Silver Bell Lithuanian Bakery

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Bakes sourdough rye bread in brick ovens

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Formerly the Silver Bell Baking Company, the Silver Bell had been a stable, single-family owned business in New York since 1882, when it opened in a converted US Penny Mint in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Their current facility at 43-04 Junction Boulevard in Corona, Queens, was built in the late 1940s by the Bellacicco Bakeries. Silver Bell moved in 30 years ago, drawn by the original built-in brick ovens. The site's facilities, geography, and local weather patterns are in part responsible for the unique taste of the bakery's special sourdough rye. If baking is "part science and part unknown," then the owners of Silver Bell are loathe to risk relocation. In addition, their reliable location, business hours and vacation times have built a loyal customer base of many "displaced New Yorkers," who appear on the way to the airport to fill their bags with the 12 pound Lithuanian loaves before leaving the city. The bakery distributes bread wholesale throughout New York City and state, in particular to the German neighborhood of Ridgewood, as well as Brighton Beach and Greenpoint. They also own the separate on-line company Renaissance Bakery, which sells specialty ethnic-European breads and relies on a customer base of former New York City residents.