2023’s Best Cities for Pastry Lovers

Female baker happily shows off her pastry display to a bearded male customer

Pastries are nice to look at — and even better to devour. 

Which cities are baking up the best éclairs and baklavas? 

To find out, Lawn Love ranked 2023’s Best Cities for Pastry Lovers. 

We measured up 200 of the biggest U.S. cities, looking for plenty of access to highly rated bakeries and patisseries. We also considered bakers awarded by the James Beard Foundation and patisseries recognized by Mashed for having “The Absolute Best Pastries In The US,” among nine total metrics.

Bite into National Pastry Day on Dec. 9 with the help of our rankings below.

In this article

City rankings 

See how each city fared in our ranking:

Infographic showing the Best Cities for Pastry Lovers, a ranking based on access to highly rated bakeries and patisseries, James Beard Awards, Google search interest, and more
Note: For presentation purposes, not all ties may be displayed for certain factors above.

The upshot

Foodie favorites

Our top city, San Francisco, is a pastry lover’s paradise. The Golden City has the most patisseries and coffee shops per square mile in our ranking. There are also award-winning pastry chefs serving up delicious croissants and other baked goods across the city. 

Other big cities puffed up to the top, including New York (No. 2) and Chicago (No. 3), which tied for first place in patisseries recognized in “best pastry” lists. NYC has the most James Beard Award-winning pastry chefs, with Chicago a close second.

On the West Coast, Seattle (No. 4), Los Angeles (No. 5), and Portland, Oregon (No. 6), each have award-winning patisseries and high local interest. Seattle also has the third-best Access, giving pastry lovers plenty of opportunities to discover their next favorite bakery. 

All six of these cities are great for breakfast lovers and sweet tooths in general. 

Local tips:

  • San Francisco: If you’re craving croissants, Arsicault Bakery purportedly makes the best in California (and maybe the entire U.S.). b. patisserie is a James Beard Award-winning spot, specializing in kouign amanns and other tasty French pastries. 
  • New York: If you’re yearning for a specific treat, chances are you can find it somewhere in NYC. New York is full of iconic pastries, from Dominique Ansel Bakery’s Cronut to Portuguese pastéis de nata at Joey Bats Cafe to extra cute macarons from Bibble & Sip.
  • Chicago: Pan Artesanal combines Mexican and French flavors, resulting in one-of-a-kind treats like the cajeta croissant, tiramisu churro, and chilaquiles croissant. Aya Pastry is spearheaded by a Michelin-starred pastry chef, Aya Fukai. They sell tarts and breakfast pastries, as well as Samoa cakes, Paris-Brests, and Shokupans. 

Sweet stand(outs)

A few mid-sized cities rose in the ranks, landing in our top 20 thanks to high-quality pastries, “proofing” they have what it takes to please pastry lovers. 

Charleston, South Carolina (No. 10), Boise, Idaho (No. 15), and Bridgeport, Connecticut (No. 18), all tied for No. 1 in share of highly rated patisseries. Charleston takes sixth place in Quality. Boise and Charleston also have patisseries recognized by “best pastry” lists. 

For four consecutive years, Sub Rosa Bakery in Richmond, Virginia (No. 16), was a semifinalist for the James Beard Award’s “Outstanding Baker” category. That’s not the only spot RVA has to offer for a sweet treat — the city has great access on top of high pastry Popularity.  

Local tips:

  • Charleston: WildFlour Pastry bakes delicious sweets, including scones, Danishes, and turnovers. They also offer gluten-free cakes, among other bakery items. Macaroon Boutique serves up traditional French fare, such as fresh croissants, macarons, and brioches.
  • Boise: Full-service bakery Pastry Perfection sells a wide variety of pastries and baked goods, including fritters, éclairs, donuts, and dessert breads. Janjou Pâtisserie is a James Beard semifinalist, creating artisanal pan au chocolats, bostocks, and kouign amanns, among other delightful breads and sweets.
  • Bridgeport: Del Prete Italian Pastry has been tingling the city’s tastebuds for decades. They specialize in Italian treats, such as handmade cannoli, zeppole (Italian doughnuts), and sfogliatelle (lobster tails).

Tartless towns

Some mid-sized cities and suburbs crumbled to the bottom of our ranking. Places like Kansas City, Kansas (No. 200), and Palmdale, California (No. 199), have low scores across the board, with little access to tasty bakeries and patisseries. 

Other cities, such as Pomona, California, Jackson, Mississippi, and Rockford, Illinois, lack access to delectable pastries, too. These cities “dough” not seem to have affection for baked confections, as indicated by low local Google search volume.

Expert take

From strudels to chouquettes to pan dulces, there are scores of pastries with origins from around the world. Each has a delicate, and often complex, recipe.

We reached out to a panel of experts to learn more about tasty pastries. Read below to see what they had to say.

  1. What is the most underrated pastry that you’d recommend?
  1. What is the biggest trend recently making waves in the world of pastries?
  1. What is the best simple pastry that amateur bakers should try to make at home?
  2. What is the most unconventional pastry or pastry ingredient that you’ve encountered?

Ask The Experts

Chay Rees Runnels, Ph.D., CMP
Director School of Human Sciences and Professor
Wendy Petersen
Lead baker
Lu Lu, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Arthur F. McGonigle Research Fellow
Tassie Pippert
Professor
Chay Rees Runnels, Ph.D., CMP
Director School of Human Sciences and Professor
Stephen F. Austin State University, School of Human Sciences

What is the most underrated pastry that you’d recommend?

In Texas, we are all about the kolache. A large part of central Texas was home to people from Central Europe. The kolache is a yeasty pillow filled with fruit or cream cheese (or both). Popular fillings include poppy seed, peach, and apple.

What is the biggest trend recently making waves in the world of pastries?

People are hungry for nostalgia and bakeries are capitalizing on regional favorites. In some ways, bakers are going back to the basics and their roots. From Kolaches in Texas to Whoopie Pies in Maine, regional favorites are big on bakery and restaurant menus.

What is the best simple pastry that amateur bakers should try to make at home?

I love the simplicity of a galette. One of the best parts of a galette is the rustic look. It shouldn’t look perfect, and amateur bakers can impress their friends with a beautiful fruit-filled galette.

What is the most unconventional pastry or pastry ingredient that you’ve encountered?

A trip to a local Mexican pasteleria always opens my mind to new ingredients like pequin chile powder to use in pastries. Yucca root cake might be the most unconventional ingredient I’ve personally encountered, although I know it is common in Filipino cooking.

Wendy Petersen
Lead baker
University of Richmond dining services

What is the most underrated pastry that you’d recommend?

A cream puff.

What is the best simple pastry that amateur bakers should try to make at home?

A choux pastry, or pâte à choux. It just has four basic ingredients — flour, butter, water, and eggs — and can be used for a variety of desserts like a cream puff or éclair.

What is the most unconventional pastry or pastry ingredient that you’ve encountered?

The many new flours that are out.

Check out this recent story about the University of Richmond bake shop

Lu Lu, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Arthur F. McGonigle Research Fellow
Temple University, Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management, School of Sport, Tourism and Hospitality Management

What is the biggest trend recently making waves in the world of pastries?

There are numerous trends in the world of pastries, so it’s difficult to pick the biggest trend. For example, we have seen smaller serving sizes of desserts to reduce calorie intake while meeting consumers’ fitness goals.

New flavors and “newstalgia” (updated classics) are also driving consumer interest. Having new twists on traditional recipes allows consumers to try unexpected flavors while keeping the classics. Think about croissants with apple pie filling and apple cinnamon white chocolate coating. I tried them before and was pleasantly surprised.

Another one could be different forms of healthier options. The health and wellness megatrend is shaping every aspect of the food industry. Using plant-based ingredients, healthier alternatives, vegan options, and carb-cutting keto are rising in the world of pastry.

What is the most unconventional pastry or pastry ingredient that you’ve encountered?

Personally, the most unconventional ingredient I have tried is shredded dried meat. I find this ingredient in most Asian bakeries –– they have shredded dried pork dipped with mayonnaise in a soft bread bun. The salty and sweet combination is delicious.

Tassie Pippert
Professor
James Madison University, Hospitality, Sport and Recreation Management

What is the most underrated pastry that you’d recommend?

My pastry memories are of my grandfather bringing things home in the morning after baking all night at the bakery. His bear claws were incredible. A lovely light laminated pastry with a filling of almond paste, cinnamon, and butter remains the best pastry I have ever had.

What is the biggest trend recently making waves in the world of pastries?

The biggest trend I see in pastries right now is adding a lot of heat to sweets.

What is the best simple pastry that amateur bakers should try to make at home?

People think of puffed pastry as so difficult, but what it really takes is patience more than skill. Give puffed pastry a try. With it, the world is your croissant!

What is the most unconventional pastry or pastry ingredient that you’ve encountered?

I had an amazing pastry made with a cheese filling that also incorporated roasted corn, avocado, and jalapeños. It was amazing.

Behind the ranking

For each of the 200 biggest U.S. cities, we gathered publicly available data on the factors listed in the table below. 

We then grouped those factors into three categories: Access, Quality, and Popularity.

Next, we calculated weighted scores for each city in each category. 

Finally, we averaged the scores for each city across all categories.

The city that earned the highest average score was ranked “Best” (No. 1), while the city with the lowest was ranked “Worst” (No. 200). (Note: The “Worst” among individual factors may not be 200 due to ties among cities.)

Sources

Google Ads, James Beard Foundation, Mashed, TripAdvisor, and Yelp

Even more delectable destinations

Pastries are often as enticing to the eyes as they are to the stomach. 

With such intricate and artistic recipes, it’s no wonder many pastries are difficult to make. Even amateur bakers on “The Great British Baking Show” and experienced professional pastry chefs sometimes struggle to pull off delicious and good-looking pastries. 

You can watch other skilled pastry chefs and bakers at work on shows like the Netflix series “Chef’s Table: Pastry” and “Sugar Rush.” With so many shows to choose from, it’s clear that we love looking at pastries almost as much as we love eating them.

Indulge your sweet tooth, and add some more delectable destinations to your bakery bucket list.

Atlanta: Brazilian Bakery Café serves up traditional Brazilian pastries like coxinha (teardrop-shaped, chicken-filled, and fried croquettes) and pão de queijo (cheese buns). Local Korean chain White Windmill Bakery & Cafe offers Korean-style pastries like manju (sweet chestnut-filled pastries), soboro bbang (peanut streusel buns), and Japanese taiyaki (fish-shaped pastries).

Photo Credit: James | Flickr | CC BY 2.0
Boston: Operating since 1946, Mike’s Pastry is famous for offering delectable cannoli and lobster tails. Clear Flour Bread specializes in bread made with locally sourced and freshly milled rye, wheat, and flour. This bakery also sells an assortment of viennoiseries, tarts, and other fresh-baked pastries.

Photo Credit: stu_spivack | Flickr | CC BY-SA 2.0
New Orleans: If you end up in Crescent City, you’ll be begging for a beignet from the historic Café du Monde. For European-style pastries, head to Croissant D’Or Patisserie. They offer a wide selection of croissants, Danishes, tarts, and other sweets like brioche royales and chocolate éclairs. 

Photo Credit: Shubert Ciencia | Flickr | CC BY 2.0
Portland: JinJu Patisserie crafts a variety of breakfast and dessert pastries. Their specialties include croissants, morning buns, and scones. They also sell passion fruit, hazelnut, raspberry, and sea salt caramel macarons. 

Berlu is a Vietnamese bakery known for creating a mix of traditional and contemporary pastries and baked goods. Their current menu includes grape/pandan custard tart, pandan bánh bò nuong (honeycomb-like sponge cake), and kiwi roll cake. 

Photo Credit: Marco Verch Professional Photographer | Flickr | CC BY 2.0

Main photo credit: iStock

Sav Maive

Sav Maive is a writer and director based in San Antonio. Sav is a graduate from the University of Virginia and is a loving cat and plant mom.