Umaga Bakehouse

Umaga bakehouse! When you walk on you are greeted with the most amazing smell from all of the fresh baked pastries. This visit was all about the Ube for me. I purchased a slice of Ube cake which was moist and delicious. Sweet but not overly so. I also purchased a package of ube pastries from the shelf and a dozen senorita pastries which are freshly baked and served in a beautiful box warm with sweet butter. This was so delicious! I highly recommend trying these as this is definitely one of the best pastries/ bread I have ever eaten. The ube makes it slightly sweet. You absolutely must try it. You won't be disappointed.

Umaga Bakehouse is located in a shopping plaza, with other Filipino businesses nearby. There was a large variety in this store, some items were not typical of what I've seen near me. Merienda/Snacks, desserts, sweet, savory items; by the piece or shareable. If I lived in the area, would be able to sample them little by little but we were just visiting (mid 8/2025). Since I don't know pricing in Chicago, I would say similar to NYC prices. As far as the food, some we liked, others were just ok. For the pies, we got the buko pie slice first- the coconut slivers were hard and it was dry so skipped getting the whole pie. Instead, we got the whole egg pie which was a winner. Pichi pichi and puto bumbong looked appetizing but they were not soft when eaten right away. Need to be heated up. Halo halo had a lot of beans and a caramelized crumble topping. Was good but not what I prefer in terms of ingredients. Good snack buns like the corned beef bun (multi-pack, $5) and longganisa bun ($4 each). Special ensaymadas were $5.49. Salted egg one had a custardy filling and was pretty good. I got a taste of one of their tres leches but was too sweet for me. Added points for the ambiance - the warm tones and food displays are inviting; just a few tables inside though but we had to sit and taste some of the goodies already. And for service which was very friendly.

I had a long day and planned to just order food via ubereats. It was delivered accordingly on time. I was in shock that the igado is cold like fresh from refrigerator almost frozen. I had no choice to microwave it even I hate microwaveable food. Then the binatog for my dessert supposedly it was cold again just out from refrigerator. It was very disappointing! Waste of my money, time! I ordered here couple of times it was just ok and not that good. Never again to this…..

Señorita bread fresh out of the oven is amazing. Their version of a kouign-Amann, the queenie, with jack fruit had nice flavor and crisp. Nothing was overly sweet. Everything else we tried was just okay. I was a little confused with their ube horchata because I couldn’t taste the ube or any semblance of horchata. I wish they served hot drip coffee because what is pandesal without hot black coffee? Store itself looked great, very clean, and well stocked.

Most of bakeries were good, customers service were fine considering they were busy. Bilao basket(pineapple): best one we got, fluffy bread, pineapple cream is good Hopia(ube): it’s okay Pimiento cream pandesal: Do Not buy, the cream is wired, I can’t even eat half Spanish ube roll: don’t buy, so dry Buko panda pan: good, soft and fresh Pan de coco: sweet, need to have it with coffee Corned beef pandesal: so good, must try salty bread Langanisa bun& pork tocino roll: not bad Halohalo: DON’t buy, 8.99 dollars can totally get better halohalo with more toppings at other places. This one not even come with ube ice cream. Mini ensammy: Do Not buy, not worth it, they 1/4 scoop of ube ice cream inside, can’t even taste anything

Clean, fast, and amazing service. I bought the halo halo- ice cream on top, which was really good but needs more ingredients. Ube tres leches was great and salted egg ensaymada. Bought other flavors, too, but I have not tried it yet. Will definitely come back and would like to try the pancit palabok.

An excellent bakery shop that has a variety of different selections to choose from. The products are placed very nicely and neat! It's very easy to find the name and ingredients used on a few of the products as well. We bought several goods and they were amaaazing! Would highly recommend coming here if you're craving Filipino bakery! Even come by here to try out something new from them.

It felt like Paris baguette but Filipino version. They have so many options from different pandesal, cakes, suman, and more pastries. You would never leave the store empty handed! Our personal favorite is their Ube tres leches, not a fan of the milk bar (it’s super dry and tastes like hopia). We visited around lunchtime, and the line was long, with very limited seating available. If you’re planning to dine in, be prepared for a wait!

They just opened 2 months ago and it was my 1st time trying Filipino bakery and buns I've never had Filipino buns & snacks before, so this was such a treat to try everything at the first every Filipino bakery in Chicago! It's a bit further up in North Mayfair or Albany Park but accessible by driving or by bus . Seafood City is nearby so it's nice to do a bigger trip . 4703 W Foster Ave, Chicago, IL 60630 It's super huge, we went on a Sunday afternoon & there were LOADS of Filipino families & friends there Kissel & Rob's families owned Filipino bakeries before in the Philippines & California. Its family owned , Jeff, Kissel 's brother also flew in from California Featured in: WGN, CBS News, Timeout, Infatuation, Filipino American Post, Chicago Sun Times Lines were LONG when they opened in April (2 hours) , but now you can comfortably walk in! Every bite reminded me of my childhood in Hong Kong , where the buns had a soft pillowy texture. I would eat it after school around 4pm. Almost cried They even had the sausage hot dog buns I grew up with! Definitely MUST TRY Umaga Chicago, it's A new & BEST Filipino bakery in Chicago They will have Ube cold brew & more outdoor seating coming soon! My favorites were the: Chicken Empanada $2.99- super tasty with rich chicken flavor and a crusty flaky pastry even crimped with "UMAGA" ON THE SIDE so cute! Halo Halo $8.99 - comes with crushed young rice, NATA de coco, red green koang, sago, milkymilkyicecream, Ube paste, cream/milk, white bean Senorita Bread $7.99 for a dozen - made to order that's soft tiny, with buttery warm sugar inside. Not too sweet and edible in 1-2 bites. Sapin Sapin $7.99 in 8 - chewy purple, white , and yellow mochi cake with Ube, coconut, and jackfruit flavors combined. Super chewy and fun to eat Pork asado siopao bun $12.99 in 4 - really tasty with sweet soy pork inside and light peppery. Bibingka $4.99 coconut with sugar topping and rice cake with banana leaf & cream at the bottom Others I got Ube milk bar $1.99 pure butter milk, sugar coconut and Ube Rolls Royce $4.99 denser, layers  Ube ensaymada $5.49 with cheese Simply ensaymada $6.49 owner's favorite simple butter and yeast. You can add ice cream inside Kutsinta $6.99 8 pieces  Mango bango $6.99

Umaga Bakehouse is conveniently located in Edens Plaza across from Target/Five Below and has free parking. I've been here multiple times and there wasn't a single thing I disliked. The breads/pastries I have tried are: pan de ube (sweet bread roll with purple yam filling)-the ube flavor comes through and preferred this over the ube pandesal ube pandesal-soft and fluffy but I couldn't taste the ube flavor ensaymada (sweet bread covered with buttercream and then topped with grated cheese)-okay but didn't care for the cheese but this is a personal preference almond ensaymada-rich and creamy, my favorite out of the breads/pastries I tried I have also had the malabok which was topped with shrimp and hard boiled eggs. I enjoyed the flavor and while it was oily it wasn't as oily as other ones I have tried. Although there are mixed reviews about the ube horchata, I actually really liked the ube horchata since it wasn't overly sweet. The halo halo is a must try and hits the spot on a hot summer day. Staff are friendly and helpful with recommendations!

It's a contemporary Filipino bakery brand. Simple bright orange is the theme. Clean and simple packaging with simple uniformed labeling. Some products showcase a translucent brand orange. Overall, the presentation of products are well presented and easy to access. I wasn't a big fan of the Ube drink. Seemed pricey for the size. It tasted ok and I'm glad I tried it once. I'll try the Halo Halo next time. So far, my favorite is The Philippine Cheese Roll. It's so soft, creamy, with the right amount of salt. Service was fine.

Happy to be giving Umaga the full 5 stars it truly deserves! This was my 2nd time here and options were plentiful this time around. Everything was soooooo good!! This time I tried the señorita bread, halo halo and bibing - cute Ube. I'd get all of these again. The quality of ingredients umaga uses is seriously top notch. Everything is made with love and it shows. I love this place so much!

We were finally able to visit Umaga Bakery this weekend and it was a joy to go to! Honestly, as a Filipino American, this would be our candys store as a kid type of visit. The colors were great, the food just reminded me of the Philippines and food we would eat together with family, and the vibes were familiar for sure. The service people were really great too! Very helpful and cheerful. It does get a little loud in there but only because it was a busy time. The food was fantastic! The quick food to eat like empanadas and siopao were great! Definitely better heated though. And then the amount of options was awesome! Even the Ube horchata, that was a cool experience. We'll be back!

05/09/24 - Umaga Bakehouse is a new Filipino Bakery 0.6 miles from my house next to Teriyaki Madness & the Seafood City complex. I'm Japanese but everyone in my life from my wife, my 3 best friends and all the Filipino family & friends I've made over the years. I love Filipino food but I can't understand their obsession w/pandesal. Pandesal is a staple bread roll commonly eaten w/breakfast. When we visited my brother in law in the Philippines first thing in the morning he goes out and gets pandesal. My wife's 2 Filipina girlfriends, 1 from Orlando, 1 from California visited us & wanted pandesal. My buddy from Topeka KS (American Indian) married to a Filipina came to Chicago looking for pandesal, my buddies wife wanted pandesal. I've been eating Filipino food foreva & I love it but to me Pandesal? I just don't get it? I picked up the following items from Umaga as I was meeting my friend & her kids later that day. Bonete - Biko - Pogi Ube Rolls - Hamon & Queso - breakfast sandwich w/ham & cheese mehhh

So glad to see traditional Filipino baked goods get some popularity! This is definitely a "trendy" version of a traditional Filipino bakery, they have some fusion foods as well as the classic pan de sal, puto, pichi-pichi, etc. Check out the refrigerator case at the end if you want to try out some Filipino ulam (food to eat with rice) to go! I am a little concerned at how close this bakery is to Valerio's, the Filipino bakery I've been going to my whole life (first in LA and now in Chicago), and how it might affect their ability to do business. So if you want to know what a more traditional Filipino bake shop looks like, grab some treats from Umaga and then walk over to Valerio's in the lot over, next to Seafood City, and give their business support too! There's more than enough to go around and the more Filipino businesses we support, the more we can celebrate the growth of Filipino small businesses!

First time here last week. The ambiance of the store is urban, clean and a uncluttered; a departure from the typical Filipino store. I found that they offer a variety of baked goods that took me back to memories from my childhood. They also have meals that are in the same simple unassuming plastic packaging and amusingly with the same price tag, $8.99 (at the time this review was written). I thought that was smart and clever. Though I am not sure if it is a fair price ;) I had tried the Ube Milk Bar which I was enticed with in one of their fb stories. I was disappointed NOT to find a some kind of ube pastry but a rather dry, heavy pound cake with the so-called ube coating. There was no ube to the taste. And after I had left it for awhile I noticed that the paper bag went dark. It was grease that seeped in. I didn't expect that. So there you go, my first experience is not so good. We shall see if this will improve.

I was excited to try this new Filipino bakery and it was really cute! The signage, packaging, and decor were all very appealing and modern. There were so many options, I didn't know what to try. I asked many questions and the staff were super helpful and patient. I ended up getting an assortment of empanadas, hopia, ube pan de sal. All were delicious!!

I'm back and glad to report Dua Lipa was on followed by Ed Sheeran (see previous review). Today I had the tocino roll and pan bao. The pan boa is siopao in a bun - it's comfort food. The tocino roll is better. Both has to be microwave prior to eating otherwise it's just fuel at that point. Admittedly both items did not blow my mind. Why 5 stars? Because of the sheer quantity of other options available all made locally with the TLC of Kissel- the proprietor. Plus the music is better.

I stopped in today and picked up a few goodies like: pandesal, a bag of Turon, cheese rolls, siopao and halo halo. Everything tasted yummy.

SO DELICIOUS AND FRESH. I'm so happy this place opened. I first heard about this place on Instagram. They just opened so expect long lines. When I went the line was kind of long but it didn't go all the way outside. The minute I walked in, all the displays were empty from people buying everything! Everything they baked didn't make it to the shelves due to high demand. The only thing stocked were the wheat pandesal lol. Staff was super nice and I even got to see the owners working very hard! I ended up buying pan de ube. I wanted to buy 3 pieces of their pandesal but they only sell by the dozen. The guy checking me out was generous enough to give me 2 pieces for free since I didn't want to commit to the full dozen. And they were hot and fresh too! I was so appreciative! Not to mention their prices are unbeatable for the quality and service they provide. I paid $5 for 5 pieces of pan de ube which is awesome!! I already cannot wait to come back :) Congrats Umaga!

So I came here on a weekday hoping I'd be able to taste the hype. Unfortunately, the baked goods was very sparse (which is a good sign)! The moment you walk in, you immediately get hit by the smell of BREAD. Though there was a line inside the bakery, the line moved fast. I'm not sure if the workers all there speak fluently Filipino but they were definitely on the younger and more American side. As for the food, I didn't have many options to choose from. I had the choice between prepackaged wheat pandesal, fresh pandesal, fresh muffin, and fresh cheese bread. I opted for the cheese bread since it seemed unique. For a dozen, I paid about $5.50, which is not bad! I wanted to try their ube horchata but the cashier said it was unavailable. Not sure if there was a menu too. I had to ask the worker what was available so keep that in mind. Would I go here again? Probably just to try out all their products to see if it's good. It was definitely FRESH Filipino bread. The portion sizes were good and prices were affordable. It definitely didn't feel like a tindahan in the Philippines but catered more towards my generation of FilAms. Solid business and would still support

I bought over $40 worth of bread and I have no regrets. The bread has been incredibly fluffy and soft for everything I've ordered. The one item that was subpar was the ube horchata. I didn't get too much of a horchata flavor, it tasted more like ube milk with cinnamon. For the breads, I ordered a twisted donut, corned beef pandesal, pork Tocino roll, chicken bao, and a few ube breads. The twisted donut is huge! It's twice the size of what you would get at Paris baguette and it's perfectly fluffy and soft. I highly recommend trying the corned beef pandesal and the ube breads. I will definitely be back if I'm near seafood city! I came here on a Sunday around 1 pm and there wasn't a long line to order. Definitely give this Filipino bakery a try.

This bakery has a wide selection of Filipino sweets both traditional and reimagined. The bright modern decor and display layout are beautifully done. On this first stop (definitely not last) we had ensaymada, cassava cake and halo-halo. Yummm city all the way!!!

I was so excited when I saw on instagram that they were going to open up soon. Finally got to get a chance to stop by today. I ended up buying pandesal, kutchinta, and the classic ensaymada. The kutchinta was so delicious. Just a little thick but still pretty good. My favorite was the classic ensaymada. I've never had this good of an ensaymada. Now I want to go back for more!!!

Love this new bakery. Just look at the photos I'll attach for the variety and that's just 50% of it. They have cold food too. They have the twist donut. Huge and delicious. Though a bit pricey. They have Ilocos Empanada on weekends. I hope they will keep this in the menu because it's hard to get it anywhere else. 1 thing I hope they do incorporate in the future are drinks. They only had Ube. Wish they offered bottled drinks and or bottled water to sell. You know, we come buy the pastries and want to eat it in the car. 1 stop shop would offer drinks too. As everyone said, the place is smaller than the picture shows. But it's clean. Go on a Sunday before noon to beat the line while everyone's at . We will be back even though we drove an hour to get here. We will be back definitely! Thanks!

The service was really nice. Everyone was very friendly. We decided to give this place a try. We've never had Filipino sweets from a bakery before so ordering was foreign on its own. The staff was very helpful. We loved the sweet bread with sweet cheese filling and the croissant (not pictured) was amazing!! Give it shot.

So...I've heard about this new Filipino bakery that a lot of my country men are falling in line early in the morning to try. I refused to go since I don't like falling in line just to try a bite or two. Driving home I noticed that there is no line in the later PM which I learned most of the best sellers are gone. So I tried a few bread they are selling. Tocino Roll: 4 out of 5 Star Tocino is bacon in Spanish,typically made from the pork belly and often formed into cubes in Spain. In Caribbean countries, such as Puerto Rico and Cuba, tocino is made from pork fatback and is neither cured nor smoked but simply fried until very crunchy; it is then added to recipes, much like the way lardons are used in French cuisine. In the Philippines, tocino refers to sweetened and cured pork belly. It's Tocino inside the bread. The tocino is made differently maybe for the purpose of putting it inside the bread. I would rate this 4 out of 5. Although the meat is good, it didn't caught the tocino texture that your mama used to make. The bread is good. As a commercial baker myself back in the Philippines, it seems like the ingredients in making the bread very generous and flavorful. My guess is they didn't use cheap ingredients. Ube Pandesal: 4 out of 5 star Purple yams, also known as ube, are a type of yam that are native to Southeast Asia. They are a starchy vegetable that are usually a vivid violet-purple to bright lavender in color, but some range in color from cream to plain white. They are often used as a natural food coloring and have a sweet but nutty flavor. As I said earlier...the bread making and ingredients are generous which makes the bread itself good. Adding Ube or Purple Yam adds color and a hint of Ube flavor. I could suggest a better idea but they have to contact me privately. A baker doesn't share their secret recipe online. Chicken Siopao: 5 of 5 star Siopao is a Philippine steamed bun with various fillings. It is the indigenized version of the Fujianese baozi, introduced to the Philippines by Hokkien immigrants during the Spanish colonial period. It is a popular snack in the Philippines and is commonly sold by bakeries and restaurants. Usually I order pork but the store ran out so I tried their chicken. Bun consistency is good. The chicken inside is flavorful. Usually you eat Siopao with a dipping sauce that is sweet. I would rate this 5 of 5 star. Price is moderate. Availability of their best seller would be nice in the afternoon. So maybe a little QA survey would help so they know if they need to bake more of their best seller for the afternoon guest. Would I keep coming back? No. But I will definitely stop by if I'm around the area. Although I said it is good, it is not the only bakery in the neighborhood. Will I recommend this bakery? Yes! Good job to the owners and especially the staff in front and back of the bakery. I wish you all the best!!!

If you like soft and sweet and pillowy bread that just came out of the oven. This is the place for you. There's not a whole lot of variety of baked goods but I'm hoping that will change past the grand opening phase . It's definitely a good addition to a selection of Asian bakery options.

Food is so good like corned beef pandesal. Service is awesome. people behind the desk are very nice. The place is so clean. easy to find a parking. no extra 7 cents for the plastic bag.

First time going there! The bake house is really comforting and brought a smile on my face! They had many recognizable foods like siopao but also have a couple new stuff I haven't seen before like the rolls Royce and Longinisa buns( both are really good and I recommended!) Overall, this is a must try!!

Went opening weekend & the lines were out the door. They did not move fast, but that's because they were literally selling directly as it came out of the ovens. I got the pan de coco and I hate that I didn't buy more. Sooooo good! Across the parking lot from Seafood City.

The jury is still out for me. It's interesting as the modern and minimal decor led me to believe a lot of twists on the OG pastries were available. However, there are a lot of traditional items that are overpriced compared to the selections in nearby Seafood City and surrounding shops. Luckily, the traditional items (pan de sal, suman, etc.) taste as expected, but I'll save my money by getting the same things elsewhere. I was excited to try dinuguan. It was tasty, but watery. The ratio of tripe vs. meat was off (read: more tripe) so I wasn't thrilled. I haven't yet tried the "baos" but am hoping they hit the spot. Coming from CA Bay Area, I would often get the "baked siopaos" which had your choice of corned beef, adobo, and menudo. That's not really available in Chicago so I was giddy finding these at Umaga. I'll update my review once I've had a chance to try everything. I'm crossing my fingers that I didn't waste my money considering the hefty pricepoint.

All their baking so special to all the world Filipinos they're great baking my especially pandesal, pan de coco really good and SIOPAO Asado very good they have Dessert too really good high recommend to everybody

The quality of the bread is really top notch. The senorita bread is sooooo good and straight out of the oven. Even better than bread in Manila. And the people are just so nice and friendly. I will go through traffic again for this.

Very friendly workers and very good pastries. I will be going back in the near future.

We got some hot ube bread and coconut bread and we all loved it. It was the first time having Filipino pastries and even my kids who are the pickiest eaters loved it. When we were about to leave, they brought out hot senorita bread so we had to get a dozen. For only $7.99 for 12, it was a steal!

What can I say they are overpriced. $2 for a skinny banana turon twice the price from other Filipino bakeries. They're expensive compared to the Asian bakery in California.

I was so happy to hear that they have ube horchata! Unfortunately, I didn't taste the ube it was more color than flavor. The horchata itself wasn't sweet at all. I usually go for the half sweet but it's pretty bland.. I also went there for the pastries with the coconut topping but they didn't have it. I got the chicken empanadas it tasted like there's miracle whip in it or Japanese mayo not a fan of the sweet mayo! the only thing was worth buying is the 12pc bread $5.99... I paid about $24 total $18 was a waste of money.

my family has been raving about this place so I had to stop by! I had the pandesal of course, siopao and ensaymada. the pandesal was perfectly fluffy and the perfect morning treat. I know someone mentioned price, this place is actually lower than most. Their pandesal and most of their breads are $4.99 which is a pack of 12! that's cheap! even their siopao which is 4 huge buns filled with meat is 12.99! that's the lowest ive seen especially for the quality you're getting. most people on line had siopao. the ube ensaymada was so soft and just the right amount of sweetness! I will come back for the other ube items and halo halo

Selection is fresh and varied. Hot out the ovens available. Staff is friendly and helpful.

I've been hearing a lot about this place! I waited until the lines were a bit quieter but this past weekend, there were still lines! I had time this weekend so waited. I got the pandesal, pan de coco, spanish bread and ensaymada and OH MY! As a first generation filipino, these breads really hit home! It was so fresh. The smell when you walk in, I wish I can smell this everyday. It was amazing. Staff was very friendly and helpful! I will be back for the siopao as it was sold out when I came.

clean, modern place. yummy bread selections, and their halo-halo is worth the trip. great, friendly customer service. I've been here a few times and each time, I've observed them welcome everyone, happily answering questions.