The Yorkville Bakery has been supplying folks in YTR and beyond tasty pastries, quality bread, and delicious goodies for approaching 100 years.
In all that time, ownership has changed hands only three times. The current owner, Smithville native Leigh Ann Cionni, along with her parents Rocco and Priscilla, still utilize the original bread recipe
Leigh Ann brought over her cake and donut recipes, but for many of the bakery’s longtime favorites, the old adage “if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it,” holds sway.
“The bread is obviously our biggest seller,” Cionni said. “That’s what this place has been known for since it originally opened. People also love our donuts.
“The smear faces and glazed are big hits.”
Quality may be job one at Yorkville bakery, but affordability may just be job 1-A.
That’s because Cionni isn’t out to break the bank of her customers. Many are loyal and frequent visitors, and she wants her customers wallets to enjoy the trip, just as much as their stomachs.
Cionni’s is offering an even bigger discount Friday, June 4 for International Donut Day, as a dozen of Yorkville Bakery’s popular glazed donuts will go for $5 a dozen.
That’s up from the “steep” regular price of $7.50 per dozen. Given a lot of places sell donuts individually for $1 or more apiece, a tasty bargain can certainly be found at the bakery’s 618 Public Rd. location, just off Ohio 7 in Yorkville.
“We try to keep things reasonably priced as much as we can,” Cionni said. “We’re not here to gouge people.”
The donuts are all hand cut before frying 
Leigh Ann’s mom is the creator of the nut rolls 
pepperoni rolls
Condensed Hours—For Now
Yorkville Bakery is currently open only Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday from 7 a.m. until 2 p.m. That is a few days less than the pre-pandemic five days per week, but one extra than Cionni originally started back with mid-pandemic, when the bakery opened only for Friday and Saturday.
That’s not to say she’s taking a break the other days a week, far from it. Cionni is still in the kitchen 5-6 days per week, logging 12-hour plus shifts.
But for now, the bakery storefront is only open three days.
“It’s just my mom and I right now, so we’re doing to three days per week for now,” Cionni said. “We used to be five days before the shut down.”
Fortunately, there are other locations where you can purchase Yorkville bakery products. Jacob & Sons Meats in Martins Ferry, along with Jebbia’s Market in Wheeling and Oglebay routinely received orders from Yorkville Bakery.
Later Gator in Wheeling is also a customer, using the bakery’s buns for its vegan burgers as the buns are also vegan-friendly.
A new gift shop in Belmont, the Farmhouse on 40, which will be opening next week will also carry Yorkville Bakery products, Mimi & Dzia’s Kitchen, also in Yorkville.
“We’ve been here seven years next March,” Cionni said. “We’re always looking for new businesses to carry our products.”
Cionni noted she’s tried to get hooked up with other locations to potentially carry the bakery’s donuts, but so far, hasn’t been able to find the right situation. But she’s always on the lookout.
While born in Smithfield, Cionni and her parents lived a good portion of her early years in California and Arizona, before Cionni returned to attend high school at nearby Linsly whilst living with her grandparents.
She returned followed graduation and eventually began a career in banking. It wasn’t quite what she expected, despite a decent pay scale.
“I was doing repossessions, bankruptcies, collections, it’s no fun whatsoever. No one wants to talk to you,” she said with a laugh. “I came back and wasn’t sure what I was going to do. My parents have multiple other businesses, but I didn’t want to work for them. I tried that before.”
The Cionni’s checked out a convenience store in nearby Brilliant with the thought of operating a small eatery out of the inside, but that fell through. Then the bakery became available.
“I heard this was for sale and I’ve always enjoyed baking and cooking, so we took the chance on it,” Cionni said.”
Desserts and Other Special Order Specialty Treats
Some of Cionni’s creations can be found at local restaurants specifically on their dessert menus.
But what she really enjoys doing are the custom cakes and cupcakes for special occasions like weddings, parties, birthdays, and any other reason you need to celebrate.
It gives her a break from the hours and hours of bread baking and donut cutting and making, allowing her creative side to express itself.
“We’ve done cakes and dessert tables for weddings, things like that,” Cionni said. Right now, it’s not huge, probably about 20percent of the business. But those are my favorite things to do. I love doing weddings, especially the specialty cakes. Those are the fun part.
“Bread, donuts, those are our main bread and butter. But the cakes are definitely the fun part.”
Yorkville Bakery’s Facebook page features a number of photos of the different creations that Cionni comes up with.
The same pricing philosophy from the main store carries over to Cionni’s specialty orders. Weddings are expensive enough. She’s not trying to add to the financial burden with a super-expensive cake.
“I know people don’t have thousands of dollars to spend on a cake they are going to take pictures with, have maybe a slice and be done with,” Cionni said.
