PARMA, Ohio — If it’s Fat Tuesday, it has to be Rudy’s Strudel and Bakery.
For the last 75 years, Rudy’s has become the go-to paczki destination in Northeast Ohio.
“There’s no ifs, ands or buts about it," one customer tells 3News.
Lidia Trempe, owner of Rudy’s, says paczki day is filled with excitement.
“There’s like a different energy in the air,” she says. “It’s like having people over to your house for a party.”
How popular has it become? Rudy's is expected to sell an estimated 80,000 paczki on Tuesday alone with Trempe saying they could be sold out by noon.
Reaching this level of fandom in Northeast Ohio has been 75 years in the making.
“My bed was behind the oven when my mom purchased the bakery with my father the year I was born,” Trempe reflects on her life at Rudy's.
To say that paczki is in her blood would be an understatement.
“They’re always like, ‘Lidia, you’re so excited.’ I’m like, ‘I deal with sugar and carbs for a living in the city of Cleveland!’ I’m a lucky girl.”
Although she has become a familiar face at the Ridge Road bakery, it’s not the career path Trempe initially thought she would take.
She went to Cleveland State, earning her degree in international relations and political science. When her mom was ready to retire, Rudy’s came calling. Trempe agreed to leave her lobbying firm to help out with the business for a few months.
Those few months turned into years as she carries on the legacy of Rudy’s.
“Cleveland, thank you so much for coming out. … We put out an invitation in 1948, and ya’ll RSVP’d.”
Editor's note: Video in the player above was originally published in a previous paczki story on Feb. 17, 2023.