The north side is full of places to get great, old-fashioned desserts. In fact, if you include the whole Chicagoland area, you could probably fill a whole website with just "dessert reports".
Here are a few North Side places of note:
Sweet Mandy B's is, in my opinion, the current heavyweight champion of Chicago desserts. Known for their old-fashioned approach to cupcakes, pies, cookies, brownies, ice cream drinks, and more, SMB's makes you feel like a kid. It's also open late enough to stop by after dinner for a cup of coffee, a slice of cherry apple pie, and a cupcake. If you haven't been, make it a point to stop in and check out their wares. 1208 W. Webster 773-244-1174.Dinkel's has been around since the 1920's and has great cakes, strudels, and famous stollens. 3329 N. Lincoln, 773-281-7300.
Lutz is a bakery and cafe (but I've never bothered to eat regular food there). The German pastries are boiling over with old-European charm. Nice patio too. 2458 W. Montrose, 773-478-7785.
Letizia's Natural Bakery is all about natural fresh ingredients, and it shows. A ton of great dessert options here. 2144 West Division. www.superyummy.com.
On the other side of the coin, I do not like Margie's. A family candy and ice cream shop that's been around since the 1920's, Margie's is a favorite of a lot of people. I find their ice cream tasteless and their hot fudge salty. Also, I don't think the place has had a good cleaning since WWII. I much prefer to look at Margie's from the outside. They do make great turtles, though. 1960 N. Western.
A side note: Chicagomag.com's Morsel's newsletter reported this week on a new soda fountain at 2951 N Broadway called Bobtail. I also saw a sign for an "old-fashioned" general store and soda fountain opening up at Lawrence & Lincoln. I'll be trying to hit both of these this Spring/Summer.
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