Students with a sweet tooth now have a new option to satisfy their craving thanks to Hot Crouse Buns, a recently opened bakery located just off the Syracuse University campus.

The bakery, located between Faegan’s Café and Dunkin Donuts on South Crouse Avenue, offers baked goods from various local shops in Syracuse such as Geddes Bakery, Picasso’s Pastries and Cafe and Lyncourt Bakery. It also offers gluten-free options from Hunka Foods and Cindy’s Cinnamon Rolls bakery. The shop had its grand opening on June 3.

Currently, Hot Crouse Buns is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., but owner Frank Gigliotti plans to better tailor to students’ schedules by adding additional “late nights,” and staying open for sporting events at the Carrier Dome. In addition, the shop is in the process of adding a delivery service that will bring desserts directly to students.

As students return to campus, Gigliotti said he hopes they will flock to his shop to purchase the baked goods, but admitted that the store wasn’t very busy this past summer.

“It’s been kind of slow in the summer months with the students gone, vacations and the heat — a lot of different factors, but just getting our name out there is the tough part,” Gigliotti said.

He added that the location adds to the problem. Hot Crouse Buns is nearly invisible from the street as the shop is tucked behind Faegan’s Café with only a sandwich-board sign proclaiming its existence.

“It’s a tough area, you have to get them to stop,” Gigliotti said. “People are so used to going to Dunkin’ Donuts and everything else, we have to somehow get them in here.”

The shop’s interior features five refrigerated cases filled with cookies, cupcakes, cakes and more. A label placed in front of the dessert highlights the individual shop where the baked good is from. Patrons encounter teal-colored walls with light wood floor paneling. A long high-top counter opposite the refrigerated cases has nine places for patrons to sit and eat.

“Basically I just wanted a nice, clean place that made you feel welcome and where you could come and sit with just a homey feeling,” Gigliotti said.

Gloria Taylor, manager of Hot Crouse Buns, said people are quite nostalgic about the baked goods the store offers. The store’s location near the Hill also allows professionals and students from the area to enjoy the local bakeries that they were taken to as children in the Syracuse area, she added.

“People are just too busy, but here they find something that is very convenient,” Taylor said.  “People look at us a say, ‘Oh, I remember eating Harrison’s cookies when I was little’ — it’s so nice to hear those kind of stories.”

Taylor is working on creating a hot cross bun that the duo hopes will be their signature item. But for now the team is pushing SU frosted sugar cookies that Gigliotti believes are “a great thing to pick up on the way to a game.”

Gigliotti also pointed out there are no other local bakeries within walking distance of campus. They want to promote birthday and other event cakes for students and professionals in the area and offer custom decorating options.

“Doctors and professors are the ones that come in on a normal basis,” he said. “They have standard orders of what they want — I actually had a professor call me at my house to place an order.”

Correction: In the Sept. 3 article, “Hot Crouse Buns bakery makes plans to increase student business,” Picasso’s Pastries and Cafe’s name was misstated. The Daily Orange regrets this error.  

Published on September 4, 2014 at 12:01 am

Contact Jacob: jagedets@syr.edu