Turnovers on South Main, bagels a block down and donuts you order a day ahead, with an honest word on kringle.
A bakery case is the quickest way to read a small downtown, and on South Main in Fond du Lac three food counters sit less than a tenth of a mile apart. The bakeries in Fond du Lac are small shops, not production kitchens: a pastry case, a bagel counter, a donut maker who works mostly by pre-order and a coffee shop that bakes its own pastries. Some of them are bakeries in the strict sense, and one place below earns its spot for breakfast rather than for anything sweet. If a kringle is what you came for, skip ahead to the section on the Wisconsin pastry tradition before you set out.
Anyone building a whole day around the pastry can start from what there is to do in Fond du Lac and slot the bakery stops between the bigger plans.
Sponsored
Bryannas Bakery: the South Main pastry case
Bryannas Bakery sits about 0.2 miles from Hotel Retlaw, so it works as a starting stop for anyone staying there. Visitors who tried the almond turnover, raspberry crescent and apple turnover on one trip describe them as light, airy and a little sweet. Another reviewer says everything comes in a gift-ready box, which makes it an easy place to buy something to carry to a host or a hotel room.
The cake side of the counter gets the warmest comments. Two reviewers praise custom birthday cakes, and one says the shop fit in a small cake at the last minute. One reviewer lists creme brulee, cheesecake and tarts alongside lemon macarons and counts 33 macaron flavors, so ask what is in the case on the day instead of counting on a particular flavor. The same reviewer mentions, in a 2024 review, a planned move along South Main, so confirm the address before a special trip. The limit is space: the shop is set up for takeout, not for sitting, so plan to carry the box to a coffee counter or back to the car.
The Bagelmeister: bagels a block down
The Bagelmeister is at 110 South Main Street and pairs bagels with cream cheese spreads, hot or cold sandwiches, homemade cookies and muffins, smoothies and an espresso bar. The building itself is a small retail structure dated 1880 in the Wisconsin Historical Society's property record. Visitors name the rosemary garlic bagel as a favorite, and another orders lox on a cheddar jalapeno bagel with a roma tomato panini and a cappuccino. Reviewers also like the bagelwiches and wraps, and one calls the prices very reasonable.
One reviewer has been coming since childhood, and another says the owners walk the room asking if everything is all right, which suggests a place that runs on regulars. Parking appears easy: the shop lists a free lot, free street parking and a paid lot. The honest limit is the sweet side. The cookies and muffins are an add-on to a bagel kitchen, so anyone chasing pastry should treat this as the savory stop of the morning.
Just Put It In Your Mouth Craft Donuts: order ahead
Just Put It In Your Mouth Craft Donuts is the one stop on this list where you reserve ahead, because the specialty flavors are held online. An undated local news piece described owner Nate Scheer making every donut to order, with flavors such as cinnamon roll, dirt cake and lemon pie, plus savory ones like fried chicken and waffles, and a birthday donut built from the honoree's favorite flavors. That article placed the shop in the back kitchen of The Diner at 175 South Main Street, while the shop now lists an address on East Division Street, so read it as history rather than directions. The current address is about 1.4 miles east of Bryannas Bakery.
A reviewer mentions picking up a cookies and cream and a cherry pop-tart donut at a campus cafe, and one parent living out of state says the owner made a one-off delivery so a birthday order arrived before the child's day began. The criticism is fair to repeat: one reviewer found the donuts pricey, called the place a little campus coffee stop and says the flavors in the photos require a pre-order on the website. Order a day ahead, treat it as a pickup rather than a shop to browse, and the weekday lineup the shop describes becomes a plus.
Downtown Deli, Market, Cafe: breakfast, not a bakery
Downtown Deli, Market, Cafe at 90 South Main Street is not a bakery, and it is in this guide because it sits between Bryannas Bakery and the Bagelmeister. Reviewers write about healthy counter meals more than about pastry: one praises a low-carb chocolate caramel protein shake and a chicken bacon ranch wrap with avocado, and another recommends it for breakfast. One visitor reported finding the door locked during posted hours, so call ahead rather than assuming a morning stop will be open.
Lavish Coffee: scratch-baked pastry out on County Road D
Lavish Coffee is the place on this list where the baking sits beside a full coffee menu. Its website says the bakery is made from scratch in the shop's own kitchen, and the espresso comes from Sweet Bloom Coffee Roasters of Denver. The site lists hours of 7am to 4pm Monday to Friday and 7am to 2pm Saturday, with Sunday closed, as of October 2026. The shop is at N5776 County Road D, about 2.6 miles southwest of Bryannas Bakery, so it suits a drive rather than a stroll. Visitors get a free parking lot, plus accessible parking and an accessible restroom.
Anyone pairing the pastry with a latte can weigh Lavish against the other coffee shops in Fond du Lac.
Kringle and the Wisconsin pastry tradition
No shop covered here is known for kringle, so the Wisconsin pastry visitors ask about is a Racine story rather than a Fond du Lac one. Kringle became Wisconsin's official state pastry in 2013. Danish immigrants brought it to the Racine area in the late 1800s, and it is a flaky Danish-pastry oval filled with fruit or nuts and iced. A typical Racine kringle runs about 14 by 10 inches and weighs roughly 1.5 pounds. Bendtsen's, one of the Racine bakeries, dates to 1934 and makes kringles with 36 layers.
That makes the downtown counters a different thing: turnovers, bagels and donuts made in small batches. If a kringle is the souvenir you want, ask at the case whether a bakery stocks one that day, and otherwise buy one from a Racine bakery rather than expecting it on South Main.
Making a bakery morning of it
The easy route is on foot: start at 72 South Main for a pastry, step to 110 South Main for a bagel and finish with a coffee. That stretch sits inside the South Main Street Historic District, an area of about 6 acres, roughly numbers 71 to 213, added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 11, 1993. Its buildings date from 1875 to 1923, so the walk passes Italianate and Victorian storefronts. A building at 47 to 49 South Main, dated 1880 in the state's property record, has held several drug stores over the years.
On Saturday mornings the Downtown Fond du Lac Farmers Market at 125 South Main lists baked goods among its stands. The market page gives no season or hours, so check before planning a morning around it. Lunch is the next question once the pastry runs out, and steak, diners and burgers all turn up among the restaurants in Fond du Lac.
Choosing by mood
Pick Bryannas Bakery for a box of pastry or a cake, the Bagelmeister for something savory and the donut maker when you can order a day ahead. Lavish Coffee suits a family with children, and the deli is the place for a protein shake or a wrap, not a croissant. None of this is a long list, and a visitor expecting a row of old-world bakeries will find fewer than in a bigger city. The better way to read it is the way the opening suggests: three counters less than a tenth of a mile apart on South Main make a downtown you can finish in a morning.
Frequently asked questions
Published October 26, 2026
