Ferrara Bakery & Cafe
“I would stand in line for hours and pay whatever just to experience that cannoli again.”
“After our meal at Lombardi's, we found ourselves walking through the tourist filled streets of Little Italy.”
“the service isn't very good but the tiramisu alone deserves the 5 stars.”
Ferrara Bakery & Cafe
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
PokéStop Nearby: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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I just love Little Italy. It has such a warm vibe and so many interesting places just to simply stroll around and look at. I saw this place and decided to give it a try. OH LORD that was some DAMN good pistachio gelato. I think I might obsess for at least a few days and try to plan my next excuse to go there.
The cake was moist despite eating it two days after it was bought. We ordered the black and white cake.
It was layered with vanilla cake and chocolate frosting, covered with chocolate ganache. The vanilla cake part was nice and fluffy. However, I thought the chocolate frosting was too rich in comparison to the cake. The ganache covering it was very decadent and I liked how it was dark chocolate to counteract the sweetness of the rest of the cake. $47.50 for a cake is a huge rip-off though. It was good, but not worth that much.
I had been wanting to check out Ferrara since I moved back to NY. I had heard so much about this legendary bakery, so I had high expectations. A few of their goodies were on display behind the counter, but I was expecting more, way more. I ordered the pistachio gelato, which was a miss for me, but the lobster claw was delicious. But again, it was nothing so original that it warranted coming all the way to Little Italy. Had a taste of my friend's chocolate cake and it was very rich and dense.
Service was decent, though our waitress was very pushy about ordering the lobster claw, which I was going to order anyway. Sadly, my coffee was cold before it even got to our table. Kind of pricey for just dessert. If you come here, come for the novelty more than anything else.
I'm not Italian but my wife is so she knew just what to order. Can't go wrong with a cannoli, a rainbow cookie, and a glazed egg biscuit. Can't eat all this after a pizza lunch so they box it up in an old time box with string and off you go.
I only tried their NY Cheesecake and Napoleon and didn't like them both. I think TimeOut or some other magazine gave their cheesecake a pretty high rating, which I totally disagree because it was overly sweet. The texture was okay, but it was the sweetest cheesecake I've ever had so far and I couldn't taste any cream cheese flavor.
Same thing with the Napoleon cake, which was plain sweet and soggy. The pastry sheets were not crispy or puffy (maybe I went there in the early evening???) and the icing on top didn't have a pleasant texture.
I don't know why this place is so famous and always has a long line waiting. But I'll try their Tiramisu and Gelato next time, because they looked pretty decent and hopefully are less sweet and sugary.
Stopped in on a summer Tuesday night for some cannoli. The atmosphere of the place is great with a lot of customers coming and going through both the take out and eat-in lines. I sat down inside and had a glass of iced tea and two cannolis. I ordered one plain and one chocolate dipped. The traditional cannoli cream and chocolate chips were very good and the shell on the plain cannoli was fresh and crispy. The low point was actually the chocolate dipped cannoli – while the chocolate tasted good, the hard chocolate shell actually made it more difficult to eat the cannoli! I would recommend sticking to the plain ones unless you just love chocolate that much. $6+ per cannoli may be reasonable for NYC, but I'm not sure — I think it's a bit high, but I don't do this very often so it was ok.
Had good pastries here as well as good company & service. Maybe it helps if you are going out with someone who grew up in the area and has friends or makes them really easily. The cream puff & cannoli in particular are my faves.
I came here to try the cheesecake being a LOVER of cheesecake and knowing that this is one of the best places in the city to get it. Ferrara Bakery is a bit of a miracle. In a city that is quickly being taken over by overpriced, and sometimes overrated establishments that cater specifically to the wealthy, Ferrara Bakery has withstood the test of time. Located in Little Italy, Ferrara Bakery opened about 125 years ago. When you go into the neighborhoods like Little Italy, you can really get a sense of old New York City. The city has changed so much in the past 100 years, but this neighborhood offers a bit of a throw back in time. It's a bit of a touristy nightmare going through here, but if you can take a deep breath and block all of that out, you can really appreciate it for what it represents.
I got a slice of plain cheesecake and rainbow cookies to go. The line moved very quickly and there is also the option of sitting inside. When you wait in line at the display case, you can just imagine Ferrara's humble beginnings. The display was exactly that of one found in Italy. It brought me back to when I studied abroad and bought little treats in the fornos of Rome. The offerings were very Italian, with a clear New York take on them. The cheesecake was outrageously good. Rich and creamy, sweet with a bit of tang. Just incredible. I will absolutely be getting it again. The rainbow cookies were delicious as well. I can't wait to come back and try more of their offerings.