Red Hen Bread was born in 1996 with a simple philosophy, “bake great bread”, the way they used to. We are as committed to our craft as the Romans were back in 168 BC when they formed the Bakers Guild, one of the oldest guilds known to man. It is also why we use only the finest ingredients we can find and produce all of our products, (350 different types of bread alone) by hand.

The necessary ingredients for making great bread can be counted on one hand… flour, water, salt, Red Hens special “starter” (and because we do not want that thumb to be lonely, we add in our secret ingredient - love). We aren’t like mass producers that mix and send their doughs into machines that squeeze the life out it. We mix our doughs and give them time, time for our “starter” to grow and develop the taste and flavor that is uniquely Red Hen. We then shape by hand so we do not squeeze out the flavor we worked so hard to obtain, let it rest again and when its growth is just right we put it into a stone deck oven, give it a shot of steam – for that perfect crust, and voila’ the best breads around.

Red Hen breads and pastries are natural, mouthwatering works of art. We are so proud of our products that we have two outlet stores in Chicago so that we may share them with as many people as we can.

Our first store is located at 1623 N. Milwaukee, in the Bucktown/Wicker Park area. The second, is at 500 W. Diversey in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. Our bakehouse is in a secret location known only to the bakers guild and craftsmen of Red Hen Bread.

Besides providing great products to our retail locations we also service hundreds of the best restaurants and Hotels in Chicago and surrounding neighborhoods. In fact we have sent our products as far away as California.

We are so excited to supply anyone as committed as we are in providing to their customers the best that they deserve. That is why we will continue to bake the finest breads and pastries for the wonderful people of Chicago.

Simply put “it makes us happy.”