TASTYKAKE
FOR GOODNESS SAKE
The truth is, you do not need to have dessert with your cheesesteak. But IF you’re going to have dessert, if you’re going for that complete experience, there is one – and only one – dessert that is worthy.
Tastykake.
The Tasty Baking Company has been baking Tastykakes right here in Philly since 1914. Butterscotch Krimpets. Peanut Butter Kandy Kakes (formerly Tandy Takes). Koffee Kake Juniors. Chocolate Kreamies. Cupcakes, with or without cream filling. Odd-looking but delicious “pies.” Bite-size donuts.
Tastykake is not only the most fabulous packaged pastry on the planet, it is our life. It is who we are. Tastykakes are in our blood – literally.
Back in the day, Philly-born entertainer Al Martino sang about Tastykake, and celebs such as Betty White and Mike Schmidt praised its virtues, as did the creepy Tasty Baker puppet. Whenever the Flyers scored a goal en route to their first Stanley Cup, they scored it for a case of Tastykake. And when last we checked, SportsRadio 94WIP still broadcasts live from the Tastykake Studios.
The original North Philly Tastykake factory is long gone, and a Georgia company now owns the brand. But Tastykakes are still made in the City of Brotherly Love, at a beautiful modern facility by the Navy Yard.
It used to be that if Philadelphians moved to another city, the only way they could still have Tastykake in their new homes was to stuff their suitcases full of Tastykakes when they paid a return visit to the Delaware Valley. That is no longer an issue. Tastykake is now available in many stores up and down the East Coast, and online.
