10 Top Cities for Pastry in the United States

There weren’t many things to celebrate in the wake of a pandemic, but one was a proliferation of pop-up bakeries. They flooded Instagram feeds with chocolate-laced croissants, rainbow cookies, and Seussian-hued layer cakes. And in the years since, some have transitioned into bona fide brick-and-mortar bakeries.

These newcomers have joined long-established classics across the country. Suddenly, we’re swimming in standout viennoiseries, cakes, pies, and more. There are boudin-stuffed pastry pockets in New Orleans, shakshuka morning buns in Detroit, and matcha pandan eclairs in Chicago. Los Angeles is home to splashy stacked sheet cakes and, among a seemingly unending bounty of baked goods, New York City has a corn-shaped mousse cake.

It’s America’s pastry renaissance, and our experts zeroed in on the crème de la crème. These are the best American cities for pastry.

Winner: New York City

Courtesy of Lysée

When it comes to the country’s best city for baked goods, it’s no surprise New York City takes the cake. It’s given the world Junior’s Cheesecake, William Greenberg black and whites, Levain’s softball-sized chocolate chip cookies, and the Cronut at Dominique Ansel. It’s an epicenter of world-class pastry chefs who spin sugar into works of art in like 2024 F&W Best New Chef Camari Mick at The Musket Room, and at pastry shops like Lysée, where 2023 F&W Best New Chef Eunji Lee creates exquisite desserts like mango tarts and a signature trompe l’oeil corn number. And the city is home to iconic bagel institutions like Ess-a-Bagel and H&H.

Chicago

Courtesy of Lost Larson

At Kasama, the bakery, café, and tasting menu restaurant from 2022 F&W Best New Chefs Tim Flores and Genie Kwon, some of Chicago’s most ethereal pastries are offered for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. During the day, visit the Ukrainian Village spot for banana tarts and matcha pandan eclairs. Return in the evening, when they swap the fast-casual menu for fine dining, and the modern Filipino meal is capped off with a fresh spin on halo-halo. Don’t stop there — try the original chocolate cake from hit TV show The Bear at Loaf Lounge (as well as spiced sugar morning buns and chocolate croissants), sweet and savory pies at Maya-Camille Broussard’s Justice of the Pies, egg tarts at Chiu Quon Bakery, and cardamom buns at Lost Larson.

Los Angeles

Food & Wine / Eva Kolenko

Despite its reputation for glorifying carb counting and status smoothies, Los Angeles has quietly become a powerhouse in the pastry world. The city has a perfectly measured combination of innovation, cultural diversity, and access to plentiful seasonal ingredients. In the mix is 2023 F&W Best New Chef Hannah Ziskin’s pizza parlor, Quarter Sheets, a cult favorite for its beautiful layered cakes. At République cafe and bakery, find perfect baguettes and chocolate hazelnut-filled bombolini, and you can sample pistachio and rosewater-laminated pastries at Chaumont alongside excellent classic croissants.

San Francisco

Courtesy of Breadbelly

When it first opened in 2002, Tartine Bakery spurred San Francisco’s pastry renaissance with legendary sourdough and croissants that established a gold standard. The city’s pastry scene continues to evolve, with bakeries like Arsicault Bakery known for its buttery chocolate-almond croissants, and B. Patisserie, worth a visit for its signature kouign-amann alone. Find pineapple buns at Hong Kong-style Pineapple King, milk buns filled with coconut pandan cream at Breadbelly, and tender sourdough loaves at Day Moon.

New Orleans

Courtesy of Randy Schmidt

King Cake reigns in New Orleans, and you can look for it each January and February at longstanding institutions like Dong Phuong Bakery and Manny Randazzo. You can also find king cakes at more recent additions, like Bywater Bakery, where it’s stuffed with mascarpone whipped cream and berries, or housemade passionfruit and pineapple filling. At Ayu Bakehouse, the airy, laminated layers are laced with cinnamon cream cheese. The Frenchmen Street bakery also churns out chocolate babka knots, kaya buns, and a “boudin boy,” i.e. a flaky, savory pastry filled with sausage and a soft-boiled egg. A newcomer to the city’s pastry scene, pop-up turned brick and mortar Lagniappe Bakehouse has established itself as a beloved city favorite. Its benne toffee cookies are flecked with tiny benne seeds, and the cornmeal muffins are baked in corn husks and piped with honey butter.

Boston

Courtesy of Kristin Teig

Bostonians with a sweet tooth have long trekked to the North End for Italian treats like cannoli and biscotti at Mike’s Pastry and Modern Pastry, and pastéis de nata at countless Portuguese bakeshops. In more recent years, a sugar-fueled boost has come from additions like Michette, with twice-baked almond croissants, and breakfast focaccia laden with bacon and bechamel sauce. At Flour Bakery, Joanne Chang’s sticky buns and chocolate-hazelnut cookies steal the show.

Miami

Courtesy of Bachour

With diverse global influences, Miami’s pastry scene may be the best way to get a taste of the flavor in this glitzy beachfront city. Iconic Cuban spots like Versailles Bakery are renowned for pastelitos filled with guava and cream cheese. At Venezuelan-French bakery Caracas, get classic croissants as well as ham and cheese-stuffed cachito. In Wynwood, Kosher bakery Zak the Baker specializes in chocolate babka and artisanal breads, and at Puerto Rican pastry chef Antonio Bachour’s namesake shop, you can find jewel-like French-inspired pastries flavored with tropical fruit.

Houston

Courtesy of Koffeteria

From Czech kolaches to Mexican pan dulce and French croissants, it’s easy to traverse the globe via Houston’s bakeries. Sit for a Thai iced tea and Cambodian-influenced treats like the ube snickerdoodle cookie at Koffeteria, pastry chef Vanarin Kuch’s bakery in East Downtown. Make sure to check out Ema in the Heights for conchas and the light and fluffy horchata berlinesas. And don’t skip the Original Kolache Shoppe, which has baked the fresh yeast-dough pastries, packed with all manner of fillings, from sweet cream cheese to fruit preserves, since 1956.

Las Vegas

Courtesy of Evan Sung

At the heart of Las Vegas’s pastry scene, high-end hotel patisseries marry theatrical presentation. Resorts like the Bellagio and Caesars Palace (where Dominique Ansel Las Vegas resides) boast acclaimed pastry chefs that create show-stopping desserts that rival the Strip’s legendary entertainment. Beyond the Strip, find standouts like Crown Bakery, stocked with ube milk bread and matcha mochi brownies, and Desert Bread, a sourdough haven in Paradise that also sells seasonally changing pies, cakes, and laminated pastries.

Detroit

Courtesy of E.E. Berger

Dough is made by hand daily at Sister Pie, which becomes the basis for a lineup of dreamy seasonal pies in both classic and reimagined flavors like honey lemon meringue, blueberry plum balsamic, and salted maple. The West Village neighborhood gem is among a host of bakeshops that have made Motor City a haven for pastry lovers. Longtime favorites like New Palace Bakery keep the city stocked with beloved Polish classics, like its famous paczki. Avalon International Breads draws crowds for its rustic loaves and buttery pastries, and 2022 F&W Best New Chef Warda Bouguettaya is spinning magic at Warda Patisserie in the form of shakshuka morning buns and seasonal fruit tarts.

To uncover the best food and drink experiences for travelers, Food & Wine polled over 400 chefs, travel experts, food and travel writers, and wine pros from across the globe for their top culinary travel experiences. We then turned the results over to our Global Advisory Board, who ranked the top nominees in each category. For the full list of all 165 winners, visit foodandwine.com/globaltastemakers.

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