A Hundred-Year Iraqi Baking Story, From Baghdad to Richardson
The same family. The same recipes. The same insistence that bread is sacred, carried from a 1919 Baghdad bakery to a Greenville Avenue storefront in Richardson, Texas.
It All Started in Baghdad, 1919
Our story begins not in Texas, but in Baghdad, in 1919, where our family first opened a bakery. Albaghdady (البغدادي) simply means the one from Baghdad, and for over a century that name has meant the same thing wherever we've stood: hand-made breads, Iraqi sweets, and traditional Iraqi dishes.
Recipes Passed Down Four Generations
The recipes have passed from one generation to the next, with the same techniques, the same standards, the same insistence that bread is sacred. The breads, the baklava, the ladyfingers stuffed with cream: these aren't recipes we found. They've been in our family since 1919, kept alive through war, migration, and the patience of teaching the next pair of hands.
“He quietly turns out his wares.”
From Baghdad to Richardson, 2012
Our father and master baker Salah Hassan grew up learning these recipes and has spent 50 years perfecting his craft, following in his own father's footsteps. When you visit, you aren't just getting bread; you're getting a century of expertise from a true professional. In 2012 he brought the family trade to Texas, opening a small storefront on Greenville Avenue in Richardson, two parking spots and a counter, and began to bake the way our family always has.
Ḍiyāfa, Iraqi hospitality: the belief that no one should leave your table hungry, that bread is sacred, and that every guest is a gift.
A Quiet Richardson Landmark
For over a decade, our small breakfast place beside the barber shop has been a quiet landmark: a place loyal customers drive across Greenville Avenue for, and where new neighbors discover their first bite of real Iraqi baking.
Come See Us in the Morning, When the Bread Is Hottest
The best time to find us is early, when the bread is freshest and the trays are just out. Come in for breakfast, a warm samoon, a piece of baklava, a ladyfinger with your chai, and let the day start the way it should. End it with warm kunafa in the evening.