When I walked into Queen City Bakery in Sioux Falls for the first time, I immediately felt what made it special. The smell of butter and sugar in the air, the hum of conversation, the steady rhythm of a team that clearly takes pride in their craft, you can tell before you take a bite that this place is built on care.

Seventeen years ago, Mitch Jackson and his wife, Christine, left behind their lives in Brooklyn to move to Sioux Falls and open a bakery. No employees, no corporate investors, just a belief that if they focused on doing things the right way, with integrity and excellence, people would notice.

Mitch told me the name came from an old laser light show at Falls Park. “I was at my ten-year high school reunion,” he said, laughing. “They called Sioux Falls the Queen City, and I thought that sounded cool. I called Christine from the airport and said, ‘What about Queen City Bakery?’ She said no. A few months later, she called me back and said, ‘You know what… that kind of sticks.’”

And stick it did. On opening day in May 2008, the same day the farmers’ market opened next door, there was already a line outside the door at 6:45 a.m. “We were 100% lucky,” Mitch said. “That first Saturday, the farmers market crowd came right to us, and they just kept coming.”

Quality Above Everything

From the very beginning, Mitch and Christine built Queen City Bakery on a simple philosophy: quality above all else.

“Everything we make is from scratch,” Mitch told me. “No shortcuts, no frozen tubs, no premade frosting. We want our product to be able to stand anywhere in the world — Paris, New York, wherever.”

Christine’s pastry background is world-class — she’s appeared on The Martha Stewart Show, The Today Show, and in The New York Times — but what I love about Queen City Bakery is that you’d never know it from the way they carry themselves. There’s no ego, no pretense. Just a deep commitment to craft.

“It’s not about celebrity,” Mitch said. “It’s about letting our product speak for itself.”

Even as ingredient costs have skyrocketed, they haven’t compromised. “When we opened, vanilla was $80 a gallon,” Mitch said. “Now it’s $473. But we’re not changing. People notice when quality slips — even if they can’t put their finger on why.”

That kind of integrity is rare. And it’s exactly what makes Queen City Bakery one of the most loved businesses I’ve ever visited.

A Place Built for Connection

Beyond the pastries, what really makes Queen City Bakery stand out is the sense of community Mitch and Christine have created. The space was designed to invite conversation — counter seating that overlooks the kitchen, open layouts that make people feel part of the process.

“I like to call it an analog chat room,” Mitch said. “You can sit, have a coffee, and actually talk to people. That’s what community looks like.”

That human connection — the kind that can’t be automated or faked — is what turns a bakery into something more. “We have people who check in on each other,” Mitch told me. “If someone doesn’t show up for a week, we’ll call. That’s the kind of place we want to be.”

Never ‘Good Enough for Sioux Falls’

There was one thing Mitch said that really stuck with me.

He told me the phrase he hates most is “good enough for Sioux Falls.”

“To me, that just means lazy,” he said. “If you’re dumbing down your product because you think your customers won’t notice, you’re betraying them. We don’t do that. Our product could hold up anywhere — and that’s the standard we live by.”

That attitude has shaped not just their bakery, but the local business culture around them. Queen City raised the bar for what’s possible in Sioux Falls — proving that excellence doesn’t depend on geography.

Consistency, Care, and Character

Through every challenge — including the pandemic — Mitch and Christine stayed true to their values. When COVID hit, they voluntarily closed dine-in service for over a year to protect their employees, but continued paying them. “We came out stronger,” Mitch said. “It wasn’t about making money. It was about doing the right thing.”

That’s leadership. And that’s what I mean when I talk about building loved businesses — companies that care deeply about their people, their customers, and their craft.

After nearly 18 years, Queen City Bakery continues to evolve — slowly, intentionally, and with the same commitment to excellence they started with.

Every decision, from adding new menu items to adjusting their hours, is filtered through the question: Does this fit who we are?

Because at Queen City Bakery, success isn’t about growth for growth’s sake. It’s about making something that lasts — something people love.