In her teens and early 20s, The Underbite Bites owner and head baker Rae Krueger felt like she didn’t really have a welcoming space where she could truly be herself, where she could make connections with people like her, and where she could relax in an inclusive, alcohol-free space.
So armed with a love of baking since childhood and a mission to create that space in the city she called home, Krueger began selling baked goods out of her apartment in late 2022, gradually joining the pop-up and farmer’s market circuit, and eventually expanding to a commercial kitchen space. After spending time selling her cookies, cakes, and cinnamon buns out of a window in a rented space in Queen Village, she left her full-time role working on energy efficiency programs for utility companies and secured a permanent location for The Underbite Bites a few blocks away.
The bakery, open Thursdays through Sundays, gets its name from Krueger’s terrier mix, Gouda — and her “most perfect crooked underbite” — as well as from Krueger’s love of Philadelphia as a city of underdogs. If you visit the storefront, you’ll find Polaroids of all of the neighborhood dogs.
“I feel like being queer and a woman and in this city that is majority minority, we have a lot of undervalued and underserved people; something I wanted to do was really highlight that,” Krueger said.
Inside The Underbite Bites, you’ll find small-batch cookies made with European butter and imported Belgian chocolate, sweet and savory buns, and pies that use seasonal ingredients (like the new blueberry pie with a lemon-infused crust that uses whole blueberries). As of this month they’re also selling take-and-bake cookie dough, cinnamon buns, and pie crusts.
Inspired by her love of making birthday cakes for her family as a child, Krueger also partners with The Welcome Church through the city’s Office of Homeless Services to donate birthday cakes to people experiencing homelessness in the city.
On the first Wednesday of every month, you’ll find The Underbite Bites’ doors wide open for a free queer community potluck. Anyone who self-identifies as queer is welcome.
“A lot of people come alone, which is nice because they usually walk out with a new friend they met,” Krueger said.
