Thunderbird Bakery renovation brings business under one roof

Matthew Day

Staff

April 6, 2026

OSHKOSH – Since Thunderbird Bakery spread its wings for takeoff in 2019, its operations – production and café – were housed across two buildings in Oshkosh. 

Now, with construction completed, Co-owner Lizz Redman said for the first time, “our kitchen and café are in the same building.”

Redman said Thunderbird’s original commercial kitchen on Planeview Drive helped launch and grow the bakery’s wholesale bread program. 

As reported by The Business News in its Dec. 2, 2022 issue, the program grew and encouraged Redman and her husband/co-owner, Trent Wester, to open Thunderbird’s brick-and-mortar location at 959 W. 6th Ave. in Oshkosh. 

“This building ticked all the boxes of adequate size, having some parking [and] it’s got a nice location between the highway and our downtown area,” she said. 

Wester said demand eventually exceeded what the Planeview Drive facility could produce. 

“The size of our oven and walk-in refrigerator really capped how much product we could pump out,” he said.

Redman said that’s when plans of installing a commercial kitchen at the 6th Avenue location began to take shape.

She said Wester, along with family members, handled the carpentry and finished the work themselves.

“I’ve been really impressed with my husband’s tenacity to build a really beautiful space,” she said.

Still, Redman said the project proved more intensive than any of them had anticipated. 

“It took, certainly, longer than we thought to get the whole kitchen moved here, but it is what it is, and we made it,” she laughed. 

Redman said the new kitchen includes a brand-new deck oven, expanded refrigeration and a commercial exhaust hood, allowing the bakery to significantly increase bread production “while continuing its focus on handcrafted, scratch-made products.”   

“[We’re] excited to have that hood and more space, and just the efficiency of everyone being in the same building,” she said. “Our café was here, and our production was about 10 minutes away, but they’d still have to pack everything up and get it over here in all sorts of weather and that sort of thing.” 

Redman said the consolidation also allows “customers to be even closer to the baking process.” 

Thunderbird’s wholesale offerings haven’t changed much from the renovation, she said, but the lunch menu has expanded with “some awesome sandwiches,” as well as soups made with ingredients from local farms. 

Thunderbird’s English muffins are a new breakfast menu addition, Redman said, highlighted in its breakfast sandwiches.

Bakery and menu items, as well as coffee, can be enjoyed on Thunderbird’s patio, which she said was added to the building last fall. 

Encouragement and investment 

Redman said encouragement from the Oshkosh community has given her and Wester confidence to invest in Thunderbird and its home base.

“I think folks are willing to spend money on quality food…,” she said. “We had people tell us when we started, ‘No one’s going to buy a $7 loaf of bread – that’s just not going to work here.’ But obviously, people change, and things are changing.” 

The changes to the 1915 building, Redman said, have brought it full circle, as it “once operated as a neighborhood meat market and grocery store.” 

“It feels really special to bring artisan food production back into a building that historically served the neighborhood in that way,” she said.   

Redman said she hopes her and Wester’s investment helps to contribute to what she considers “a revitalization of the artisan food products here in Oshkosh,” fueling momentum for other area entrepreneurs and urging consumers to seek high-quality, locally produced foods. 

As the co-owners reconnect the building to its past, Redman said they’re always planning for the future, including growing Thunderbird’s wholesale partnerships as well as its retail footprint. 

“We’ve designed this kitchen to support other retail locations, so that is in the plans, to open other retail locations of Thunderbird in the [Fox] Valley,” she said. “At the same time, we’ve  learned so much about the food scene here that we have some other ideas, but I don’t think  we’re ready to announce anything official yet.” 

Thunderbird Bakery and Café is open Wednesday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.

For more information, visit thunderbirdbakery.com.