OUR STORY

1973 marked the year Mike Florio came from Bari, Italy to America with his father, mother, and sister. It was in Italy that Mike and his father Giuseppe worked at a bakery and developed their famous family bread. Sticking to what they knew best in America, they opened Casa Nostra Bakery in 1976. The bakery was originally 1,000 sq. ft and had a total of 5 employees, which included Mike, his family, and a baker. In only just a short time Casa Nostra became a local favorite and very quickly outgrew the original bakery, needing more space and better equipment. In 1979 the bakery was moved into a larger facility on W. Irving Park Rd.

After 16 years of expanding and growing the family business, the bakery moved to W. Belmont Ave in 1995 due to the high demand for the product. Casa Nostra Bakery stood out as an authentic source for some of the best Italian bread in the Chicagoland area, serving Chicagoland’s most famous restaurants. 10 years later after a great run at their Belmont location, Casa Nostra and their ever-growing business made its most recent move to the lucrative 22,000 sq. ft facility on 3140 N. Mannheim Rd in 2005. The current location boasts a fully functioning, state-of-the-art bakery with an incredibly hardworking staff that continues to turn out an amazing product day after day. 

This was at the same time that Mike started Michele Baking Company. Michele’s was started with the intent of producing softer products as an alternate to the crunchy Italian breads, for loyal customers. Although 45+ years have passed by, Mike and his family have not forgotten their roots and ties. Every piece of bread is baked with passion and every customer gets special attention. You’ll still find Mike in the back daily baking the bread himself. 

Today, both Michele Baking and Casa Nostra are located under one roof. Both are wholesale bakeries that produce exclusively handmade products daily. A small retail store sits in front of the bakery so that our local customers can purchase fresh bread and sandwiches to enjoy inside or on-the-go. Experience the tradition that is Casa Nostra, and visit us today!