and I would consider this the best.

Just popped in for a quick coffee while my party figured out where we wanted to go for brunch. I ordered a hot Americana and my brother got a cheese Danish. I tried the Danish and found it nice and flakey with a good amount of cheese filling. Americana was simply but good. We got our drinks very quick. Its an interesting layout with two rooms separated by a long hall way. Seems like a decent place to do some studying and get a nice cup of coffee. If I lived in the area I could see myself frequenting Pekara. It also has a nice outdoor patio for those wanting to enjoy the weather.

There isn’t a 2.5 star rating so I notched it up to 3 because when Pekara is good, it’s good. But when it’s bad, it’s terrible.
I’ve had a multitude of mixed experiences here, both in service and food quality. When the baked goods are fresh, some of them can be outstanding. But when they’ve dried and/​or gone stale and they’re still selling them, it’s like throwing money in the trash. (And sometimes when you ask what’s fresh and you get it, it’s still sub par.) The bread leaves something to be desired – I do not go here for their bread items.
Pekara is not an inexpensive place to eat, either. Sometimes the service is fast and friendly and other times it’s indifferent and slow. While most local businesses have a policy for a minimum spending amount to use a debit/​credit card, most shop owners will still let you use your card if you’re out of cash and making a purchase. Not here. I was thirty cents below the minimum and had no other means of paying for my purchase and I did not want to add on another $ 3 item, so the cashier took my item back and I walked out the door. It just baffles me that they’d rather lose a sale/​customer than let you use your card for a $ 2.20 purchase.
In sum: hit or miss. Could be top notch with a few changes, in this reviewer’s opinion.

Cute little place! I definitely recommend walking here on a nice day. Pekara has a variety of great pastries that cannot be found anywhere else in champaign! They also have great bread, i like the jalepeno cheddar focaccia bread and the opera cake. I also really like the chicken pesto sandwich they have! They also have really good quiche, overall great place!

El bocadito cubano!
The right crunch, the amount of pickles, mustard and mayo. I told my friend she can have the other half of the sandwich because I figured that I wouldn’t want it because most places that make sandwich cubano make em alright, but they usually deconstruct it like it’s some system gone bad. For the record: THERE’S NOT A GOD DAMN THING WRONG WITH EL Sanwich cubano, in theory and in practice!
The other half of the sandwich is just sitting next to me. My friend is out on a phone call. Should I eat it? The porkiness is peeking thru… taunting me. Sigh. I wish she would come back. Practice will power. Practice restraint. You guys!!!
The other real good place to eat a cuban sandwich is either at my parents house where my dad will throw it DOWN or somewhere in Union City or Hoboken.
Just come here for the cuban sandwich.

I was genuinely excited to finally try this place out after hearing how great it was. But things didn’t turn out as I had expected…
I will give it two stars because the store has a nice atmosphere and good layout. But…
Baklava was dry, squished, and tasted stale.
The crepes almost tasted raw and was almost rubbery to the texture.
But the worst travesty was the Turkish coffee they had, which isn’t really real Turkish coffee. They put a tiny cezve and the cup on a large plate; in reality they should be serving it already in the cup with the grounds already settled, without the cezve; there should be an accompanying glass of cold water (without ice), and finally it shouldnt be served with sugar cubes. The only way to truly sweeten Turkish coffee is during the brewing process when you are heating the cezve over the fire. Which means they should ask you how much sugar they want upon ordering it. Even were I to ignore this blatant trampling on the etiquette of Turkish coffee, it just tasted like incompletely made Nescafe put into a cezve and served lukewarm.
Distinctly under-​average establishment.

A dear bakery & café in the nice part of Champaign. Enjoyed a breakfast here and was pleasantly surprised with the quality and prices. The interior is clean and there is decent amount of space without some outdoor seating. Cashiers were nice and friendly.
We enjoyed two crepes, a quiche, and a soup for breakfast. I really liked the quiche here. It’s more eggy like an omelet but it was very aromatic with the bacon on the bottom. I think I ordered the Florentine quiche? The crepes are nice as well. It’s not a very thin, delicate crêpe, but I really liked the sweet cream inside along with the fruit. Its stuffed with the cream and what’s nice is that it wasn’t too sweet and it had a hint of acidity. I would skip the tomato soup with gouda here. It was too heavy in my taste — almost like a sauce. It does come with a lot of bread though.
With it’s price point, I’d definitely want to come back when I have the chance!