I woke up earlier than usual, had a cup of coffee, and got Wordle in three. That was an auspicious sign, so I walked over to Bad Butter to see how long the line was. This Bucktown bakery has been getting folks queuing around the block for hours. Owner Dan Koester has amassed quite a following, first for his viral social media and then for his cult pop-up that preceded this brick-and-mortar shop. 

The gods were with me! It was only about 30 people deep, and I waited for about a half hour between an athleisure-clad couple with a pit bull and a baby in a Thule stroller, and a group of six who had disgorged from an Uber XL with their cellphones poised and ready. By the time I got to the front of the line, an unsmiling attendant armed with tongs and a large box asked, “Are you next?”

Of course it was a large box, not a paper sleeve. There’s no way anyone would brave that line just to order one pain au chocolat to munch on while walking to the train. Now we drop $50 on a fulsome assortment — sweet and savory, classic and creative — so that everyone can try a bite of this and a bite of that, and then compare the latest bakery sensation to the previous one. How does Bad Butter compare to Del Sur, Daeji Dough Company, or Fat Peach?

I’ve not personally been to all the hot bakeries — so many! — but I found Bad Butter’s product appealing. The plain croissant had so many fine layers separated by air pockets it looked like lace when we cut it in half. A chocolate Danish filled with chocolate-gochujang custard and orange marmalade was dense but good-weird delicious, and a pain suisse puffed around a gentle layer of chocolate and vanilla custard was precisely the pastry I’d want to scarf from a bag as I walked through Wicker Park and not think about too hard. The Chicago Dog croissant? A novelty, a laugh. I couldn’t say no to it after waiting in that line. 

There are a lot of good bakeries now. Compare the average croissant of today to one from 10 years ago, and you’ll note a serious upgrade thanks to better, cheaper tools for laminating dough. You, too, could probably open a good bakery with a little investment and practice. Heck, you can buy an entry-level Brod & Taylor dough sheeter— a brand favored by professionals — for $850. 

There are also a lot of chain bakeries moving in, borne by the winds of virality. Call Your Mother, a multi-unit bagelry, set up shop around the corner from Bad Butter with a pink velvet rope out front. Just… ew. Yesterday’s CBGB is today’s bacon, egg, and cheese. Pop-Up Bagels, a huge chain rolling out on a magic carpet of venture capital investment, also has a velvet rope at its first Chicago location in Lincoln Park. It takes a page from Cinnabon, filling the surroundings with its aggressive scent (everything spice, in this case) and a page from Krispy Kreme promising hot baked goods right from the oven. And it pays attention to the buying habits of people who wait in line for an hour for pastry. When you make it to the front, you find out the smallest order is three bagels and a tub of cream cheese. One-bagel-ordering losers are not welcome. 

The local bakery most associated with long lines is Ravenswood’s Del Sur, where owner/head baker Justin Lerias has been lauded for his pastries that combine Filipino flavors with French technique. (I have gladly waited in line for his toasted rice croissant, and would do so again.) Lerias kind of hates that he has become the poster child for long bakery lines. “I’m always the first person to say I don’t wait in line for a bakery,” he told me over the phone. “I mean, it’s food. Food should be accessible. However, if you choose to wait in line, that’s your decision as an adult.”

He is, however, immensely grateful for those adult customers who’ve made the choice and created the buzz around Del Sur. “It’s given us a lot of popularity, for sure, and we do like to take care of people in line. We give out hot tea, samples of pastry, snacks, or candy.” Lerias hopes a recent expansion into the neighboring space will help alleviate the lines and give guests a place to enjoy the pastries on premises.

Guillotine Bakery, the new new new hotness run by a trio of French ex-pats, is dealing with the same issue and coming to the same solution. In a prepared statement relayed through their publicist, they told me, “We’ve tried to accommodate those in line, handing out samples so once people get to the front they know what they want. We’ve also had a lot of positive feedback from our Instagram story posts, which detail what items we have left in real-time.”

When I studied in France for a year in college, I lived in a Paris neighborhood with a bakery on every block. But there was one great one that bragged on the special flour they sourced and always had a good 10-to-15-minute line out front. I’d wait in it and plot which single pastry I’d order. The pain au chocolat and chausson aux pommes (apple turnovers) were excellent, but the pain au raisin — a buttery coil filled with firm custard and sultanas — was mind blowing, particularly when it was still hot and flaky as a biscuit in the center. Now, that was worth the wait.