La Boulangerie

Location: 2569 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago, IL 60647

A Quick Word:
After having my car washed at the Logan Square Car Wash, I figured it was time to explore the area just a little more.  Driving around, I found La Boulangerie just about a block or two down the road.  I had heard about this French-inspired bakery in the past, but somehow it slipped my mind to ever come out and try it.  Upon walking in, you find plenty of small tables for dining in, as well as a beautiful display case filled with colorful pastries.  A smell of fresh crepes fills the air, which pairs nicely with the  scent of brewing coffee.  I believe they are known for the macarons, which in my opinion, were just average.  They had some great ones, but also had ones I never want to eat again.  Their other pastries are also rich and wonderful for dessert, but you are definitely paying for that French-style cuisine.  Personally, I wasn't that impressed, but my friends definitely loved the desserts.  I think a 3.5 mile rating is good.

What We Ate:

Macarons

Macarons are one of my favorite desserts or snacks available at bakeries.  I would always skip the croissants or the freshly baked bread or fine sandwiches in Paris bakeries just to have room for a macaron or two.  Here, they have many flavors that rotate seasonally.  Their current flavors are--from left to right--carrot cake (orange), hazelnut (brown filling), cherry (red), pistachio (green), caramel (light tan), passion fruit (yellow), and chocolate (cookies n cream-like).  I wasn't a big fan of several of the macaroons, including the pistachio and chocolate.  But the more exotic flavors like passion fruit and carrot cake where on point.  They completely fooled my taste buds because I truly thought I was biting into a slice of carrot cake.  These definitely aren't as high quality as Paris macarons or even Hendrickx Belgium Bread Crafter (located in downtown Chicago), but they do fulfill your macaron cravings!

Chocolate-Peanut-Caramel Tart

After seeing this chocolate tart and finding out it was basically a Snicker bar, I had to order one.  It was a chocolate tart filled with peanuts and caramel.  This tasted exactly like a Snicker, just looked much more presentable.  The caramel was still in that gooey phase despite being in the fridge for a few hours. Definitely worth trying!

Coffee Eclair

Before leaving the bakery, I needed to sink my teeth into one of their pastries.  I choose the coffee eclair.  This light flakey dough pastry is filled with a coffee cream before being covered in a coffee-sugary glaze.  The eclair was definitely on the richer side and surprisingly very sweet for having a coffee quality to it.  It was also a little pricier at three bucks a pop.

Burnt Sugar Cream Puff

With just a little space remaining in the box, I decided to order one more pastry.  I went with the burnt sugar cream puff.  This cream puff was topped with a thick disk of burnt sugar before being chilled.  This pastry saved my review on La Boulangerie because I truly enjoyed eating every bite of it.  The cream puff was light and airy with a vanilla bean cream filling.  The puff was filled to max capacity with the cream before that sugary treat was placed on top.  The burnt sugar gave a little smokey flavor without overwhelming the vanilla.  It was just sweet enough to satisfy a sweet tooth, but not make you nauseous.  I could eat a dozen of these if it wasn't for the $2.50 price tag.

The DOs/DON'Ts:
DO:
- Remember that this place also serves Crepes.  I haven't had any, but will definitely try them out next time.
- Plenty of street parking!

DON'T:
- Don't order all of the macarons.  Some of the flavors are just not that great.  I suggest just ordering one or two that you really want to try.  And just because they are seasonal, doesn't mean they are tasty.

How far would I walk for this food?