Piedigrotta Bakery

My brother was in town and I wanted him to try some true Baltimore Little Italy bakery food, and this was a perfect choice. The owner was fantastic and very helpful. She told us all about the house specialties, and she even convinced him to change his mind and get Italian coffee when he asked for American coffee (as she called it) — which is nearly impossible. The food was fantastic, and the seating and décor was nice. Parking was a little scarce, but we were able to find a spot. I had gone to Vacaro’s previously and was disappointed so I’m glad I found a new favorite to go to!
Bottom line: Great bakery, and I will take any friends, family, and/​or guests here when they come to Baltimore!

Wow… I really thought tiramisu was an old ancient recipe… That alone blows my mind, and to know that the inventor of it is still alive and I got to taste it!!! Damn!!! Freakin awesome novelty in itself!!!
But, the rest of the food… I’m bringin my Italian mother to go crazy… Especially if she sees the lil Italian grandmother!!! I want to try it all… especially the fresh gnocchi! Will definitely return to feast another day!
— — update — –
Took my Ma there for lunch… Oh… My…Gosh!!! Don’t miss out on the real food by getting stuck on trying the tiramisu!!! The handmade noodles with little squares of meat in it… SERIOUS DROOL!!! Lasagna, heavenly! Gnocchi… awwweeeeeeeee…MELTS IN YOUR MOUTH!!! Oh my gosh… Why does this place not have an hour line out the door and around the block!!!
Then the cookie with pine nuts on it… Nostalgia! Took me back to my childhood when my Italian grandmother would come over and we’d sit around eating cookies, dunking them in coffee and talking! And the lobster tail… Ahhhhhhh!!! The creamy filing melts into a heavenly cloud and the crisp layer, but light and delicate crust… oh my gosh, people!
Needless to say, I’ll be back, and you’ve got to have no taste buds — and hate food — to not try this out!

I was in the area looking for a place to grab sweets as a treat for someone at work and this place was recommended. It’s a small little shop that doesn’t look like much of anything from the outside but once you get in its adorable! Since I wasn’t familiar with the place I had a couple of questions for the lady behind the register. She gave me a bit of attitude then a older guy said something to her in Italian and her attitude instantly got better! I would have likely bought more stuff if it wasn’t for that weird interaction. The cookies I decided on were delicious and everyone in the office loved them. The rum cake I could have done without. Overall I’m willing to give the place another shot.

I feel so ashamed. I’ve lived in Bmore for the past 6 years and I’ve never even heard of Piedigrotta until today. Was leaving Canton and the husband got a craving for ice cream. Wasn’t sure where to go and I’ve never been a huge cold stone fan. THANK YOU Unilocal. This place is definitely better than Vaccaro’s.
We got the chocolate gelato, two mini-​eclars and 2 cannolis (don’t judge we took most of it home). Everything was incredible.
Cannot wait to come back.

Got some pastries and shit for mothers day. The tiramisu is bet, really creamy, a little boozy. Very unique. The cannoli is serious business too. The lobster tail is heavy, whew, one bite of this light flacky crust with the gushing cream filling is a slap in the mouth.

Cute little bakery with a lot of Italian desserts around the shop for purchase. I hear the tiramisu is the best and I love tiramisu however I was too full from lunch at Heavy Seas to eat the large portioned dessert. Instead I opted for Cannoli’s which were delicious and fresh. They fill them when you order so they are flaky and crispy on the outside and fresh and creamy on the inside. Hubby got a gelato that he loved. If I’m in the area I’d go back to try the tiramisu and a cappuccino. I don’t even normally drink cappuccino but they looked so yummy and authentic here.

Piedigrotta is great! Their pasta and pastries are homemade and I think their food is so much better than Vaccaro’s. Definitely try the cannolis, gelato, cookies, tiramisu or the pasta!

This review is just regarding their tiramisu and nothing else. My friend and I visited this famous bakery a few years ago to try their famous tiramisu. Apparently, as many other Unilocalers have stated, the owner is credited for making the world’s first tiramisu. The tiramisu was ok, but I felt as if I had better elsewhere. I think it is hyped up. Nonetheless, I definitely want to re-​visit in the future and try other goodies and pastries that they offer.
Anyhow, the best part of this bakery was that the owner was very friendly, and we could really tell that although he has lived in the States for a long time, he is still one proud Italian by heart.

Awesome pastries. The cheesecake was delicious, tiramisu was the best ever. Great family run place with delicious food

A must if you are visiting Baltimore/​Little Italy… not only are the baked goods fantastic, the vibe from the staff, the regulars… all very ‘cool’ ‘authentic ’ ‘old school’… stayed for eclairs and coffee — took home $ 50 worth of breads and specialties… will return!

I went there last weekend b/​c reviews were great. I should’ve followed my instincts when I saw the tattered faded reviews, sparse customers, etc. Also, no great smells & massive quantities of baked goods in plastic containers. Owner talked me into buying «special» 2 lbs of cookies, that I’d get what I wanted and had picked out from the case, in the selection. Most were super hard, tasteless & inedible & ended up in garbage. The filling in the chocolate éclair in the fridge case was spoiled, garbage. Bread was spoiled and hard, garbage. Only 2 edible items, 1 which owner said should be free (stuffed St. Joseph’s) which woman charged me for & lobster tail (filling was good and not spoiled but outside was very old tasting). The buffet dinner looked like it’d been there for days. Spent over $ 50.
Please heed my warning, if you don’t smell cooking, don’t buy. Ask for a taste. Places that have huge amounts of food in plastic containers probably are selling old goods, which is what happened to me. Utter disappointment. Also, why the better reviews? I know that the owner was nice and because of that I didn’t go back there and demand a refund (I still may). But I felt that I had to warn others who might be looking for authentic fair and freshly baked goods & get mainly tasteless garbage.

Italian pastry paradise
Everything made on premises
Little lady behind counter evidently makes everything bc her knowledge & explanations were far above & beyond what I had hoped for. She even gave a tip as to how to make best make pizzelles!!!

Mold inside their lobster tail pastry! I only eat tiramisu here and love the friendly people but now I question how fresh their stuff is! My husband and I did not appreciate this kind of quality from such a highly praised bakery! This was gross and such a turn off to come back again.

Amazing espresso in the heart of Baltimore’s Little Italy.
Sweet owner and great selection of made-​from-​scratch Italian goodies and comfort food.

«Artisanal» is the new buzzword… well Piedigrotta is the definition of the word. My daughter and I visited this morning at 7:30 a.m. — we were greeted by the friendly owner. My craving for Sfhogatelle’s led me here but my attention was diverted by the fresh Pannatone and other Italian pastaries. After an espresso, I mentioned my daughters interest in cooking, and Carminantonio even gave us a guided tour of the kitchen! A true bakery. A true gentleman.
Mr. Carminantonio has all the offerings of a true NY Italian Bakery and then some. We’ll definitely be back to try the homemade gnocchi and other savory food items I saw while here.

…Piedigrotta Tiramisu Syndrome…
Piedigrotta’s owner, Carminantonio Lannaccone, is credited with invention of the tiramisu in 1969 in Treviso near Venice while working as a head chef. Whether he did or did not, they make one of the best tiramisu cakes you’ll ever taste! Piedigrotta is named after a place in Napoli. Literally it means piedi=feet, grotta=cave. This place façade, exterior flowers and interior do look authentic Italian. It’s so pretty, Italianish, nicely illuminated, and studded with beautiful paintings. Its décor and dinning tables/​chairs are definitely distinct from regular bakery stores.
After a glorious dinner at Azumi, to make it right, we had to try an authentic Italian dessert in little Italy of Baltimore. Piedigrotta was the perfect place! After tasting their handsome, soft, perfectly sweetened, sentimental, sinfully tasty and exceptional tiramisu, your cerebral endorphins will be dancing like crazy!
I never liked tiramisu before. Now I realize why! Definitely worth coming back to Baltimore for this awesomeness!

After walking around the Madonnari Arts Festival, my friend was dying to get a cannoli in Little Italy so we pulled up Unilocal and found the closest bakery to us.
Piedigrotta Bakery is on the farther parts of Little Italy. Stepping in you’re just thinking — what are all these brightly artificially colored desserts? They have tons and tons of baked goods — cookies, cakes, and of course the cannoli.
You can get either a
— Regular Cannoli (3.75)
— Chocolate Covered Cannoli (4.00)
— Mini Cannoli (2.00)
We tried the Chocolate Cannoli and it was pretty tasty. The only other time I’ve had a cannoli was in Boston at Mike’s so I don’t have much to compare to. The cannoli was pretty small for my standard and they had added some maraschino cherries to the ricotta filling. I personally found them disgusting as I thought they were gummy bears instead.

When it comes to Italian delis in Baltimore, my heart belongs to DiPasquale’s. But, in the interest of time and discovering something a little more accessible from my office, I decided to try Piedigrotta Bakery. I had a friend meeting me for lunch and nothing was more appealing to us than an Italian sandwich followed by a pastry.
When you enter Piedigrotta Bakery, it’s clearly a bakery that has a few sandwich options. There are pastry cases filled with great looking Italian desserts. But before I could indulge in something sweet, I wanted a sandwich. I ordered the Prosciutto Sandwich which was massive. In addition to prosciutto, the sandwich had fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, lettuce, and then was drizzled with olive oil and balsamic. I could barely fit this sandwich in my mouth, but when I did, it was delicious. The meat was salty, the cheese was fresh and it was a great Italian Sandwich.
When my friend and I finished our sandwiches, we each ordered a dessert. Apparently Piedigrotta Bakery is known for its Tiramisu and rumor has it that the owner invented this dessert. Personally I am not into Tiramisu, but my friend loved this and said she would order it again.
For dessert, the foursquare tips highly recommended the Lobster Tail, so that’s what I ordered. This is a flaky puff pastry filled with custard. The custard was very sweet and I liked it a lot, but if you don’t have a sweet tooth, you may find this to be too sweet.
My friend and I loved everything at Piedigrotta Bakery in Little Italy, I can’t wait to go back and try some other pastries.

Love this place. One of the best kept secrets in Baltimore. The owner invented tiramisu… Literally.
Their lunches are great. The sandwiches are huge, you gotta go with either the meatball sub or the prosciutto. The combo players are also money.
The owners are great, just be aware, once you get them to start talking they don’t stop.

What a great little bakery!
We had a birthday to celebrate — and at the last minute I realized that the birthday girl’s parents were not going to be bringing a cake. Since I work near little italy, I thought «No problem».
Turns out — most of the cake places here are swamped in October, and need more than a few days notice.
Enter Piedigrotta! I called up to see what they had — I needed a cake that didn’t have chocolate or coffee in it — that eliminated everything but a single cake. The woman working the counter when I came in remembered my call and even pulled the cake out of the box to make sure there was no chocolate (closely examining the gramcracker to make sure it wasn’t coffee powder). I asked what the cake was — and didn’t understand the answer. My guess was either cheese cake (yay!) or ricotta cake (boo!)
Turns out it was a fabulous ricotta cake. While I’ve had a few that I’ve liked — they’ve only ever been home made. Otherwise, the lack of sweetness makes desert feel like. well nothing. This on the other hand, was fluffy, tasty and not overly sweet. Really quite amazing. The price was pretty reasonable too.
Mostly though, I just really love the people working here. They seemed happy to help, happy to have me, and really happy to have the store where it is.