About Us

La Cucina di Scudiero, which means Scudiero's Kitchen in Italian.

It all started in the 1930's in Serino, Italy

Umbaldo Datoli ran a bakery in Serino Italy, it was passed down from his grandfather, to his father, to him. He was a third generation baker baking homemade Italian breads & desserts from the recipes his grandfather started.

After the 2nd World War he decided to move his family to America. In 1954 he opened up a small Italian bakery in Melrose Park, Il. The bakery was an Italian grocery store where people were able to find many Italian products, but the specialty of the place was homemade Italian bread & desserts, those very same recipes he brought from Italy is what people from all over loved. Unfortunately Umbaldo Datoli passed away in 1969, and the bakery was taken over by his daughter Lena Scudiero one of seven siblings.

Lena 1970

Lena ran the bakery while raising her expanding family which consisted of 4 sons as of 1973, eventually growing to 6 sons with the last two being twins.

in 1976 her husband Joe left his job to help out with expanding the business and taking over the baking operations, with the help of Lena's brothers Mike & Tony they had the bakery producing all the goods that Grampa Umbaldo was making prior to his death. In 1978 the name was changed from Melrose Park Italian Bakery to Scudiero’s Italian Bakery & Deli.

Joe (Bones) Scudiero (1980's)

Joe was a natural baker working everyday and never taking time off, he was even opened on Sundays during the Chicago Bears games so the many customers who went to the games could tailgate with Scudiero’s Subs & Pizzas & Desserts. He truly loved being a baker and he turned the bakery into a place where people came from all over to see & hang out. Often people come in and would run into an old friend from the “old neighborhood” that they haven’t seen in many years. Joe & the crew

Joe & his crew solving the worlds problems

The famous bread bag was a favorite among the customers, when you came in to buy a loaf of bread Joe would take a picture of you holding the bag up and then place the picture in the bakery. Before you know it there had to be 1000′s of pictures throughout the bakery.

From ordinary customers to celebrities such as Carol Lawrence, Frank Sinatra & Be Bop to name a few all holding the infamous Scudiero’s bag. Then it became a contest to see who could travel the furthest with a Scudiero’s bag and take their own picture in front of a “Welcome to” sign, Remember this was decades before selfies and smartphones. there were photo’s from most of the united states and even as far away as China, Australia & Russia. it was a true classic.

Scudiero’s Italian Bakery & Deli.

Joe Scudiero passed away on July 29th 2007, he will always be remembered for his very kind compassion and generosity. After Joe's death his son Aldo took over baking duties. Then in 2013 Aldo left to start his life long dream of being a police officer and that's when Alex stepped in as senior baker. Alex was no stranger to baking, he started baking with his father Joe at the age of 13 and would get up at 3:00 A.M. on weekends to go bake and learn all the nuances that go into baking products. Alex is a fifth generation baker, Baking the same famous Italian recipes that has been in their family for over 150 years. Scudiero's is ran by five of Joe’s six sons Frank, Alex, Mike, Anthony & Aldo. They keep the family tradition alive and strive to bring the same service their father gave everyone everyday.

In April of 2016 while Alex was baking, the 101 year old Middleby Marshall oven had an explosion. Blowing out the bakery doors, windows, roof and back wall of the bakery. Alex was thrown several feet and one of the 100 lb cast iron oven doors just missed hitting him. It was truly a miracle that he walked away with minor burns and scratches.

The bakery was completely torn down and rebuilt from the ground up. Expanding the back of the bakery 1200 more square feet. It reopened on Feb. 13th (Joe's Birthday) 2017. In 2019, Alex wanting to expand into online sales and started the "La Cucina di Scudiero" brand. Stating " I truly believe that people still want old world traditional truly hand made products without all the preservatives."

a very young (5) Alex with his mother Lena & cousin Salvatore, 1968

Tony,Frank,Alex & Aldo

Alex in the kitchen, working on Neapolitan pizza dough recipes.

Favorite quote from Joe (Bones) Scudiero

“You don’t judge a man by his wealth,

You judge the man by the family he’s raised”

Thanks for visiting & Bon Appétit

The Scudiero Family

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