Note: The original author of this post, and the authors of (now deleted) comments on it, appear to have been associated with one or more packaging companies. The choice of bakeries to present may have been influenced by the fact the company(ies) provided packaging to these bakeries.
When it comes to bread and pastries, Americans are blessed with near-limitless options. With more than 6,000 retail bakeries in the U.S., there’s a wide variety to choose from. Some specialize in bread, others sell pastries, and some sell both, and even those bakeries vary by cuisine. To determine the best of the best, we explored following best bakeries in our quest to find America’s 50 best bakeries. Some bakeries bake only bread or only pastries and pack them in decent wholesale custom bakery boxes. So what, exactly, makes a bakery great? We reached out to some of America’s leading bakers and pastry chefs to see what they had to say.
Famed pastry chef Francois Payard agrees that “atmosphere and feeling” are both important to a bakery’s success. “You should smell breads and other baked goods being made,” he told us. The bread is really what makes a great bakery for me, as well as a good variety of both sweet and savory items.
1. Alabama Continental Bakery
Continental bakery is best bakery in Alabama State. Bread of these bakeries is very famous among the citizens of Alabama. If you can resist their colorful sweets, check out Continental’s handcrafted loaves. How can you not love bread that loves you back?
2. California ACME Bakery
If you want to enjoy different and fresh taste of the bread, then feel free to visit the California bakery of ACME. It is much famous among the denizens of the California. Artisanal bakery movement, this San Francisco standby is most famous for its sourdough.
3. Connecticut – Isabelle ET Vincent
Pair one of those crispy bad boys with Isabelle ET Vincent’s famous chocolates for a sinful and delicious snack, entire lunch or your choice.
4. The Standard Baking Company, Portland, Maine
The standard baking company in downtown Portland is a bread lover’s paradise. Owners Allison Bray and Matt James bake a wide variety of breads, including rosemary focaccia, pain de mie, brioche, boules, and epi breads. Many order morning buns, but croissants, which come in almond, chocolate, plain, and ham and cheese, are popular as well.
5. Amy’s Bread, New York City
Amy’s bread bakery was first opened in 1992. The bakery delivers bread to more than 200 wholesale customers per day, but the three locations remain retail bakeries as well, giving New Yorkers a taste of handcrafted breads that are made through slow fermentation and traditional baking methods. The bakery also bakes old-fashioned layer cakes like coconut cream cake, cupcakes, cookies, biscotti, butterscotch cashew bars, oat scones, banana bran and walnut muffins, croissants, and more, satisfying both bread enthusiasts and cake lovers.
6. Porto’s Bakery, Los Angeles
Porto bakery offers quality Cuban cakes as well as their popular cream cheese pastry rolls, guava and cream cheese puff pastries, and potato balls, which are fried mashed potatoes filled with seasoned ground beef. The bakery, with its wide selection of cakes, pastries, sandwiches, and breads, has been a family-owned business since 1975. In the 1990s, Porto’s expanded their production selection with European-style goods, building upon the original selection of Cuban pastries.
The quality and variety of their baked goods make Porto’s a thriving establishment in Southern California and one of America’s best bakeries.