My Just Desserts Honors Fifth Anniversary With Tribute To Late Founder

ALTON - My Just Desserts Alton, LLC will celebrate its fifth anniversary this week with tributes to Yvonne Campbell, the restaurant’s beloved founder who passed away last year.

Yvonne opened the restaurant on East Broadway in Alton in 2018. Community members are invited to commemorate the anniversary in her honor.

“We just want to celebrate,” Evelyn Campbell, Yvonne’s sister, said. “We’re going to have all her favorite things she liked, her favorite dishes, soups and desserts. We want people to come in and share their stories about her. We just want it to be a happy event.”

From Wednesday to Saturday, My Just Desserts will feature Yvonne’s favorite menu items. They will also dedicate a tree in Yvonne’s honor at the restaurant on Saturday. Evelyn says the tree will have purple blooms in the spring, which was Yvonne’s favorite color.

The restaurant has catering and carry-out options as well as a bustling indoor seating area. Meals like chicken salad, tuna melts and countless sandwiches are available, plus soups that range from ham and green bean to chicken pot pie.

But of course, there’s a reason for the restaurant’s name. My Just Desserts is known for its sweet treats, especially pies and cheesecakes. Yvonne used to bake up to 13 pies every morning. Customers can still be found at My Just Desserts with their faces pressed against the glass of a container filled with fresh treats, trying to decide which pie to try.

Other desserts are just as popular — and baked with that signature personal touch that makes My Just Desserts a local favorite. For example, Big Ma’s banana pudding is a tribute to the Campbells’ grandmother and a favorite of both sisters, which is partly why Yvonne was so excited to share it with the Alton community.

“Yvonne loved Alton. She loved her customers,” Evelyn said. “We’re just trying to have things that we know were really special and that she loved making for all the customers.”

While Yvonne’s passing in 2022 was sudden, she’s still very present at the restaurant. The doorstep was covered with flowers and tributes last July in the weeks following her passing. Today, there are pictures of her spread throughout the building, plus a life-sized photo of both Campbells on one of the windows.

Evelyn thanks the Alton community for the continued support for My Just Desserts and her sister. This week will mark a celebration of this support and all the hard work and love that Yvonne put into the restaurant.

“She was my best friend,” Evelyn said. “She shared a lot with me about the restaurant and what it meant to her, how dedicated she was, how committed she was, and how she loved her customers. So we are excited that we’re able to just continue that love with serving amazing food and amazing desserts that she had. She made it special, and she made us want to make it special for everybody who walks in.”

Visit My Just Desserts this week to join the celebration. You can find more information at their website, and they update their Facebook page every day with the day’s fresh menu items and specials.

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