Why Rudy’s Strudel and Bakery Is a Must-Visit Paczki Destination

Before dawn on Fat Tuesday, the line outside Rudy’s Strudel and Bakery in Parma stretches down Ridge Road and around the corner. Customers wait hours for a box of the bakery’s legendary paczki, the rich, filled pastries that have become a symbol of Greater Cleveland’s Eastern European community. 

Founded in 1948 by Austrian immigrants Rudy and Anne Belohlavek, the bakery has long been a neighborhood favorite. When current co-owner Lidia Trempe’s parents, who were immigrants from Ukraine and Poland, bought the bakery in the 1970s, they carried on its Old World spirit and began selling paczki (pronounced “pohnch-kee”) in 1986. Paczki season at Rudy’s begins in early January and runs through Fat Tuesday (Feb. 17 this year) and a week or two beyond. In 2025, the shop sold a total of around 100,000 paczki.

“If you get a dozen paczki and your arms aren’t hurting from holding it, you didn’t get the right paczki, so you’re not at Rudy’s,” Trempe says.

While traditional fillings like prune and raspberry remain favorites, Trempe is also known for creative twists, from the savory Clevelander stuffed with sauerkraut and kielbasa to the Superhost buttercream, a nod to a beloved local TV character. 

“It’s my love letter to the city I love,” Trempe says of the shop’s Fat Tuesday tradition. “The city harbored my parents when they came with nothing. ... It’s just so special because it’s like inviting people over to my house.” 5580 Ridge Rd., Parma 44129, 440/886-4430, rudysstrudel.com

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