Just in time for the holidays, The Strudel Shop is now open in Optimist Park. It reminds me of The Soup Nazi from Seinfeld, except much sweeter.
The Strudel Shop has one-way mirror tinting in the window where you order. You can’t see inside. I knocked on it. After a few seconds, a tall man wearing a classic chef’s hat, festive red uniform, and white apron abruptly opened the window.
It’s a little startling, but the good news is The Strudel Shop’s menu is dead simple — you just have to choose from four types of strudel. And don’t be intimidated, owner and chef Kevin Kelly is super nice. He’s also strudel obsessed and has been making it since he was a teenager (showed me the photos to prove it).
“I’m most excited about making my favorite dessert in the whole wide world and sharing it,” Kelly told me. I invited myself back into the tiny kitchen to watch Kelly toss and roll dough to make a new strudel log. He quickly went from funny to intense. Dude isn’t messing around when it comes to strudel production.
I can’t remember the last time I had strudel, so I don’t really have any comparison — but damn it’s delicious. “We plan on opening another location and expanding due to high demand,” says Kelly after just a few weeks in business.
Pricing: A single piece of strudel is $6, and a whole log is $30. They’re currently taking pre-orders for Christmas until they run out.
Strudel menu: Choose from the The Strudel Shop’s ham, egg, and cheese strudel with two cheeses and black forest ham (weekends only); cinnamon apple strudel (add homemade vanilla or vanilla rum raison ice cream for $3); berry cream cheese strudel; and greek spinach roll with spinach, onion, scallions, feta cheese, and topped with tzatziki sauce. Also expect special flavors like apple walnut raison from time to time.
Hours: 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday; 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday; 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday; and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. The exact address is 510 E. 15th St., Suite A in Optimist Park.
