Sweet T's Bakery Makes History at Reading Terminal Market

Mark and Tia El are making history. When Sweet T’s Bakery opens in Reading Terminal Market later this month, it’ll be the first Black-owned bakery in the market’s 128-year history.

Sweet, delicious history.

Pies are the star of the menu and Sweet T’s is known for its sweet potato pie with a graham cracker crust — a twist on the recipe Tia learned from her grandmother. The sweet potato pie is on the menu year-round, alongside other sliceable sweets like cheesecake pie, lemon cake with buttercream icing, 7Up cake, pound cake and more.

If you don’t have room for a whole pie (c’mon, there’s always room), Sweet T’s also serves up three-inch mini-pies, which pair nicely with one of the bakery’s signature lemonades and iced teas.

Mark and Tia El, owners of Sweet T's Bakery — Photo courtesy Reading Terminal Market

Sweet T’s has been serving Philly since 2014, operating first as a South Philly storefront and then out of a food truck. The Els have been baking two days a week in Reading Terminal Market since October 2020 as part of the Day Cart program. Read more about their story in the Philadelphia Tribune .

Come mid-April, Sweet T’s will be a full-time vendor in the market, operating Tuesday through Saturday at the intersection of Avenues C and 12. Until then, stop by on a Friday or Saturday for a treat.

Check out our guide to even more Black-owned restaurants in Philadelphia to support some of the businesses hardest hit by COVID-19.