This list of the best bakeries in the East Village was written by Yana Zaytseva, co-founder of New York Simply (an official partner of Apple Maps).
As most New York City locals will tell you, the East Village feels like one of the coolest neighborhoods in town. But with a reputation for the late-night party scene, a plethora of dive bars, and great restaurants, the East Village often gets overlooked by early risers, which is a pity, considering the area is home to some of the best bakeries in NYC.
I’ve spent the better half of the past 6 years on the hunt for the best bakeries in the East Village and didn’t want that effort to go to waste. So, without further ado, let’s cover the gems you should know about.
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East Village Bakeries
Table of Contents: Best East Village Bakeries
Veniero Pasticceria & Caffe
Website: Veniero Pasticceria & Caffe
Address: 342 E 11th St, New York, NY 10003
Veniero Pasticceria has been around since 1894, (yes you read that correctly). This old-school Italian bakery is family-owned and operated, over 120 years later. What originally started as a pool hall (oddly enough) serving espresso and candy eventually shifted from billiards to baked goods.
Cookie? Check. Cannolis? Yep. Want to impress a host with a great full-sized cake? Consider it done. This is one of those East Village bakeries where you get the full New York experience from the second you step through the door.
The hardest part is knowing what to choose. The options seem overwhelming! So let me help you out, Veniero’s is known for the baked ricotta cheesecake, but cannoli is where it’s at. I go out of my way for this thing.
Librae Bakery
Website: Librae Bakery
Address: 35 Cooper Sq, New York, NY 10003
Librae is one of the best East Village bakeries for anyone obsessed with pastries and baked goods. Serving delectable goodies (the croissant is to die for) and a mean cup of coffee, Librae Bakery checks every box when searching for a place to linger for hours.
Upon entry, you’re greeted with the heavenly scent of baked goods and your mouth instantly starts watering just eyeballing the selection of treats. Trying the pistachio rose croissant is non-negotiable! Fair warning, this East Village bakery is very popular, and long lines tend to form. I suggest coming early or on a weekday since things sell out quickly, you want to have a fair chance at a good selection.
La Cabra
Website: La Cabra
Address: 152 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10003
La Cabra’s name translates to “the goat” in Spanish, and after discovering La Cabra has been sourcing and roasting their own coffee since 2013, it’s safe to say they’re well on their way to achieving GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) status.
Based out of Denmark, they boast locations in Thailand and the United Arab Emirates. By putting an emphasis on simple, ethically sourced ingredients they’ve managed to grow quickly and I don’t anticipate that’ll change anytime soon.
This East Village bakery is the first U.S. location to open. It has a clean and airy design and is usually sprinkled with locals clicking away on laptops. Thanks to them serving some of the best coffee and being one of the best East Village bakeries, their popularity isn’t going anywhere but up.
Spot Dessert Bar
Website: Spot Dessert Bar
Address: 13 St Marks Pl, New York, NY 10003
One of the most innovative East Village bakeries I’ve stumbled upon is Spot Dessert Bar. I feel confident in saying the menu here is unlike anything you’ve ever seen and the flavors can’t be replicated. Opened in 2009, Spot Dessert Bar takes classic confectionaries and adds a twist, creating some of the best desserts New York City has to offer.
Creative treats like the “Harvest” are served in a planting pot (I’m talking like a mini terra-cotta pot from Home Depot) and meant to look like a fresh pot of soil with herbs growing. It isn’t until you dig into the pot that you find layers of fresh fruit, cake, whipped cream, and Oreo crumbs that resemble dirt.
It’ll be tough picking just one thing to try since this is one of the best East Village bakeries, so come with friends and be prepared to share!
Confectionary!
Website: Confectionary!
Address: 440 E 9th St, New York, NY 10009
Confectionary is a bakery that serves all sorts of goodies from assorted boxes of chocolate to full-sized cakes. But the best part is, it wasn’t until my third time visiting Confectionary that I realized this East Village bakery was entirely vegan!
The reason it took me so long to realize this is because Confectionary offers one of the most extensive menus for a vegan dessert shop. But what really makes them one of the best East Village bakeries is that they have something called a “Mitzvah Wall”. I know, what is that? Allow me to explain.
Basically how it works is customers can pre-pay for one of the confections and leave a note on the wall for someone else to use. For example, I can purchase a cookie for the wall and my note would read “1 free cookie for anyone having a bad day”. Then if you walk in and you’re having a bad day you can take the note off the wall and cash in!
It’s a sweet way to build a community with strangers and to make someone’s day without even realizing it. You’ll find all sorts of notes from silly ones to some that cut a little too deep.
Elisa’s Love Bites
Website: Elisa’s Love Bites
Address: 441 E 9th St, New York, NY 10009
Elisa’s Love Bites is one of the few East Village bakeries that is entirely gluten-free. Offering exceptional treats for those with dietary restrictions, every item on the menu is chock-full of flavor and baked to perfection.
The banana bread deserves a shout-out, as does the chocolate cake. Both of which are satisfyingly moist and give off an intensely rich flavor. You don’t have to take my word for it. This bakery can stand its own! After one bite you’ll see why we consider it one of the best East Village bakeries.
From Lucie
Website: From Lucie
Address: 263 E 10th St, New York, NY 10009
One of the newest East Village bakeries is From Lucie, but don’t let that fool you into thinking they can’t compete. In fact, it’s quite the contrary!
Owner Lucie was raised in the French countryside baking cakes with her mother for the BNB the family-owned. Using ingredients from the family farm and tapping into those earthy flavors Lucie was able to create something great.
Interestingly enough, baking wasn’t the path Lucie ventured down until the world went into lockdown in 2020. With so much time on her hands, Lucie began creating small cakes and decorating them with whatever flowers and ingredients were at her disposal.
The cakes went viral during the pandemic and allowed Lucie to open a brick-and-mortar store, thus creating one of the best East Village bakeries to date. Having opened her shop, Lucie infuses flavors she grew up using into her creations. She refers to work as an “ever-changing bouquet.” The bakery uses seasonal ingredients and no two cakes are the same.
Petit Chou
Website: Petit Chou
Address: 229 1st Ave., New York, NY 10003
Petit Chou is one of those East Village bakeries you constantly find yourself coming back to so you can try “one more thing”. For starters, the pastries are straight-up beautiful. Full of colorful and fresh ingredients, you’ll have a hard time picking just one treat to try.
Add to that the fact that the creations here are downright delicious, it’s no wonder why this is one of the best East Village bakeries. Petit Chou is a French-inspired bakery that specializes in “choux pastry” which is the dough used to make eclairs and cream puffs. Everything is baked in-house daily and I can’t recommend the croissants or the pistachio eclair enough!
Lady Wong Pastry & Cake
Website: Lady Wong Pastry & Cake
Address: 332 E 9th St, New York, NY 10003
This next spot on our list of best East Village bakeries needs no introduction. The quality and flavor of this bakery speaks for itself. What’s really mind-blowing is that this bakery didn’t exist before the pandemic! Quickly rising to fame and receiving a lot of (well-deserved) recognition, the treats here are unlike anything you’ve had before.
Lady Wong is made up of a husband and wife team, serving Southeast Asian-inspired desserts. Seleste and Mogan hail from Malaysia, and after spending a few years in Singapore, came to New York City where they both cooked for Michelin-starred restaurants.
Using all the skills and flavors they gathered over the years, they decided to open up one of the best East Village bakeries. You can expect to find flavors like pandan, ube, and calamari. I still dream about the black sesame tart with passionfruit filling. Lines are not uncommon at this popular East Village bakery, but I swear it’s worth the wait.
Smør Bakery
Website: Smør Bakery
Address: 437 E 12th St, New York, NY 10009
Finding Smør Bakery felt like winning the lottery. That sounds so dramatic, but it felt like I’d found this secret little gem and didn’t want to share it with anyone. But alas, we should give credit where credit is due and Smør Bakery deserves a spot on our best East Village bakeries list.
This Nordic bakery offers a gorgeous assortment of baked goods along with a handful of brunch items that shouldn’t be skipped. The cinnamon rolls are some of the best in New York. They’re not traditional cinnamon rolls smothered in icing. Rather, they’re crunchy on the outside and soft/doughy inside.
Everything is made in-house, so peak behind the scenes while waiting in line (who doesn’t love an open kitchen?). This is one of the few East Village bakeries I would encourage going out of the way for. Even if that means you must leave your partner in the dust — trust me they’ll understand.
Bakeries East Village (Post Summary)
In sum, these are the best East Village bakeries.
- Spot Dessert Bar
- Confectionary!
- Elisa’s Love Bites
- From Lucie
- Petit Chou
- La Cabra
- Lady Wong
- Veniero’s Pasticceria & Caffe
- Smør
- Librae
Map of the Best East Village Bakeries
And there it is, the best East Village bakeries you can’t miss out on. Let us know if you think we missed a spot.
Cheers!
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