24 March 2023
Bellegarde Bakery’s famous epi bread. | Katherine Kimball/Eater NOLA
Where to find the best breads, cakes, cookies, and pastries in New Orleans
The New Orleans baking tradition goes back at least to 1722, when a map of the city referenced a baker called Bellegarde. By the early 1900s, New Orleans had over 100 bakeries, but industrialization and the advent of grocery stores changed that soon after.
In recent years, bakeries in New Orleans have multiplied. Think of this list as a snapshot of the excellent bakeries New Orleans has to offer. All the bakeries here have some variety, not just sweets, and not just bread, with a few notable exceptions. And while a number of home bakers have made a splash in New Orleans in the last few years (Katelyn Guerin’s Lagniappe Baking Co. and Viola’s Heritage Breads, for example), for the purposes of this map, we’re sticking to bakery operations with physical shops.
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