Marilyn’s Bakery

Pie, kolaches, lemon bars, oh my! I love this place for all their sweet treats and their tasty lunches. I usually go in there for one small treat and walk out with 2 pies, a latte, and a couple of cupcakes. Oops. My favorites are the strawberry cream cheese kolaches, blueberry and strawberry-​rhubarb pies, and the afore mentioned lemon bars (but I will totally take the lemon pound cake muffin, if I must).
They are close to home and probably the best place to eat for miles around. They even make a great vanilla soy latte, so I don’t have to go out of my to that Major Chain Coffee place to get my fix.

The staff is always pleasant and helpful, even when they are out of something. Which is my one major complaint: Primarily for the lunch menu, but also for the pies, I have noticed that they are frequently sold out of my favorite items. I’m glad they are that popular, but I wish they could keep up with local demand. I’m also glad they have expanded the seating a bit, so more people can enjoy the place as an actual café and not just a walk-​thru.
And I guess my only other complaint is that they are closed from Christmas until March. My birthday is in January. Oh, how I wish I could get a birthday pie someday.
One time I did get a strawberry-​rhubarb mini pie once that had almost no filling in it, but I couldn’t tell until I stuck my fork in at home. My guess is that is just cooked way down, but since the crust was still high, so no one noticed. That was a sad day. Most days after a visit to Marilyn’s are GOOD days.
It doesn’t hurt that they are attached to Johnson’s Strawberry Farm and one of the most massive greenhouses in the area, so (in season) if the treats don’t brighten your day, the acres of plants and flowers certainly will.

This is a wonderful bakery with truly kind individuals running it. They always make sure you come away with a tasty treat and pride themselves in making sure your happy. Some times you just need to eat dessert first and this is one place that will not disappoint !

The cake itself was good, however they did not make it 100% to my sister’s specifications. They refused to also believe her when she said they left out an important ingredient that she PAID EXTRA for, which was the tiramisu filling in a chocolate cake. It was white, had no coffee flavor at ALL and tasted like simple mousse or whipped cream in the filling. 4 people eating one cake cannot be wrong. However, they treated my sister like she was wrong and did nothing to make up for it. Awful customer service.

Adorable place with tasty treats and friendly, fast service. A lot of their ingredients come from fresh from the farm, and you can really tell. The selection of pies and baked goods is sizeable, and they sell local honey and jams too. I stopped by for some coffee and a pastry and was really pleased. I will definitely be coming back!

I ordered a cake for my graduation dinner almost a month in advance. I arrived 20 minutes before the scheduled pick up time and they told me the cake wasn’t done. When I saw the cake it was literally the exact opposite of what I asked for. It was very sloppy and it looked as if they completely forgot about it until I came in to pick it up. I told them no black icing for the writing. It was in black. I told them edible glitter and pearls… Not even an ounce of sparkle, I told them to do a Northwestern Memorial Hospital logo, I got a wildcats logo, and the cake was pure white with no decoration. Literally a sheet cake with white frosting for $ 100 that I could have baked myself. Obviously didn’t have time for them to redo the cake so I refused to have my guests see the cake and had the restaurant cut it before they could snap a picture.

Great selection of baked good and everything we tried was amazing. Grab a homemade jam while you are in there

OK, dudes. I live in Chicago and happened upon this place while coming back from apple picking. We wanted to find some apple donuts, but alas, there were none to be had. What they did have were cupcakes. Dear, holy goodness, they were flawless. Living in Chicago, I’ve paid through the nose for designer cupcakes from places like Magnolia, and I can say, with impunity, that Magnolia can suck it. THIS PLACE has the best cupcakes in the Midwest, no lie. I would honestly be OK driving 45 minutes just for these cupcakes. My waistline would suffer, but my heart would be made whole. Check them out. Oh, also, really friendly staff and quaint atmosphere.

We missed lunchtime and I am very bummed about that! Everything in the case looked so good! I bought a cream cheese and strawberry kolachky as well as an apricot one and it was delicious. I also bought a brownie that was like heaven!
This place is very cute and I would have never stopped in if it was not for my friend that dragged me to pick blueberries. I need to come back for lunch and to pick up a pie. This place is great and I want to try the other goodies!

Love, love, love this place. Great place to camp out and get some work done or chill and read, indoors or out. The baked goods and menu items are fresh and selfish. This will be my new relaxation spot! I highly recommend that you check it out.

Small local bakery. Awesome red velvet cupcakes. Good selection if pies and breads.
Creates wedding cakes. Laura is very easy and friendly to work with.
Good prices. Constantly changing menu. Cozy place to sit in or outside to eat.

Love this place! The location is adorable and they have great food and baked goods! We ordered our wedding cake from here and had an excellent experience! Laura was very helpful, accommodating to any changes and requests we had, professional, and friendly. The cake was DELICIOUS! When my husband and I first cut the cake and took a bite, we were both surprised at how incredibly good it was even though we knew how tasty the cakes are. The fondant was actually delicious too. The only negative part of our whole experience is that parts of the fondant dried a little before serving (that may have been our fault from how we stored it though) so it cracked in a few spots but it wasn’t significant and is the only negative thing I can think of at all. I was so impressed with how intricate the details were and how similar the cake looked to the example we gave. We may have to drive the 2 hours from home to come here for our one year anniversary to have some more cake!

oh so good!! fresh! Strawberry cheesecake! Oh my!

I’ve been a customer for years. I love their pies, cookies, pasties, etc — all are wonderful!
However, they recently lost some points with me when I started looking at bakeries for my wedding cake. I was bothered by the $ 25 fee just for a tasting; many places will do a free tasting (although you do get this money back if you book with them). I was annoyed with the fact that they only do tastings once a month and its not a personal appointment. So you taste what they decide to make that day, not flavors you are actually considering. And who knows what bridezillas you could run into, especially with the limited time frame once a month and everyone trying to get their questions answered all at once.
I was surprised by the fact that they weren’t very flexible. My reception venue was literally one minute down the road (Ambassador Banquet) but they were still not willing to waive the $ 50 delivery fee. The fee itself isn’t unreasonable, just the fact that it is a flat rate and they are not willing to negotiate — regardless of how ridiculously close the delivery is. Does $ 50 really make that much difference when a couple is more than likely going to spend over $ 500? Ultimately, it is their decision whether to negotiate or not but I didn’t feel that was an unreasonable request. We ended up going somewhere else for our cake who charged us only $ 35 to deliver from Chesterton!
All in all, I recommend them, but not for weddings or any other event that you may want delivery.

This place is excellent. I’m a fairly new customer. The first time I went here was for one of their farm-​to-​table meals on a Thursday night. We were the only ones there (party of 9) and they stayed open and cheerfully served us. It was awesome! It was also very reasonable for what we got. 3 courses for 25 bucks.
I ended up gong back several times since and will be returning with our group this week for another dinner. I’ve tried a few soups (which were excellent), the quiche, sandwiches, cupcakes and cheesecake. I swear I’ll try some pie next time and the peach cobbler. Can’t wait till dinner this week!
I think that their prices are super reasonable. You can get a complete lunch with dessert for about 8 bucks. I think some locals are a bit hard on them about their pricing and what they have to offer. One lady only gave them two stars because they don’t offer loaves of bread for sale, which I thought was grossly unfair. They are a bakery/​lunch counter… not the same thing as a regular bakery, but they still can call themselves that, because they make so many pies, cakes, etc…
NW Indiana has been a culinary nightmare for me since I married and moved… they are a bright spot out here!

When here for the strawberry festival… very long lines to get strawberry donuts. It might be worth it when there is not a major event at Johnsonville next door.

*Insert Pie pun here* You haven’t truly had pie until you get one from Marilyn’s Bakery. For me Pumpkin is king so most of the year I get to sample all the other goodies Marilyn’s has to offer.

Oh boy do I love this place. Love it love it love it. Politically-​correct tasty coffee, excellent egg salad and quiches, cookies, cakes, and PIE PIE PIE.
Marilyn’s closed for the first couple months of 2012 to remodel. The dining area is expanded a bit, and the bakery case has been moved down. Everything external is fresh and shiny new. But fear not, fellow Hoosiers. Read on.
We stopped in last week, the Ancient One (a.k.a. Mom) and I. I was bound and determined to get a Very Berry Pie, my all-​time favorite. But they also had a day-​old Sugar Pie in the display case. I remembered Mom telling me about eating sugar pies back in The Day (a.k.a. The Depression — yes, really), when her mother made them. But I’ve never had a sugar pie; at least, not that I recall.
One of the owners, Robert, came out to chat with us. If you’ve ever visited Marilyn’s booth at the Lincoln Square Farmer’s Market in Chicago, you know Robert. He braves the Dan Ryan Expressway in the early a.m. to supply Chicago with dessert breads, cobblers, and PIE PIE PIE. The license plate of his truck is PIE GUY.
Anyway, Robert told me that the mother of the original Marilyn (and Marilyn was his mother-​in-​law) had a Southern Indiana recipe for Sugar Pie. My Mom said that there are two kinds, dark, which she said was made with chocolate, and light. This was a light pie.
Well, it was day-​old, but who cares? I’d take it anyway. And, to my delight, it cost $ 6.99 for an entire PIE PIE PIE, a $ 3.00 discount because it was one day old.
At Mom’s apartment, we dug into the Sugar Pie. Our joint assessment — absolutely delicious, creamy, but not overpowering sweet, as I had feared it might be. Just wonderful.
By the way, the Very Berry PIE is also wonderful. I grudingly shared a slice with the upstairs neighbor, only because she is recovering from surgery, and she could actually stand to apply some PIE calories to her physique. Even though it was a couple days later, the Very Berry was still excellent.
Marilyn’s Bakery updated the facility, and wisely stayed with the old recipes. I know there’s a place in Chicago that serves Indiana-​style pies, but until you’ve had Marilyn’s, you haven’t had PIE PIE PIE!
When you’re having a bad day, just apply a slice of any pie from Marilyn’s Bakery. It’s plate-​lickin’ good.

Finally! A bakery that can really make a pie. I shouldn’t really be proud of this but I had a slice of the blueberry for breakfast today. I’m lucky enough to have a nice coworker who lives that way and brings me treats.
I can only speak for the pies and scones. Amazing! If you are looking for a specific pie make sure you call to check that it’s in season. I can hardly wait the 3 weeks til peach season!

A sad moment just occurred in my life, the closing of Frankfort’s Farmers’ Market and with it, my weekly fix of pie from Marilyn’s Bakery. They are kind, these people from Marilyn’s, they will deliver a Thanksgiving dose of homemade goodness the day before turkey day so my guests and I can remember the summer pounds we gained because of the most amazing pie in the universe.
My desires will grow until I make a pilgrimage to the bakery itself, participating in the cookie walk that defines Christmas calories for me. A couple of runs in the dark early months of the year and then in April, the light will shine again in Frankfort when Marilyn’s returns for its weekly visits.
I will quietly mourn until then. I will dream of Very Berry, Pumpkin, Strawberry, Key Lime and Cherry… Marilyn’s we miss your booth in Frankfort!

This is a nice little bakery attached to the gigantic Johnson farm.
I’ve gotten a couple of pies here which were fabulous. There
isn’t a vast variety of items but the ones they have are pretty
delicious.