Frontenac, Kansas, is home to, besides the best fried chicken in the world, an interesting place called Frontenac Bakery. George Vacca was an Italian baker that came to Kansas to work in the coal mines; after an injury ended that career, he established the Frontenac Bakery. And for a hundred & ten years now, the bakery has operated continuously. It’s still in its original location and, get this, still uses its original stove, originally installed in 1904. So, food people passing through Frontenac make a point of grabbing some of this bread.
It’s on the menu at several of the local restaurants in Pittsburg, KS, and, of course, at Barto’s, just a couple of minutes from the bakery. So, I tried it, this legendary Frontenac bread. And it was . . . fresh bread. But not particularly good fresh bread. I mean, I’ve had awesome fresh bread. This was obviously fresh, but also just kind of average. Frontenac bread has a cool story; unfortunately, that’s the only thing that really distinguishes it. Recommended against. 2 stars.
tl;dr – historic bakery still churns out fresh bread every day, after a hundred & ten years; but with all that time, you’d expect it to be better. 2 stars.