Rowie’s Bakery

Cute little bakery on Lincoln Ave. Their macarons were really cheap! I got 5 to try out the different flavors. My favorite was the strawberry milkshake. I also got the unique flavors like ube and such but it wasn’t to my liking. I was so tempted to buy a cupcake but the presentation wasn’t there. Usually the presentation means a lot because you would want to eat something that looks pretty. My sister got some pastry which you had to reheat and the first time the lady reheated, she burnt it so we had to wait a little longer until to reheated another one. Both of it was okay and I don’t think I would ever get it. I forgot what it was called but it’s something like a turnover. I would probably stop here on the days when they have their specials on cupcakes and hopefully the presentation would be there.

I went here with my friends after eating right across the street and boy did they have a ton to choose from! I picked out a couple things and EVERYTHING tastes amazing!

Had cupcakes and a smoothie a couple weeks ago with a friend, ordered 6 different cupcakes and all were dry unfortunately (I had the pistachio cupcake, red velvet, chocolate, mocha and one other 2 i forgot) but the smoothie was absolutely amazing so i would def. Go back just for some bubbletea

If you wanted Filipino bread and pastries, this is the place to go. I felt like im in heaven when i come in with all the pastel colors of the cupcakes and macaroons. They’re just perfect for my sweet tooth. My favorite cake is the mocha and rosemary. I cant get enough of these. I have known rowies cake way back when she didnt have the shop yet and still love it at present.

I tried Ube Syvanna for the first time in my life. Like a giant chewy yet crunchy creamy not-​too-​sweet cookie. Highly recommended. I will be back to fulfill this new craving. A-​mazing.

I haven’t had their cakes but this review is entirely a love letter to their slyvannas.
Never had them before and I have no idea how to pronounce them but they are sold as Frozen cashew crunch sandwich cookies but that hides what they really are.
These chewy bites of heaven are Mini Dacquoise! If you know what those are, you are already on your way to Rowie’s when we were there they had chocolate, vanilla, and for the adventurous Ube.
Do not miss this experience!

The little unassuming bakery that has less that 250 Sq ft of retail space is not only hard to get to, as well as hard to locate a parking spot to get into. Yes. There is a giant sign in front of the door that informs you to not park at the bank parking lot. They will tow your car as fast as you can run in and pick up a few things. Front street parking? Forget about it. Very limited space as well. I’ve heard so many raves and reviews about this little sweets shop and had to journey out of my south western burbs and see for myself. Cupcakes, flan, bubble teas, you name it. They got it. My god. Macarons galore. Service is fantastic. Menu, display case, I just felt that there was too much going on at once. We settled on macarons and a cake roll for our first go at this place. At $ 1.42 a pop, they are pretty reasonably priced in my opinion.
Pistachio: the cookie and middle was made of real pistachio. It was amazing. The filling was not a cream and a wonderful thick filling.
Strawberry milkshake: reminded me of strawberry pocky.
Raspberry lychee: was gross. I don’t recommend it. It tasted like windex.
Buco Pandan: the most delicious thing I’ve ever tasted. I was told it was coconut mixed with pine leaves. AMAZING combo.
Ube: the cookie part was unimpressive, but the filling was spot on ube flavor.
Red velvet: tasted like red velvet cake in a bite size portion. Loved the cream cheese filling.
Ube cake roll, not as impressed with it. I thought it should have tasted more like Ube. Will try the cupcake next time.

Ok. This time it was pretty good. I got the mango cupcake, taro and the coconut ones. It’s just a different texture. The cakes are really expensive there. The cheapest one was $ 100…

I was down in Chicago and had some time to spare yesterday. I’m half Filipino, and in Wisconsin, Filipino bakeries or restaurants are very hard to come by, so I thought I’d find a Filipino bakery to take my daughter to where we could sit and have a little something while we killed some time. Rowie’s Bakery came up first on Google and had good reviews, so I decided to drive the 15 minutes there. I have never been so disappointed in my life. This place shows up as a «Filipino Bakery» but there was nothing I know and love about a Filipino bakery in sight. I expected to see Pan de Sal, Sapin Sapin, Cassava, Biko, Polvoron, and many other of my Filpino favorites. There was NONE of this there. There was literally 2 Filipino desserts, neither of which had I heard of or looked appetizing, and Halo Halo. After being completely disappointed about wasting my time driving to this bakery instead of one of the other Filipino bakeries that came up, we decided to each try a cupcake since they were on special and Halo Halo. We took one bite of our cupcakes and spit them out immediately. The cake part was so dry, I’m not even sure how it was staying together and it had a very odd texture. The frosting was supposedly buttercream, but tasted like a stick of butter, no sweetness to it at all. The Halo Halo was the worst I’ve ever had and could only eat one spoonful before I got so upset I left all of our purchases on the table and walked out. Worst $ 10 I’ve ever spent and that is really saying something!

Not really a fan of their style of cupcakes. The cake itself had a nice flavor but as another Unilocaler pointed out, it’s very dry.
I didn’t care for their frosting either, which is usually my favorite part of a cupcake. It didn’t taste like buttercream or strawberries which was the flavor. I would say the frosting was more savory than sweet which wasn’t what I was expecting or wanted.

Came here after eating at The Angry Crab across the street to grab a sweet treat! My review is actually solely based on their carrot cake and their service, as I haven’t had a chance to try anything else. Their carrot cake comes in a generous portion for the price, and is delicious — moist cake, perfectly spiced, not too sweet, and paired with a tangy cream cheese frosting. If anything, I think there could have been more frosting for the amount of cake. The guy working the counter was also super friendly and polite. If I’m ever in the area, I would probably stop in to try their other desserts; they have some interesting flavors (ube, pandan).

Why do all the Filipino joints have to be so far north? Ah well. I had first heard of Rowie’s years ago when my good friends had their ube and mocha cupcakes served as desserts at their wedding. After it though I hadn’t really given the place a second though, until my fiancé and I were given an hour wait time at Angry Crab. Looking for things to do, we gazed across the street and knew our next destination.
Inside is small, but they primarily focus on two things: cupcakes and macarons, many of them in Filipino flavors. Since we were eating dinner, I picked up some dessert for after: pistachio, ube, mango, mocha, buko pandan, and sans rival macarons. Overall they were super rich and buttery, but still distinct in their individual flavors. The ube especially reminded me heavily of sweet purple Filipino goodness. My fiancé’s cupcake similarly featured the most buttery of buttercream frosting.
It’s super far, but it’s cool to see a bakery like this one put a bit of a twist on your normal Filipino desserts. If they were closer to me I’d be there too much for my own good.

Most amazing macaroons ever! I enjoyed the pistachio, ube (popular in Filipino food/​desserts), mocha, and cashew. Coconut macaroons were just okay.
And they have halo halo too if you’re into that Filipino dessert.
Sweet staff members which are patient and helpful as well.

A hidden treasure!
I went to The Rim Seafood for lunch, a new live seafood restaurant just open two weeks ago. I discovered a very small bakery on Lincoln ave across street from it.
I bought 12 macarons and 6 cup cakes for my daughter’s girls tea party. They were thrilled!
I have to enjoyed some of them myself.
I love the crisp outside and the melt in your mouth ganache inside. I have had macarons from French bakery and many 5 star hotels and these were better.

Been wanting to try this place! Not only do I enjoy little sweet desserts, I love support small businesses.
The woman behind the counter was extremely nice and helpful. We ordered cupcakes and macaroons. No complaints. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays cupcakes are $ 1.75. Good thing I decided to come on a Wednesday.
Don’t let the other reviews steer you away from this bakery. Yes it is different, but did you not read that it was a filipino bakery upon entering?
Try it out!

I used to love and order a lot from them. I tasted rowie’s cake when I attended a baby shower 5 years ago. They didn’t have a bakery yet, rowie was only baking from home and getting orders from word of mouth. I thought, WOW! they have the best filipino cakes in chicago. Super moist and you can totally taste the flavor (most favorite was the mango).
When they opened the bakery, I was so happy and excited. Everytime I have a family get together, I ordered from them and my relatives loved it. But now, I stopped ordering from them. I think they now use artificial flavor instead of real fruits or the real ube. Their cakes tastes all the same even if it’s supposed to be different flavors. You cant tell if it’s mango, peach almond or even mocha. They need to bring back how it used to taste 5 years ago. They should be improving and now doing short cuts on using real ingredients. I am super disappointed on how the cakes and cupcakes are tasting now.

I passed by Rowie’s as I was walking back from a massage nearby. I noticed the sign outside about their cupcake specials on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. It’s a buck fifty instead of $ 2.25. I decided to try the mocha and mango cupcakes. The cupcake was a tad dry, but the frosting was phenomenal. My husband thought it was on the greasy end, but I liked the fluffiness and creaminess of the frosting. Overall, the cupcake was nothing too rave about.
I also tried an Ube macaron, the flavor was good. They go for a dollar twenty-​three.
The sales associate was really nice. They also makes cakes and filipino desserts. They have a small bar style sitting area so you can enjoy your dessert treat there.
I’ll be checking this place out again to try something of their filipino desserts. I grew up in the Philippines, so I crave Filipino desserts.

this place was recommended by a friend… we came here a few times already and every time we were the only customers. the bakery is pretty small and there is a display of macrons, cupcakes, and some Filipino desserts.
the service here is always just ehh…
ive tried the macrons and the cupcakes here. i would skip the cupcakes tho. it was pretty dam dry. cupcakes suppose to be moist!!!
but the macrons tho. it is goooood! they even got ube flavor ! i usually get a dozen or 2 for myself cause i love them a lot. and they have the best pricing on it so far too compare to the other bakeries.
i will come back to try the Filipino desserts such as the halo halo next time.

My husband ordered my birthday cake from here. I love that they have different flavors. Buko Pandan, Ube Macapuno, etc… however, I was disappointed that the price of the cake didn’t include the decoration. It included the writing, but if you want decoration, expect to pay extra.
We ordered Ube/​Macapuno and would probably not order that again. Not only was the cake dry, but there was no Ube taste and not a lot of macapuno filling. Pure disappointment!
Would I go back? Sure. I want this business to succeed cause there aren’t a lot of good Filipino bakeries around. They just need to include their cake decoration into their pricing. A few flowers (doesn’t need to be elaborate) would’ve been nice instead of just piping on the sides. They also need to try to improve their Ube/​Macapuno recipe.
I would recommend their cupcakes and their Mocha cake.

Ube cupcake, FTW!
Oh, and the frosting? Amazing.