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6 must-try bakeries in Greater Boston’s booming niche bakery scene
“That’s what’s great about [the niche bakery boom] is that people can put their own touches on what we’re all producing, which makes a really lovely variety."
A few months ago, when I was updating our Boston.com opening guide for restaurants, I noticed a trend. Almost more frequently than anything else, I was adding multiple bakeries a month to the running list of new restaurants.
I began to ask myself why. Is it cheaper or easier to run a bakery than a restaurant? Most bakery owners I talked to would argue absolutely not — they’re still a small business, after all. But conversations with these baking entrepreneurs hinted at something else.
During COVID-19, people got really into baking at home, or pastry chefs lost their jobs at fine-dining restaurants.
Bakeries
Let’s open a bakery, they thought. But Boston’s bakery market, while small, had the market for French and Italian pastries cornered. These new bakers would have to bring something new to the table, and they have.
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In many cases, though, it wasn’t just that introducing Greater Boston to a new bakery concept was a good business idea. Most cultures worldwide have baked goods of some sort, and these bakers wanted to see their identities or preferences represented in the form of their homemade pastries.
I’m happy to share that Greater Boston seems to be in a niche bakery boom, and we’re all winning because of it. Here are some bakeries owners I spoke to on what’s fueling the rise.
Breadboard Bakery
This Arlington spot from Daisy Chow is mostly known for its bread — seeded sourdough, miche, and sunflower rye. But you won’t find kolaches, popular in Chow’s home state of Texas, anywhere else in Boston. Besides the bread, Chow said the kolaches are some of their top sellers.
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“Not too many places make kolaches,” Chow said. “There is nothing that people don’t like about them. It’s delicious, soft, a little sweet, and it’s good any time of day.”
203A Broadway, Arlington
Eva’s Little Kitchen
The namesake of this Bedford bakery, Eva Badra, grew up cooking Syrian food with her family before she became the baker she is today. Opening a new location of her cafe soon in West Concord, the menu will have the same variety of baked goods and sandwiches, some with Middle Eastern influences, like the shakshuka breakfast danish.
“That’s what’s great about [the niche bakery boom] is that people can put their own touches on what we’re all producing, which makes a really lovely variety,” Badra said.
200 Great Rd. 7A & 7B, Bedford
Flake Bakery
At these niche bakeries, it’s critical to specialize in something — and do it well. That’s why Cristina Quintino makes one pastry, the Portuguese pasteis de nata, at Brookline’s new Flake Bakery. She told Boston.com they may do specialty versions of the custard soon, but for now, they’re one of the few places baking this Portuguese sweet treat.
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“I grew up in Lisbon, so this was obviously a treat that I grew up with,” Quintino said. “It’s a little piece of home that I always miss, and I always thought it was missing in the Boston food scene.”
Nine Winters Bakery
Those who had visited Marissa Ferola’s popular bakery stall at Bow Market got a taste for what’s to come soon in Cambridge. Nine Winters blends Ferola’s Korean heritage with American classics, like doenjang brownies or a kimchi pop-tart. Their new brick-and-mortar is opening soon, but you can also find Nine Winters’ baked goods at the AAPI Heritage Month Spotlight Festival on May 24.
“Korean food can be intimidating,” Ferola said. “My hope is that people who are unfamiliar with Korean flavors can try it in a pretty low-risk and approachable, light-hearted way, come to understand the ingredient more, and demystify it.”
101 Rogers St., Cambridge (pop-up on May 24); 292 Concord Ave., Cambridge (opening spring 2025)
SALT Patisserie
You’ll find more French pastries at this Newton bakery, which opened in 2022. Chef and owner Thiago Silva was trained in French restaurants, after all, but his Brazilian heritage comes through with a few items on the menu. There’s the brigadeiro bon bons, which combines a popular Brazilian dessert with a French candy, and sometimes the Portuguese pasteis de nata make an appearance in the bakery case.
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“America is a melting pot, and that’s what this place means to me,” Silva said. “I’m putting out things I love to eat — that’s the fun part about opening up your own shop.”
792 Beacon St., Newton
Verveine Cafe & Bakery
Boston’s bakery boom doesn’t just include cultural fusion concepts, but also doing dietary restriction-baking at an elevated level. Enter Verveine, which Monica Glass opened in 2024 with the help of Ken Oringer as a bakery that only does gluten-free items. Seriously, its Friday pizza specials, cinnamon rolls, and biscuits are all gluten-free.
“For me, the bread is really the crux of the cafe, as most people can’t get really good gluten-free bread,” Glass said. “I wanted to bring that to people.”
298 Massachusetts Ave. Cambridge
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