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October 13, 2025
ADAMS – When customers step inside Becky’s Sugar Shack Restaurant and Bakery (158 S. Main St.) in Adams, Owner Becky Kirsenlohr said they often say the same thing.
“Everyone always [says that] when they come in here, they forget life,” she said. “And that’s what I want.”
For the past decade, Kirsenlohr said she has created more than just a restaurant and bakery – she’s built a cozy escape in the heart of Adams.
Kirsenlohr said the restaurant and bakery will celebrate its 10th anniversary Oct. 25, marking a decade of dishing up home-cooked meals and small-town hospitality.
“It feels good,” she said. “Especially after COVID-19, it feels good to still be here and doing good.”
Made-from-scratch success
Kirsenlohr said she credits the Sugar Shack’s ever-changing menu – driven by her own creative energy – as a key reason customers keep coming back.
“I get bored, so I like to come up with different things,” she said. “We will try anything once.”
Becky’s Sugar Shack Restaurant and Bakery, Kirsenlohr said, offers breakfast, lunch, dinner, pizza and desserts – including custom cakes and cookies – made fresh each day.
“It’s all [made from] scratch,” she said.
Though the menu is packed with choices now, Kirsenlohr said the restaurant didn’t always offer a full menu.
“When we first opened, all we had were pastries, cakes and breads,” she said.
But in a small town like Adams, Kirsenlohr said that does “not suffice to keep your doors open.”
“At the time, Kwik Trip was coming in with pastries, donuts, gourmet coffee…,” she said, noting that it was easier for people to do a one-stop shop there.
So, about two years in, Kirsenlohr said she decided it was time to do more than just bake – and started adding hot meals to the menu.
“We started out with a panini grill and a crockpot,” she said. “That is all I had in the back to do Chicago dogs and an Italian beef sandwich.”
As she expanded the menu, Kirsenlohr said she noticed that the more food they added, the more bakery items they sold.
Now, she said, the focus is on encouraging customers to “step out of the box a little bit” and try something new.
“We have tried dill pickle soup… we can’t keep it long enough,” she said.
Kirsenlohr said her favorite menu item is the chicken dumpling soup, a recipe passed down from her grandmother.
“That is her recipe and that is one of the things we are known for is our homemade chicken dumpling soup,” she said.
Baking beginnings
Kirsenlohr said her love of cooking and baking started when she was young.
“I always baked with my grandma,” she said. “I just had a love of it.”
Though she’s never been much of a sweet eater, Kirsenlohr said she taught herself cake decorating, describing it as “playing” in her eyes – comparing it to playing with Play-Doh.
Kirsenlohr said she has been involved in the food service industry since she was 12 years old.
Before opening Becky’s Sugar Shack Restaurant and Bakery, she said she spent 23 years in corrections food service, followed by two years running her own business.
“I had a home bakery,” she said. “I built a bakery in the basement of my house that was state-licensed… to do cakes out of there.”
When the building that now houses Becky’s Sugar Shack came up for sale, Kirsenlohr said she frequently looked at it.
Then one day, walking by with her daughter, she said, “Gosh, I can’t believe it’s still empty.”
Kirsenlohr said two weeks later, she bought it.
“It has big windows – that’s what I wanted,” she said. “I wanted to be with the people again, be in the public.”
Kirsenlohr said her family has stood by her side every step of the way.
“I’m very fortunate,” she said. “My mom worked with me, though she’s no longer here. I reuse my grandma’s recipes, so she was able to be part of the business, so we had four generations involved. I [also] have two of my daughters [working] with me. I absolutely could not do this if I did not have them by my side.”
She said her staff includes one additional family member, bringing the total number of employees to 16.
“I have a good crew,” she said.
With the help of that crew, Kirsenlohr said she has built a welcoming space that invites patrons to step away from screens and enjoy face-to-face conversations.
“We decorate for holidays,” she said. “We do fun, goofy stuff here. We don’t have the news on. We usually have the ’70s or ’60s music going on. It’s amazing how people just kind of relax, and that was the whole idea. People can just come in and forget things for a while and have home-cooked food.”
Challenges, goals
Like many in the hospitality industry, Kirsenlohr said her business has faced its share of challenges.
“Staffing is probably the hardest thing we’ve had to deal with,” she said.
Though the road hasn’t always been easy, as she approaches her 10-year anniversary of being a business owner, she said the thing she’s most proud of is consistency.
“Being in a small town, it’s a hard thing to make a go of,” she said. “I think what we have done is show people we are consistent with what we give. I’m very particular about the quality of what we have. Even through the problems with the pricing and stuff going up and down, we’ve always stayed consistent with what we’ve delivered to our customers. I think that’s very important to be able to do that.”
The steady flow of customers, Kirsenlohr said, suggests her approach is paying off.
“I have run out of seating space like crazy,” she said. “We do end up having to have people wait to get in here.”
Seating is available for 54 currently, Kirsenlohr said she hopes to expand to accommodate more guests.
“I have my courtyard outside,” she said. “We’ve done that in the last two years. We would like to expand out there to have a bigger dining room area.”
Kirsenlohr said Becky’s Sugar Shack Restaurant and Bakery’s steady popularity recently brought national attention to the city of 1,761 residents, with the restaurant being featured on “America’s Best Restaurants.”
For both new and returning customers, Kirsenlohr said she invites them to “come on in and enjoy the atmosphere and some good food.”
“When people walk in and you hear them say, ‘Oh, my gosh, I love this place – it’s amazing’… it’s a good feeling and our workers are really happy about that,” she said.
For more on what Becky’s Sugar Shack Restaurant and Bakery has to offer, head to beckyssugarshackrestaurant.com.
