8 Famous Bakeries in New York City Worthy of the Hype
New York City didn’t earn its reputation as a dessert destination by accident. It has some of the best bakeries and pastry shops in the world!
As a chef, a foodie, and a native New Yorker, I can’t visit the city without satisfying my sweet tooth.
I love trying new places, but these famous NYC bakeries are the icons you won’t want to miss.
Beautiful desserts like these abound at the famous bakeries in New York City.
This is where Italian immigrants built cannoli empires that are still family run, where a French pastry chef invented an entirely new baked good that broke the internet, and where a humble cookie shop on the Upper West Side turned a college side hustle into a national obsession.
I’ve put together this list of the most famous bakeries in New York City and spelled out what each is known for, how their claim to fame came to be, and why these dessert destinations are worth the trip (and the occasional wait).
Whether you’re chasing the Cronut, a slice of old-school cheesecake, or the cookie that started the “thick and gooey” trend, here are my top picks on where to go.
Veniero’s Pasticceria & Caffe
When I first moved to California, cannoli always topped my family’s list of “must haves” when we went back to visit New York. We’d even bring some on the plane when heading back to Cali.
Nowadays, when I’m back in the City, I find that the best way to enjoy my sweet treats is at a table in Veniero’s, at their coffee shop.
Cannoli at Veniero’s, one of NYC’s oldest Italian pastry shops
Specialties
Veniero’s in the East Village is the godfather of NYC’s Italian pastry scene, and it has the cannoli to prove it. The specialty here is anything filled with house-made ricotta cream, but the cheesecake and the espresso-soaked tiramisu are just as legendary.
This is the kind of bakery where the display case stretches the length of the room, and it’s filled with so many good things you genuinely cannot decide what to order (or even photograph). The good news is that, from rainbow cookies to sfogliatelle (a Campania specialty), you can’t make a bad choice.
Road to Fame
Antonio Veniero, an immigrant from Sorrento, opened the shop in 1894 in what was then the East Village’s “Little Italy.” The space started life as a pool hall and café where Veniero served his own baked goods on the side. Word spread, demand mushroomed, and Veniero’s pastries even went on to win awards in Rome and at the New York World’s Fair.
More than 130 years later, Veniero’s is still run by Antonio’s descendants, the Zerilli family, making this institution one of the oldest continuously family-owned bakeries in the city.
Veniero’s: 342 East 11th Street, New York, NY 10003
Angelina Paris
Angelina Paris has been one of my favorite Parisian cafes for decades. Now it’s one of my NYC faves. I can’t visit either city without stopping in.
Purchase a Mont-Blanc to go from Angelina’s and you’ll get a swanky box and bag.
Specialties
Angelina is the original creator of the Mont-Blanc, a meringue-based pastry filled with heavenly whipped cream and enveloped in chestnut “vermicelli.” This showstopper has become Angelina’s signature dish worldwide.
The other must-try is the famously thick L'Africain hot chocolate, made from a blend of cocoas from Ghana, Niger, and the Ivory Coast. I swear it’s the best hot chocolate I’ve ever had—and New Yorkers seem to feel the same way.
Road to Fame
The original Angelina with its Belle Époque décor opened on Paris’ Rue de Rivoli in 1903. It was founded by Austrian confectioner Antoine Rumpelmayer and named after his daughter-in-law.
Over the years, it became the favorite haunt of Coco Chanel, Marcel Proust, and other Parisian icons.
Its New York City location, just steps away from Bryant Park, opened in November 2020 and marked Angelina’s first foray into the United States.
Angelina Paris: 1050 6th Avenue, New York, NY 10018
Chef’s Tip: If you’ve been to the Paris locations, be aware that this is a much smaller shop with just a few tables.
Magnolia Bakery
As one of NYC’s exceptional bakeries, it’s no surprise that everything here tastes delicious, but Magnolia is also a treat for the eyes and olfactory senses.
The pink frosted cupcake that catapulted Magnolia to fame.
Specialties
Although it also makes full-sized cakes, Magnolia is the bakery credited with kicking off America’s entire cupcake craze. Today, however, Magnolia’s banana pudding is arguably even more famous than its cupcakes.
The classic vanilla cupcake with swirled buttercream is the one tourists line up for, but locals will tell you to order the pudding instead, layered with vanilla wafers and sliced bananas.
Road to Fame
The first Magnolia Bakery opened in 1996 in Manhattan on the corner of West 11th Street and Bleeker Street in the West Village, founded by Jennifer Appel and Allysa Torey.
The shop’s appearance in a famous Sex and the City scene cemented it as a tourist landmark almost overnight, and the original location still draws a steady line to this day.
Magnolia Bakery: 401 Bleecker Street, New York, NY 10014
Levain Bakery
When I want a cookie in NY, Levain is where I head to. And if you love gooey cookies, this is the right place for you too.
Levain’s legendary chocolate chip walnut cookies are just one of this famous bakery’s many offerings.
Specialties
Levain is most known for one specific thing: the best chocolate chip cookies! The six-ounce, underbaked-on-purpose chocolate chip walnut cookie that basically created the “gooey NYC cookie” now copied by bakeries everywhere.
The cookies come out of the oven with a crisp shell and a center so dense it’s almost doughy, and that contrast is the entire point.
Road to Fame
The bakery was started in 1995 by Connie McDonald and Pam Weekes, two competitive athletes who developed the cookie recipe as a high-calorie snack to fuel their triathlon training.
The duo began selling extras at their tiny basement bread shop on the Upper West Side, and the cookie took off from there. It eventually became the bakery’s calling card, outshining the breads the business was originally built on.
Levain Bakery: 167 West 74th Street, New York, NY 10023
Ladurée
I can never get enough Parisian desserts—even if I’m in NYC!
Macaron lovers won’t want to miss the iconic French bakery Ladurée in NYC.
Specialties
Ladurée is the Parisian house that’s largely responsible for the modern macaron madness. Its delicate, pastel-colored macarons in flavors like rose, pistachio, and salted caramel are still the gold standard.
Blasting beyond the boundaries of traditional macarons has now led to Ladurée’s latest craze: the Ispahan. This pastry weaves together the delicate flavors of rose, the tanginess of raspberry, and the sweet freshness of lychee, which work their synergistic magic while nestled upon a large, soft macaron base.
Road to Fame
The Ladurée brand dates back to 1862, when its founder opened his first bakery on Paris’s Rue Royale before evolving into the elegant tea salon and pâtisserie on the Champs-Élysées that Ladurée is known for today.
In 1997, Ladurée began to expand internationally with a shop in London. The first one in the U.S. opened on New York’s Upper East Side and was inspired by the gilded, pastel interior of the Paris original. The New York Times described the experience of eating at the Soho location as akin to having “lunch with Monet.”
Ladurée: 864 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10021
Dominique Ansel Bakery
When a food fad lasts as long as the craving for Cronuts has, the object of desire becomes a classic and an undeniably famous NY food. This makes Dominique Ansel Bakery a must-visit bakery in Manhattan.
When you want the original NYC Cronut, Dominique Ansel is the place to go.
Specialties
This is the bakery that invented the Cronut, the croissant-doughnut hybrid that exploded as a viral sensation, causing literal lines around the block and a pricy black market for reservations when it debuted in 2013.
Quite simply, if you love flaky croissants and decadent donuts, you’ll fall in love with the Cronut.
Beyond the Cronut, French pastry chef Dominique Ansel is known for technically ambitious, ever-changing seasonal pastries, including a Paris-Brest and the “Cookie Shot,” a chocolate chip cookie cup filled with milk.
At Ansel’s second location in the Flatiron, try one of the quintessential French pastries on offer, like the almond croissant, pain au chocolat, or perhaps something from the savory selection.
Road to Fame
Ansel trained at world-renowned Fauchon in Paris before becoming executive pastry chef at New York’s Daniel. He opened his eponymous SoHo bakery in 2011.
The launch of the Cronut two years later turned this hybrid pastry into a global phenomenon practically overnight, and the bakery still releases a rotating monthly Cronut flavor that sells out daily.
Dominique Ansel Bakery: 189 Spring Street, New York, NY 10012
Milk Bar
A delicious dessert (or two) is key to any party, but I think of Milk Bar’s desserts as THE PARTY. If you want to have some fun with your baked goods, this is the best place.
Confetti cake is just one of the desserts to get your party started at Milk Bar.
Specialties
Milk Bar is the bakery that made “weird” American desserts cool again: Think cereal cookies and combos like strawberry and corn.
It’s the only place where you can find this fantastic threesome: the Milk Bar Pie (an oat-cookie crust filled with a gooey butter filling, aka Crack Pie), the signature Confetti layer cake (sold whole or as bite-sized “cake truffles”), and the Compost Cookie (a sweet-and-salty mash-up of pretzels, chips, coffee, and chocolate).
After you try the staples, there’s the seasonal carrot cake, soft ice cream, and so many other amazing things to tempt you! Think hard about pacing yourself.
Road to Fame
Pastry chef Christina Tosi, a Momofuku alum (another fave), opened the first Milk Bar in 2008 as a dessert offshoot of David Chang’s restaurant group. Her playful, nostalgia-driven treats quickly outgrew their origins to become a brand of their own.
Milk Bar has since expanded across the city and the country, but it remains a distinctly New York invention.
Milk Bar: 1196 Broadway at 29th St, New York, NY 10001
Lady M
The very first time I heard about Lady M’s I knew I had to go. I have had so many yummy crepes in Paris—but never in a cake like this. And, no, it did not disappoint!
The Mille Crêpe
Specialties
Lady M’s reputation rests on one cake: the Mille Crêpe. It consists of twenty paper-thin handmade crêpe layers delectably glued together with heavenly pastry cream and the perfect finishing touch—caramelized sugar.
So, if you’re doing the math, 20 crepes mean there’s an amazing number of cream layers to delightfully work your way through!
The Mille Crêpe is less a bakery item than an edible art project, and it’s the reason people travel across boroughs just to grab a slice. The new flavors are insanely gorgeous, but make sure to try the original too.
Road to Fame
Lady M originated in New York City in the early 2000s, founded by Ken Romaner with Chef Setsuko Yoshizuka, who brought a refined, Japanese-influenced approach to French pastry techniques.
The brand has since expanded internationally to Asia and the Middle East, but its flagship roots are still firmly planted on the Upper East Side.
Lady M Cake Boutique: 41 East 78th Street, New York, NY 10075
Favorite NYC Bakeries
Eight bakeries, eight completely different reasons to visit, and, honestly, you could build an entirely wonderful weekend in NYC around hitting just half of this list.
Start with whichever specialty you’re craving most, and don’t be afraid to split orders with whomever is accompanying you. Between cannoli, Cronuts, and cookies, you’re going to want to try more than one kind of everything everywhere you go.
Please let me know your favorites in the comments below!
Check out our NYC Restaurant List!
