Panaderia La Central

Found a mouse dropping in my tri-​color cookie. Will not be returning. Real shame, I have been coming here for years, and their pan queso was the best I have found in the city.

This place is great because they have a plethora of baked goods enclosed in glass cases. Everything is pretty much $ 0.59 each. I think the cookies are a dime or two. The best Mexican Bakery in Logan Square. You grab a tray and tongs by the front register and grab everything you want. I usually don’t exceed $ 5 since I go as far as filling up the tray. They probably got 10 – 20 different kinds of baked goods in there!

AYYYYYYY!!!
I feel like when I opened the door I was in Katy Perrys — California Gurl video. The smell, the amount of bakery and pastries. The good thing about this place is, even though it has a large amount of everything, the glass doors are still all labeled with prices so you know exactly how much everything costs.
I know for sure, next time when I visit Chicago again I will come to Panaderia La Central, which is by the way located right underneath the metro station California (blue).

This bakery is still a secret to most people. It has the best hispanic baked goods that I’ve tried. If you have hispanic friends, this is the place to get them some pastries. Doesn’t have icing on 99% of it so you have to have a taste for cinnamon, anise and crunchy pastries. I’m a big fan.

A quaint little hole in the wall, that smacks your nose with the scent of sweetness as soon as you walk in. Grab some tongs and a tray and go to town! There are countless varieties of pastries available, with most options on the sweet side. They do sell french bread, as advertised on their exterior sign, as well as torta rolls.
As far as freshness is concerned, when you offer as many options as they do, and everything is sitting in open air cases… things tend to dry out a bit. Regardless, for the price, it’s hard to find a better value in the area. At 20¢ a cookie, you can’t go wrong!

If you’re looking for a spot to come for awesome baked goods, Panaderia La Central is your spot! Don’t expect to find any fancy pastries here, though.
Like others have said, everything is right around 50 cents an item. Because things aren’t really labeled, I like to try something new each time I come here, and I’ve never been disappointed! They have a huge selection, and everything is fresh. It’s easy to come here and go overboard without breaking the bank.
p. s. If you’re a first-​timer, go up to the front of the bakery and grab a tray, tongs, then load up! When you’re done shopping, bring the tray back up to the counter and they’ll ring you up.

They have a huge selection of Mexican pastries. The conchas are by far my favorite. Also, I have to give a big thumbs up to their French bread. Its the best I’ve ever tasted and I’m sure France has nothing on this small panaderia.

Meh — was pretty unimpressed by the selection and the freshness… Everything is pretty much priced at $.50. I got a concha but it was kind of stale and the other fruit pastry had a very hard texture. They do also sell cheesecake, dulce de leche, and flan for $ 3…
I think I like Artermio’s Bakery in Wicker Park a lot more.

Brings me back to a happy place. I used to get Mexican bread as a kid and mom would always bring some home. Great with some coffee and milk (café con leche, know what I’m sayin’?) hah. Loved it here! All costs 50 cents (some smaller cookies are 20 cents… yah 20 cents).
Got a few baked goods and they all seemed fresh. So many to choose from!
Conchas y pan dulce por favor!

Great place!
Almost everything is $ 0.50 in here! Sweet (but not too sweet) and amazing pastries and stuff! I can go overboard here!
It’s cash only, and right underneath the California blue line stop (closed until the 16^th for repair.)
I normally come early or in the afternoon. Near closing time, the selection is very limited and not as fresh but that’s pretty common at most bakeries. Great place!

Most of the bakery items are 50 cents.
the cake is more.
my favorite, spiral with custard. but they don’t fill the custard all the way through!

Empanadas, cookies, elephant ears, and lots of other pastries and breads with Mexican names I can’t recall or identify: 50 cents each.
It’s cash only, but it makes sense since you’ll have a hard time spending more than $ 5 – 6 since everything is so cheap. We spent $ 3.50, and there wasn’t a single item I didn’t like. Even the mystery item I picked up, which looked like a giant chocolate cookie, but turned out to be some kind of cookie/​bread was really good. My favorite though was the elephant ear because it didn’t make a huge flaky mess and it was evenly coated in sugar.
Like other Mexican bakeries, you grab a tray and some tongs and go wild. My only dislike is that not everything is labeled. Even though I can say outloud, «Hmm, I think this is one of those ‘concha’ things,» I don’t really know what that means. Only the empanadas were labeled by flavor, in Spanish, but thankfully I know basic words like «manzana.»
It’s «apple,» you idiot.
They’re open late, until 9:00 p.m., for people like me who like baked goods all day long. Parking is kind of difficult, we drove around a few blocks before finding a spot, and the bakery is located on a corner right under the Blue Line tracks.

Ew this bakery sucks. I like my own bakery shop I go to out in Texas. Maybe I came at a bad time… the bake goods were kinda stale. I would not recommend this place. Hopefully I can find a decent Mexican bakery in Chicago. Wish me luck!

Fresh pastries dirt cheap. Go in with pocket change and walk out with a sugar high. Couldn’t be more conveniently located.

I just recently found this place and it’s my new favorite in the neighborhood! I walked by and saw all the delicious looking cookies and I had to go in. They are so cheap too! Cookies and pasteries are about 50 cents each. I definitely reccomend this place, it was great! Only downfall is that it’s cash only, like a lot of places in Logan Square.

I’m obsessed with this place. Fresh pastries for $.50 is dangerous.
I would tell you what the best ones are but then they wouldn’t be there for me!

Well, this isn’t too bad at all. A very affordable bakery that isn’t too far from my new digs. I can dig.
It’s all pretty simple inside, almost everything is 50 cents. There’s lots to choose from, and oh yea, nearly everything is 50 cents. Granted, that almost seems like something that is too good to be true, and while it doesn’t fully fall into that there is a reason things don’t cost more.
I did enjoy the cookie and muffin I got. But, I have had better as well. While the items do kick above their price, I can’t go completely ga-​ga as I didnt find greatness from them.
Still, it is about the simple pleasures and panaderia la central does a good job filling that. It’s right under the California blue line stop and it is cash only. It’s well worth stoping in and taking care of the munchies on the cheap.

This place is what it says it is, a Panaderia. So if you’re looking for overpriced French Pastry served with a side of snobbery, you should go to one of the NEW spots on Milwaukee Avenue. This place is a gem, and is true authentic MEXICAN (not Hispanic!) Pan Dulce. Great bolios, conchas, extremely friendly employees, and a lady who sells tamales out front most Sundays. Been a customer since 2006 and I’ll continue to be a patron as long as I live here.

Remember the days when the «everything for a dollar» stores used to not be false advertising? Before inflation hit and all of these places had to change their names in our litigious society (except for the ones that only imply dollar goods and not promise them).
Well, despite all of the recent rise in prices to even the point where Taco Bell abandoned its dollar menu at many locations, everything is 50 cents at Panadaria La Central (though reading older reviews, apparently everything used to be 40 cents so even this place is not immune)!
They could legally, I would think, call themselves «50 Cents Bakery» (though I personally am not sure if I would want to go to that place — sounds like an invitation to get shot).
Of course as with any discount store, some of the merchandise is a little chintzy. Some of the baked goods are a little oily (especially the corn muffins) and the cookies are dry (though I think that’s intentional). But, hey in this day and age, how can you argue with a 50 cent freshly baked delicious bagel or piece of bread (and across from the California blue line stop to boot)? And as an added bonus, it’s really enjoyable to walk around with a blue tray and miniature tongs to pick out your own pastries! Free added fun is always good!
Sure we don’t have cupcake places in Logan Square, but we’ve got the bargain bakery!
By the way, I lied a little, not everything in the store is 50 cents — just all the pastries and smaller breads. Flan is $ 3.00 (and baguettes are $ 1.18). That is, if you want to go high on the hog in this economy…

Amazing!
My family and I have decided that this is the «go-​to place» for all things excellent. My boyfriend and I took his mom and step-​dad here over the Thanksgiving weekend for a morning snack and they were thrilled! I like La Central but I really don’t think I appreciated how great the food actually was until this past weekend. I’m sorry, La Central.
It was Thanksgiving morning and I applaud the staff for being open so late on Thanksgiving morning. Usually bakeries close early, anyway, but especially on holidays. So thank you for working on the holiday. We were on our way home from the Thanksgiving Parade and we were starving. We bought some fresh, warm baguette that was amazing. Absolutely delicious. The outside was just a bit crisp and the inside was warm and chewy. Mmmmmmm.
We also bought a variety of yummy pastries and croissants. They were all delicious and the croissant was still warm! We obviously came in right after they had baked a batch of delicious food, but it was so yummy. My boyfriend’s parents have decided that this is one of the places that they always want to go when they come to visit us in Chicago. If they give it their mark of approval it must be an amazing place. If you’re ever descending the Blue Line steps, just cross California and go to La Central — you won’t be disappointed and you’ll spend less than $ 4. I guarantee it.