Busken Bakery
Known for: A Cincinnati institution since 1928 known for iced smiley-face cookies, its election-year Presidential Cookie Poll, decorated cakes and hot glazed donuts, with a seasonal walk-up hot-donut window at the Hyde Park bakery.
4 locations
Highland Heights, KY · Batavia, OH · Cincinnati, OH
Joe Busken Sr., son of an Oklahoma City baker, borrowed $500 in 1928 to put an oven behind an East Hyde Park meat-market counter, with his wife Daisie running daytime sales while he baked. Son Joe Jr. joined in 1952 and drove expansion, and in 1962 the family built the Madison Road flagship; Page Busken added corporate catering, fundraising and holiday gift programs from 1970. Brothers Dan and Brian Busken now lead the company, which has consolidated from eight stores in 2017 to four plus the walk-up window, and its cookie poll, run every presidential election since 1984, went viral in 2024.
Open since 1928
Family-owned, Busken Bakery Inc., led by brothers Dan (president) and Brian Busken; no parent, no franchising.

