welcome

About Us

Suzu’s

a Japanese Bakery

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A combination of East and West that will delight the eyes and palate with tailored tastes that are less sweet, introducing Japanese textures and flavors, such as: matcha, yuzu, and sweetened red bean.

114 N. Walnut Street

serving Champaign-Urbana community, the student population of the University of Illinois, and the surrounding communities in Central Illinois. Established in 2020, Suzu’s operates in the storefront of the original G. R. Grubb & Company Building.

Suzu’s is a Japanese bakery all crafted by our chefs and influenced by Japanese aesthetics, flavors, and baking styles. We will be offering freshly baked products, creating custom orders, and catering for weddings, showers, parties, and corporate meetings.

Signature products:
Shokupan – a popular soft milk bread made that is very soft and slightly sweet.
Anpan, a famous Japanese sweet roll developed in the late 1800s commonly filled with red bean paste.
Shu Kurimu – based on the French choux pastry (cream puff) filled with a variety of custard flavors: vanilla, chocolate, matcha custard, as well as seasonal flavors.

Suzu’s proudly uses ingredients from these exceptional companies:
Matcha: Marukyu Koyamaen: the premier powdered tea of Japan used in traditional Japanese tea ceremonies. 
Espresso: Page Roasting Company, Champaign IL
Tofu and Tofu Products: Phoenix Bean, Chicago IL
and a lot of love from: Esquire Lounge, Champaign IL

Hiragana letters for Suzu's

meet our pastry chefs and bakers

& our owners and staff:

Alex Sentowski, Head Chef
graduated at the top of his class from Kendall College at National Louis University in Chicago. From there, he worked at such restaurants as Lula Café in Chicago and Bacaro in Champaign. Alex with Suzu’s has provided baked goods for Michael’s Catering for several special events. Alex has studied the Japanese Way of Tea for 20 years and teaches lessons through Japan House. He has explored wagashi, the art of Japanese sweet making, as he is expanding his skills in Japanese cooking

Samantha Shaw, Assistant Baker

Sophia Urban, Assistant Baker

Jennifer Gunji-Ballsrud, Owner

Nan Goggin, Owner

and our incredible staff:
Maxx Gogski, Manager
Arpa Moseley, Assistant Manager
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Business Affiliations
Intuition Coffee Company, 734 Main, Peoria, IL
Marukyu Koyamaen, Uji, Kyoto, Japan, Matcha
Phoenix Bean Company, 5438 N. Broadway, Chicago
The Republic of Tea, Larkspur, CA
Greener Goods Shop and Refillery, 110 S. Neil St, Champaign, IL
Michaels Catering, 720 S. Neil St. #3, Champaign, IL











drawing of Alex Sentowski
head chef /

Alex Sentowski