Gwinnett Daily Post

2023 Grayson Highway, Suite 105, Grayson

770-995-1106

www.parksidebakery.com

Open since: May 2010

Owners: Carrie and Kerry Cave, Jeff and Stacey Heaser and Marcie Hamilton

Location: Parkside Bakery is located at the intersection of Grayson Highway and Rosebud Road in the Parkside of Grayson shopping center.

Hours: 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays, closed Sundays

Atmosphere: From the outside, the Parkside Bakery and Cafe looks like a small shop mixed in with the other stores at the shopping center, but inside hides comforting sights -- and smells -- for customers.

The walls hold shelves with antique milk jars, boxes and letters that spell "cafe." There is a large wooden cabinet with vintage cake stands and other family memories.

The front counter is from the 1800s, straight out of an old candy shop from New York City.

"It's a cute little place. Funny, fun, funky stuff and we love to decorate for the holidays," said co-owner Marcie Hamilton, who has started setting up for Easter.

A lot of the customers are regulars from Grayson or employees from throughout the Parkside shopping center. When they visit, they can either get their food to go or eat in-house at one of the four chalkboard painted tables or opt for a spot out back.

Menu: Parkside serves baked goods as well as coffee, sandwiches and chips.

"Our regular coffee comes from a small roaster out of Tennessee," Hamilton said. "It is made special just for us."

The cafe offers four types of sandwiches -- chicken salad (most popular), pimento cheese (second most popular and Hamilton's mom's recipe), turkey and ham.

But of course the stars of the shop are the sweets.

"Ninety-five percent of (what we do) is baked goods and speciality cakes," she said. "A lot of our stuff is made to order -- not mass production. I'm baking constantly throughout the day, every day."

The No. 1 sellers are the chocolate croissants, chocolate macaroons, double stuffed cookies, cupcakes (they make 400 to 600 cupcakes a week) and muffins, including blueberry, cranberry with orange, chocolate chunk and banana nut.

With Easter around the corner, Hamilton and her staff are gearing up for the influx of orders for strawberry cakes and cookies in the shapes of bunnies.

Things you might not know: Between five owners, there are several family members who work at Parkside, including Hamilton's daughter and the Caves' son.