The décor may be punk rock meets classic diner, but don’t let the tattooed walls and neon cakes fool you into thinking that pastry visionaries Michelle and Vinny Garcia don’t mean serious business. After launching two other successful Bleeding Heart bakeries, the team paired up with Greg Mohr and Scott Weiner, of nearby Roots and Fifty/50, to open this huge Ukrainian Village bakery with a full-service café. Flexing their savory food muscles, the Garcias have added a lunch and dinner menu that focuses on hearty comfort food like fried chicken with smashed potatoes and an inside-out chicken pot pie, a center piece of puffed pastry surrounded by a hearty stew of chicken and vegetables. Bleeding Heart stands out from the saturated brunch scene with playful twists like the vegan biscuits with (mushroom) gravy and the Veruca Salt waffle with salted caramel mousse and vanilla bean anglaise. Settle into one of the retro vinyl chairs or cushy booths with a cup of Alterra coffee or Rare Tea Cellars tea and watch as Bleeding Heart’s punky wizards whip up magic in the glass-enclosed kitchen.

Chicken potpie
West Town Burger
Four-piece fried chicken
Tuna Michi sandwich
view full menu here

If you’ve brought along a party of kids (or just friends who act like them), choose one of the booths that line the left side of the café, which can seat a party of six. The corner booth has the best view of the glass-enclosed cake-building station, meaning you can catch a free show with your meal when Vinny’s decorating the desserts.

Even if the savories have you stuffed, you can’t leave without dessert. Grab a few cake balls or a seasonal whoopee pie from the front bakery counter on your way out, but don’t be surprised if they’ve disappeared before you make it home.

brunch: Sun–Thu 7 AM–2 PM; Fri–Sat 7 AM–2 PM
lunch/dinner: Sun–Thu 2 PM–8:30 PM; Fri–Sat 2 PM–11 PM

$6 (creamy chicken soup) to $14 (fried chicken)