Historic hometown bakery prepares to celebrate 100 years on Milwaukee's south side

MILWAUKEE, Wis. (CBS 58)-- A historic bakery in Milwaukee has become a hometown staple for the past 99 years. National Bakery & Deli is known for their extravagant-themed cookies and cakes, and most recently, were asked by the Milwaukee Host Committee to be a partner vendor for the Republican National Convention.

"Everything is made fresh, daily, our bakers come in usually about 2 o' clock in the morning and they go straight through to finish the day…everything is made from scratch," said Jeff Callen.

Whether you're a regular or first-time customer, co-owners Bryant Krauss and Jeff Callen say you're bound to smell happiness the moment you set foot inside their bakery.

"Just your basic, old-fashioned from scratch bakery that there's still not many of us around," added Callen.

The bakery founded in 1925 on Milwaukee's south side was once part of a Polish neighborhood.

"The bakery started going through three generations of the Wisniewski family here in Milwaukee," explained Krauss.

The founders then sold it to another family.

"Jon and Karen Ward who did a great job with it, and they had it for 17 years, and about 16 years ago my business partner Jeff Callen and I bought it," said Krauss.

For almost a century, it's been a hometown staple, and they've stayed relevant by adapting to current events.

"We did Taylor Swift cookies, we did eclipse cookies, we did cookies with masks during the, when COVID was going around," said Callen.

They even turned Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo into a cookie! Most recently, the owners told CBS 58 News the bakery sold about three thousand political cookies when the city hosted the 2024 Republican National Convention.

The head baker, Julie Brooks, has worked at this bakery for 11 years and is often the mastermind behind the creative spin to the baked goods.

"She comes up with these crazy ideas and nine times out of 10 we'll go with her, and we'll do it because, you know, again, it puts us on the edge of doing something unique that not many people are doing," said Callen.

If you're not well versed on pop culture, you might still gravitate toward some of their popular items.

"We sell a lot of badger baked ham, we sell a lot of hard rolls and so, those are sort of staples, then we're really known for, we have great donuts,” added Krauss.

"We've got clients where the generations come in, you know, especially on the holidays, you know, we got people coming from all over who used to come here 50 years ago and their grandkids are coming in now, so it's awesome," said Callen.

Having been around bakeries when he was younger, Krauss said he understands how it may feel like home for others.

"My grandfather and great grandfather both owned a bakery on the South Side of Chicago…it was just something that we were around all the time, we had fresh bakery, my grandfather would be making fresh birthday cakes for me, my cousins, my siblings," recalled Callen.

And now, he and his business partner can do the same for clients traveling near or far.

"We're really excited about hitting our 100th year here, so, you know, if you haven't been here for a while, you know, come on in and we'd love to have you, show you what we're doing these days," said Callen.