El Dorado Country Maid Bakery & Cafe
8204 Portage RoadI had a rare Sunday afternoon shift which meant J and I had time for breakfast. I have a few places on the west side of town I really would like to get to, but I’m saving those. I’ll fill you in on why sometime over the next month or so. Let’s just say SW Michigan Dining isn’t going anywhere for a while….
Anyway, back to today. I wanted to find someplace on the south side of town to eat. The place that popped in to my head was a little building on Portage Road. I couldn’t even tell J what the name of it was because I couldn’t remember. I’ve passed it several times and there are always cars there. I made a mental note that we really need to try the place. If the parking lot is always full, they must be doing something right.
Turns out, the name of the place is El Dorado Country Maid Bakery & Cafe. I don’t know too much about this history, but I’m told it used to just be a bakery. That makes sense because the place is very small.
Just like I figured, the parking area around the building was pretty full. We walked in to a sign that said “Please Wait to be Seated” so we entered the building and waited. Immediately to the left is the bakery part of the operation. They have display cases filled with deliciously sweet looking pastries and doughnuts.
A hostess grabbed a couple menus and told us to sit wherever. There were only a couple tables open in the tiny dining room. There was a four top near the door, but J thought it looked like it was too close to other tables. There was a large table in the back that we didn’t want to tie up. The final choice was a two top shoved in to the corner. That was the one she picked. It was an odd choice because two sides of the table were butted up against the wall. The other side is where the chairs were so we were both facing the wall when we sat down. It wasn’t a great choice, but better than the other two options.
As we sat down, the hostess took our drink orders and said a waitress would be right over. She was depending of your understanding of the word “right.” I thought we were being ignored. There were two waitress working the dining room. Neither of them acknowledged us. There were two more couples who sat down after we did who got orders in before anyone even came to us. Finally, one waitress asked the other if she was going to take care of us.
Since we had plenty of time to look over the menu, we were ready to order. It was pretty much lunch time, but it was also a Sunday. The only menu we were given was the breakfast menu. If we had been given a lunch menu, we may have both ordered off it. There are some really interesting looking items that may be enough for a return trip.
Since we were ordering breakfast, I went with the Meat Lovers Omelet. Three large eggs are filled with all of their breakfast meats. Bacon, sausage, ham, and cheddar cheese. When I say the omelet was filled with these ingredients what I really mean is it is overstuffed with these ingredients. There was way too much food on my plate and I didn’t have a chance in hell of finishing it. I did my best picking out as much of the bacon as I could. It was delicious and exactly what you expect an omelet to be. I had a choice of side with my breakfast and I went with white toast. These weren’t just ordinary pieces of sliced bread. They were thick cut pieces of home made bread that is toasted with a real butter spread. I made the choice to finish the toast and leave some of the omelet just because the bread was so good.
J jumped at a very unique item on the menu. The French Toast at El Dorado is made with one of their specialty rolls. She chose to have the Cinnamon Roll French toast which is made with home made cinnamon rolls that are dipped in a cinnamon custard and topped with pecans and their own hot syrup. She was a big fan of this particular French toast calling it one of the best breakfasts she’s had. Using Cinnamon Rolls for French toast is a crazy idea that was pulled off really well. She got a plate of bacon on the side, but wasn’t a huge fan of it. It was too “meaty” for her, so I ended up eating it.
Our bill was just a little over $17. You pay up at the bakery case so you’re tempted to buy something. I did my best to ignore everything that was in the case. I was worried it was going to be a cash only place, so I was glad to see they took credit cards. We probably could have scraped enough money up to pay for it, but it was a consideration I didn’t have until we had already ordered.
El Dorado is one of those little hidden surprises I love to find. I had a sneaking suspicion that this place might be something more than a greasy spoon. It seems to be a neighborhood staple. We even saw a couple kids come ride their bikes in to pick up some doughnuts. The only bad thing was we left smelling like smoke. Now, there was no one actually smoking in the building, but I would guess they didn’t do much cleaning after the ban went in. In that case, I’m very glad we waited until after the ban to track this place down. As small as it is, I don’t think we would have survived if smoking was allowed.
Meat Lovers Omelet w/White Toast
Cinnamon Roll French Toast
SW Michigan Dining 
I just found this post and I’m glad to hear that you enjoyed the food. My family was a previous owner and I’m happy to hear the current owners have kept the neighborhood staple alive. I would suggest the next time you go to try the triangular donut known as the wedgie, this particular donut has been around for about 70 years and is addictive.
our food is of no comparison just as is our service I have worked there for three years and we are doing our best as we are the best kept secret in portage n the wedgie cream is the best .
My family is from Michigan. Picking up wedgies from El Dorado Country Maid Bakery was a tradition we had for decades. We all still miss them so much! If someone could please share the recipe, it would make us all super happy! aesark@hotmail.com
I too am looking for the recipe. Any luck?
No, I think I have to resort to fond memories!
Amy, I’m sorry I didn’t see your request for the wedgie recipe before now. My name is Karen. My grandparents Otto and Anna Kaak were the founders of the Country Maid Bakery that began in Chicago and moved to Main Street in Vicksburg in the mid 1950’s. When Grandma and Grandpa died they willed the recipe for wedgies to my mother, their oldest child. Mom just passed recently and her recipe box is here in my kitchen. It will take some time to go through them (over 1000 cards) but I’ll find the recipe. I’ve seen it. It’s here. In Grandma’s handwriting. I don’t think there’s any problem with letting this recipe get out there since no one is actively making a living with the recipe. One thing to prepare yourself for…there’s Crisco lard in the recipe. That’s what kept the dough and filling so light. I’ve made them for over 60 years myself but I haven’t measured anything for years, as fluid bakers tend to do. Grandpa taught by telling me to start with flour… two hands full. I would say that my hands were smaller than his. He’d say then start with 3. That’s how I learned. So I’ll either have to find the recipe or try measuring during my process. Not an easy thing to do but dang…they’re so good. I’ll do it for you and the others who have asked.
I used to get these wedge donuts with my mom all the time growing up, if you would be willing to share the recipe I would be delighted to have a copy! I’m 7 months pregnant with my second child and I cannot stop thinking about these donuts and no other recipe or place that has a replica is the same.
we can also be found on facebook so check us out
do you have a link for the Facebook page? I can’t seem to find it.
just go to fb type in the search box El Dorado Cafe/Country Maid Bakery itll pop up
I also wish to encourage you n your friend repay us a visit. Definitely try us during the week. We offer daily specials !! I would love to have you back there. Our hours are 5:30 Am to 2: 30 pm Tuesday through Sunday. thank you for your review.
I grew up in the 60’s/70’s eating Triangles from a local bakery in Three Rivers which has long been closed. Those triangles were a passion of my family’s and I was on a mission about 3 years ago to find a bakery that made them, I even went to Benton Harbor.
Though I found triangles (wedgies) they were not filled with the same cream filling I loved as a kid until I stumbled on to Country Maid bakery by accident. They had what I was looking for and they were exactly as I remembered them!
My aunt and cousins are here from Texas and plan on staying for a week but have vowed to buy out the bakery of all the triangles before leaving for home. They also claim they’ll be gone before they get home.
Oh yeah, I’ve eaten lunch there too and it was good though I was focused on my triangle dessert.
I so muss the wedgie donut…the filling is worth a million dollars…they were the best donut i ever ever had…sad they closed…can we get the recipe???
I’m looking for it in my Grandparents recipe book. See my reply to Amy above.