PEORIA Ill. (WMBD) — Serving up delicious, made-from-scratch, fresh baked goods since 1985.
The Peoria Metro Centre has been home to LeBakery for nearly four decades.
The Peoria staple has been like a second home to Kevin Palermo for most of his life.
“I practically grew up here. My parents would work early. I would come here before school,” Palermo said.
Kevin’s father. Christian Palermo, who is the owner has played an integral role in LeBakery’s success over the years.
“We bought the bakery back in 2019, but my father has been the baker here for about 25 years now. And so when we got the opportunity to buy it, we went ahead and did that and been rolling ever since,” Palermo said.
It’s a family affair.
“My mom is right over here taking care of the orders. So we got all three of us in here,” Palermo said.
Last November, the Palermo family opened LeBakery Cafe, which is an expansion of the business. You can enter the bakery or cafe side. Instead of your normal sweet treats, you can indulge in quiche, croissants, salads, and more.
“We used to have the cafe and the bakery used to be a unit together back in the late 80s. But in between ownership, they went away with it and it was kind of used for storage up until this point,” Palermo said.
The cafe has been updated to pay honor to the past cafe but with a modern touch.
“It does give you the little kind of like the one-stop-shop feeling or you can come in and get your sweets and then you can kind of reward yourself with like a panini, any side salad, and any other coffee drinks that we offer,” Palermo said.
One thing that Palermo said will always stay the same is the great quality of food and service.
