Last week a friend brought birthday cupcakes to work. He told me they were from Riley’s Bakery so this week when I was choosing an eating establishment for review, I wondered if Riley’s would be acceptable – so I went in to check it out.

When I looked through the display glass, my mind reasoned that they offer several different sandwiches, in addition to so many baked goods you could go in every day for a year and still not try everything, so it could in fact be reviewed. Or was that my sensory systems talking, which had been taken over one by one, beginning with the olfactory system, because the aroma when you walk in is like being cuddled by your favorite grandmother. There is really nothing like the smell of fresh baked goods with quality ingredients.

It was a quiet morning in the store front of Riley’s Bakery, but there is a wonderful picture window looking into the baking area, where five or so bakers moved about, creating and baking.

There were few customers ahead of me and it does take time to discern what you want, so I suggest if you go in, be patient, it will be worth it. I decided to try an old favorite sandwich, chicken salad, and something I had no idea what it was, olive nut. Riley’s also offers egg salad, tuna and pimento.

The lovely thing about the entire experience at Riley’s is that the phrase “keep it simple” was generously applied and in that simplicity was a multitude of extraordinary pleasures. For instance, the sandwiches are served plain, no frills, neatly wrapped in the kind of plastic bag I took to school as a child. Who needs zip lock? Opening the sandwich took me back to lunch in the school yard.

The chicken salad was a simple combination of thinly shredded white and dark chicken meat with mayonnaise and just a hint of finely chopped celery. Again, you know I love all kinds of ingredients in my food (it’s all about the flavor combinations) but this was so wonderfully simple my taste buds were refreshed and renewed, ready to begin life all over again. The olive nut, it turned out, was simply cream cheese with olive and nuts. Simple ingredients, simple pleasures all served on Riley’s home-baked bread.

Having chosen the sandwiches, the hard part was choosing just a sampling of traditional and unique baked goods so that I could report here what you can expect at Riley’s.

I started with something called a cherry pillow, which is similar to a cream horn except it is square shaped and has cherry filling added. It was delicious: A crispy, fresh outer pastry shell with whipped cream frosting and cherry filling. On the traditional side, I bought a mini chess pie (they also have them in full size, as well as mini pecan pies). It was perfectly baked to create a lovely texture and delicious sugary vanilla flavor combination.

For cookies and cupcakes, I brought home a lemon square, two kinds of cookies, and a unique cupcake. The cupcake I’d had at work for the birthday was traditional. This cupcake was white cake with whipped cream frosting and a dollop of caramel (they came in chocolate, too). The lemon square was a real lemon square! Not diluted with other ingredients that make the lemon filling look more like cream pie filling. This was a lovely tart, lemony filling with a flaky crust.

While Riley’s does not have any seating in house, my suggestion is, if you’re on your way to work or school you can take a sandwich and a treat along for lunch later in the day. The sandwiches are perfect for children because of the limited ingredients, and in my experience, too many flavor combinations make children fussy.

Riley’s bakery has been in Bowling Green for coming up on 100 years. Its motto is “the best in baking since 1922.” I would have to agree and add that the wedding cakes, cookies, pastries, breads, brownies, pies and the like are baked in a way so that the food actually speaks to you and kindly says “enjoy!”

— Our anonymous food reviewer gives new restaurants a six-week grace period before reviewing. To comment, contact managing editor Mike Alexieff at 783-3235 or via e-mail to malexieff@bgdailynews.com.