Raves and Reviews

Although many people just pick up boxes of delights to go, try to snag a place on the attractive outdoor patio and enjoy your treat on the premises. A picture-perfect display of pastries, marzipan, cookies, and cakes is on-hand, and each table gets a pot of coffee as an ideal accompaniment for delectable European pastries and fruit tarts. Many people come for tea and scones or even a light lunch.

10 Best.com - 3/1/2010

The most obvious difference between the German Baumkuchen and that of other countries is the finish. The German cakes are usually smooth-sided, with ringed ridges, and at the sparkling Lutz pastry shop, with its small Mitteleuropa café, the twenty-nine-year-old baker demonstrated how that’s accomplished, as he manned an impressively large Baumkuchen oven. The process takes about two hours for a Baumkuchen that has twenty-four ridges, or is about forty-eight inches tall, with sixteen to eighteen layers of batter and weighing twelve pounds. The result was the closest to Kreutzkamm’s (Germany’s most famous producer of baked goods since 1825) that I have found, but with slightly less defined rings and a milder flavor. Chicago supports many ethnic food shops, including the pretty temptation that is the German informed Lutz Café and Pasty Shop.

The New Yorker - 11/1/2009

The most Old World café around, with tablecloths, fresh flowers, garden seating, and (hilariously) free wi-fi. Vienna coffee service means a doily-covered tray with your own pot of coffee, along with heavy cream and whipped cream.

Chicago Magazine - 8/1/2009

You could pop into this old-school bakery/café for a bowl of their tomato bisque, which is topped with a dollop of sweet whipped cream (an odd addition that actually works). Or you could simply nibble on a club sandwich stacked with hardboiled eggs and thick slices of tomato. You could even, if you wanted to, nosh on a cheesy, individual-sized quiche Lorraine and call it a day. But if you don’t end things with a silver pot of coffee and a slice of cake (we like the chocolate layered with raspberry preserves and fluffy buttercream), you’re really missing the point.

Time Out Chicago - 7/1/2008