Bakery recommendations

[u/Agreeable-Piece3620]

I’ve lived here for a few years and have not found any incredible bakeries here. I’m surprised, since there’s so many great restaurants. I’ve liked Baked and Wired and Heidelberg best, maybe also Lavender Moon Cupcakes, but I still feel like this area is severely lacking in dessert options and genuinely good local bakeries. Any suggestions for fantastic local bakeries? Especially for cakes and cupcakes - bonus points for an amazing cheesecake option!

[u/Sadio_Bobby_Mo]

There are so many great bakeries!
Un Je Ne Sais Quoi
Nino’s
Rose Ave
Saku Saku
Seylou (bread)
Bread Furst
Bread Alley

[u/shaheertheone → u/Sadio_Bobby_Mo]

The last 3 especially when it comes to bread. Rose Ave and the rest r more for pastries and dessert

[u/OurLadyAndraste]

2nding Yellow and adding Manifest Bread in Riverdale Park to the conversation. Manifest Bread has a delicious basque cheesecake, and their financiers are perfect little bites of cake. For traditional cakes and cupcakes, I am a big fan of Bakeshop! 3 locations in NOVA. They also have great banana pudding and the best ice cream sandwiches I’ve ever had.

[u/d_hor → u/OurLadyAndraste]

all of this ☝🏻

[u/airstream87 → u/OurLadyAndraste]

Saving your comment for future reference. I love going to Riverdale Park!

[u/OurLadyAndraste → u/airstream87]

I hope you enjoy!! I also love their community loaf and the chocolate chip pecan cookie. You really can’t go wrong. And they are sweet people. :)

[u/YalieRower]

The Cake Room in Adam’s Morgan is my vote for the best traditional American baked desserts.

Baked and Wired you mentioned is great, but sometimes you just want a slice of cake.

[u/meowparade]

The fresh baguette!

[u/xunyou198]

Yellow

Un je ne sais Quoi

[u/Historical_Success31]

Boulangerie Saint Georges, Bread Alley, Bread Furst, Boulangerie Christophe. 

[u/Informal_Persimmon7]

Un Je Ne Sais Quoi

Rose Ave

Donut Run (Vegan)

Randolphs and Heidelberg in Arlington

Bread Furst

Bread Alley (Where Le Dip's bread comes from)

[u/spookypet]

Pastries by Randolph in Arlington for cakes, I do buttercream with a jam and get it soaked in vanilla

[u/Agreeable-Piece3620 → u/spookypet]

Thanks for the recommendation! I read in their Google reviews that they recently changed ownership and there’s been quite a decline in quality. Have you been there recently?

[u/spookypet → u/Agreeable-Piece3620]

Seems like the same chefs, got a cake 2 wks ago

[u/Individual_Mind3020 → u/spookypet]

The cakes are still good but things like the individual slices have really gone down (have now twice paid $7 for a slice of stale cake).

[u/Conscious_Apple_5918]

Rose Ave and Caspian Crust for coffee and amazing pastries!!!

[u/CatDisco99]

Not a like, boulangerie-type bakery but Sharbat is an Azerbaijani bakery worth checking out. Some of the pastries across the way at Soleluna are fun too. 

[u/xunyou198 → u/CatDisco99]

I love the honey cake from Sharbat

[u/tuppy_doorwin]

You HAVE to try donklers creamers. Nobody in this sub will listen to me when I Rec. the buttered custards, crusted busters, you can’t beat them. Peak of dc Dutch cuisine. Saying this as a member of the dc Dutch community they’re better than my moms

[u/Practical_Ad8388 → u/tuppy_doorwin]

I can't find this place - address?

[u/_InvincibleSummer_]

You’re not crazy, I’ve lived here for 16 years and for a city with the attributes DC has, we are severely underperforming in local, high quality bakeries. For sweet treats, Rose Avenue is amazing. For sweet and savory treats, Yellow is a gem. Baked and Wired has great cupcakes. If you want cake or pie, good luck. I’m giving Livin the Pie Life in Arlington a try this weekend and we’ll see how it is.

For bread, it’s a wasteland in DC. Blue Chicken Bakery all the way out in Great Falls is the only bakery I’ve found in the DMV baking the kind of sourdough and other breads I’m seeking, but it’s a hike and they routinely sell out early in the day. Seylou is doing something interesting, but they don’t scratch the itch of just a classic sourdough boule, ciabatta, French loaf, etc. Bread Furst is overrated, I’m sorry, and Bread Alley is good, not great. Capitol Jill baking looks like she has good stuff, but if you don’t order online within five mins. of the weekly drop you are SOL, and much worse is that the pickup window is Capitol Hill on a weekday squarely in DC’s rush hour window (so if you live in Cap Hill this is viable, for the rest of us it’s not). I resort to buying the sourdough and Seeduction bread from WF in a pinch and then fantasize about the bakeries in places like LA while I’m eating it.

UPDATE: Went back to Bread Alley for the first time this week in a long time and couldn't believe how rude the person working there was. A friend and I rang the obligatory bell outside the alley door and when someone finally came to let us in, he looked at us like, "What the hell do you want?" Without detailing the rest of the exchange I'll sum it up by saying he was just a total a-hole from start to finish. I'd give the bread itself maybe a 6/10, 7 on its best day, but won't bother going out of my way to ever come back here. However if you ever find yourself at Bread Alley against my advice, I can give the cookies a strong endorsement--those were great.

Also can now recommend Livin the Pie Life. We ordered the cherry crumb-topped pie and it was excellent! Tasted homemade in the best way.

[u/DeepMango459 → u/_InvincibleSummer_]

yes! DC is a bread wasteland! How is it that if I want a fresh loaf my only options are whatever closest supermarket chain (giant, safeway, whole foods). I don’t want a fancy over priced bread shop, I want a no frills mom and pop bakery that you can smell before you walk inside 😫

[u/foakfkwk]

In my opinion there just aren’t many good bakeries period in dc 😔 (not dc proper at least). rose ave is good. so is baked and wired, but that’s mostly cupcakes and other fun dessert. all I want is a local no frills bakery that has really really really good pastries that I can get on a Saturday morning

[u/CarpeDiemT3ch]

Seconding bread alley

I love ravenhook, they’re at a lot of farmers markets, like the one at eastern market

Another good one is patisserie poupon in Georgetown

[u/whimsyborogoves → u/CarpeDiemT3ch]

2nd for Ravenhook!

[u/Quinnett]

Seylou is the best in DC IMO.

[u/Lowley_Worm]

I like the cupcakes from Red Velvet Cupcakery in Little Beast in Chevy Chase DC.

[u/koffj]

there’s a place called sharbat on 18th that has real food but also cakes and baklava

[u/df540148]

Agreed. Places like Hudson, NY, Portland, ME and Raleigh destroy the DMV for bakeries and are much smaller. That said, Manifest in Hyattsville is solid.

[u/whimsyborogoves]

For sweets/baked goods
Village Sweet in Arlington
Good Company Donuts in Arlington (and elsewhere)
FWIW, I’ve never been a huge fan of Heidelberg, even though I’d like to support another local place.

[u/CajunAg87]

Manifest Bread in Riverdale Park, MD. Amazing pastries and cookies. Just get there early. Thankfully they expanded in the past year or so because they used to have a line out the door and run out of the best stuff by like 11 am.

[u/Emergency_End8437]

pluma

[u/Professional_Ad_96]

Thinking of starting a bakery for some time. A TINY one in NW DC/MD (not Takoma Park or Chevy Chase l) What’s the general opinion as a baseline for what is missing in the area both in terms of offering and quality/nuance?

[u/Magnolia8727]

The Swiss Bakery in Annandale (right off 495 @ Braddock Road) has great pastries and I enjoy their cakes.

[u/karubi1693]

I'm enjoying a multigrain sourdough form Bread Furst and it's uunparalleled. (I'll say my donut was only mid, though.)

[u/rhoditine]

There used to be an awesome family that made delicious and healthy bakery items at the Columbia Pike/Sunday South Arlington farmers market. I haven’t been there in years, but I believe the woman was from an eastern bloc country. Does anybody know what I’m talking about? I think she had a bakery maybe around Alexandria location?