Potenza Bakery

Even if you’re just a casual fan of nutella, hurry (no, RUN) to Potenza Bakery and grab yourself their NUTELLA BAR! You need this in your life, trust me — it makes everything better. For two bucks you get to indulge on this yummy dessert.
It has a crumbly top that is so light — and aside from the nutella, there is another layer of something heavenly paired with it, but I cannot tell what it is. Apparently my palette is not so sophisticated. Whatever that second layer is, it makes the nutella taste THAT much better…

Popped in on my way back to the office from a meeting and was pleasantly surprised at the offerings. I had a lovely little scoop of gelato for $ 1.50 and a cannoli to go for my husband. I’m coming back for an eggplant parm…

Takes forever to get your food.
It is nice that they make their own bread, but it isn’t any good. Their croissants and bagels are particularly offensive to French and NYCers, respectively.
Very expensive for what one gets. On the other hand, there’s a very small line at the peak of lunch hour because smart locals don’t like to get ripped off.

Best cannolis in Washington DC!!!

Quiet café/​bakery, perfect for catching up on a trashy novel. Nothing special but definitely a step up from the other coffee chains. I came late in the afternoon so most of the in-​house bread was gone. Bummer. The rest of the offerings looked pretty pathetic and past their prime. I was too cold to try the gelato but it appeared promising.
I have a feeling the baked goods would have been fantastic… looks like I’ll have to come back earlier in the day to try it out!

Very good daily specials. A friend of mine
got the Eggplant Parmesan special, delicious! The bread pudding and Orchiette (sp?) pasta leave something to be desired but I’d definitely come back again.

Ditto to all the reviews who point to bad service — it takes a long time for simple menu items to come out and the staff there is not always on the ball. That being said, the food greatly makes up for this. For the quality of the ingredients (house-​made bread, house-​made chips, good quality means) this is easily one of the better lunch deals in the area. Good selection of pastries as well.
Do try the pizza if you have a chance. Great, thin crust with just the right amount of blackening. And real mozzarella, not that off-​white rubbery stuff (that somehow only tastes good to me on a slice of real NY pizza). A nice-​sized portion runs you $ 8.

I found this through the Unilocal IPhone app while looking for a 1 dollar sign eatery for lunch. This was the only spot that popped up, but it luckily had good reviews. They offer inexpensive breakfast options, salads, and sandwiches. I only had a salad and restrained myself from the gelato bar with delectable delights such as nutella, strawberry-​passion fruit. They were steadily busy in middle of weekday afternoon. Accepts credit cards.

The Tiramisu Whoopie pies have been «discontinued» according to the lady working the register, but I’m sure they will make their way back to their menu. I really want to give this place five stars for regularly changing out the menu.
This time around, I got a croissaint, because Jesse W had mentioned in an earlier review that it was one of the best he’d had. Building on that, I will say that the croissaint was pretty good, but about par for the course in the way of croissaints. If you really want a good croissaint, you should try Pret a Manager.
Either way, the ‘tenza is my favorite stop for morning coffee. As I had mentioned, their drip coffee is the best. I even like it better than Chinatown Coffee. Always consistently good, always $ 2 a cup, and it’s a block and a half away from the McPherson Square Metro. You should try stopping in for a cup.

So… I mentioned in my Potenza review that their breads were amazing. I meant that. They were so amazing that the day after eating dinner in the restaurant, my friend and I decided that we needed more of that heavenly spicy garlic cheese bread. I don’t want to say how many loaves were purchased for two people… but some folks would consider it to be an excessive amount.
They have an adorable guy who works the counter, and he is super helpful and friendly. He ran to the restaurant side to locate extra bread for me without a fuss and was just really sweet in general. In these days of douchebag frenzy, it’s worth noting when places have friendly faces providing actual customer service and not just giving straight attitude.
I digress. We get our bread home, and to our disappointment, it wasn’t nearly as spicy as it was in the restaurant. Damn! It was, however, way cheesier. Don’t get me wrong, the bread was still crusty and yummy, but it was disappointing. The next day, I cracked open another loaf… surprise…SPICY! Not so cheesy… just what I wanted. Unfortunately, I think I packaged it wrong to take back on the plane, and the texture was off, but I’m willing to say it was my fault. Overall, though, the lack of consistency between flavors in our loaves wasn’t cool. The price, 4 bucks, however, makes it worth taking a chance on… I guess.
The other desserts looked glossy and pretty but didn’t appeal, and the gelato and sorbetto prices seemed ridiculous, so I can only comment on the breads. The grissini and the golden raisin and fennel are also fabulous.

Mmmm! Italian pastries! I probably like them better than French pastries, with their mild sweetness and toothsome textures. I had been to Potenza restaurant before, but had forgotten about the fact that they had an adjoining bakery until just recently. I decided to swing by after work one afternoon and pick up a few cannoli. Being so late in the day, the sandwiches and breads in the display cases looked a little droopy, but were probably delicious when freshly made. The gelato case was positively hypnotic and were it not for the fact that I had to walk all the way home, and it was too cold for frozen treats, I would have gotten at least three flavors.
I asked for two cannoli and a tiramisu from the nice lady behind the counter (she said they weren’t selling cream horns anymore, or maybe they had just run out for the day), which came out to about $ 10. A little pricey, but the glitz of the store and consumer targeting made up for it. The cashier (not the same lady) was, as other Unilocalers have mentioned, extremely indifferent about being there. He wasn’t rude, but seriously looked like he wanted to be anywhere but working and talking to me.
Back home, we chowed down on the cannoli, which were on the smaller side and mediocre at best. The shells were a little too thick and slightly greasy; again, probably due to the fact that it was late in the day. The filling was odd… less custard-​y, cheese-​y, more fruity and cranberry. Perhaps it was a holiday version? Tiramisu fared better, even with the fondant on the bottom.
I’ll be sure to come back earlier in the day to try the breads and sandwiches, and maybe give the pastries another spin. Only this time, I won’t carry them around in a plastic container for 30 minutes.

*Review for desserts only*
HOLY CoW the Tricolore de Cioccolato dessert is delicious. It’s a flourless chocolate cake, with layers of nutella &white chocolate mousse, with candied hazelnuts throughout, then topped with cocoa nibs, & red wine syrup.
It’s not too sweet, which is usually my first complaint with desserts. The contrast of smooth mousses with crunchy hazelnuts and cocoa nibs were delightful.
The dessert cookies are like Italian shortbread cookies. Very yummy, perfect with a coffee or espresso.

I do not recommend the honeydew sorbetto. It should’ve been named Sorbet That Just Tastes Like Sugar.
Also, my lunchtime companions were visibly dismayed to have witnessed a manager-​ish-​looking person allegedly barking orders angrily at a lower level employee. This is hearsay, of course, but… mmmmm, baddd form. *Shakes head*.
However, a word on the daily hot lunch special:
generous portion of pasta/​panini/​etc
chips or bread
little Italian cookies in a baggie
fountain drink
you get to inhale a hot meal about 5 minutes after you’ve ordered it
$ 9 — true story
Alright, I found the cookies underwhelming, especially for an actual bakery. Will give baked goods another shot next time.
But, my baked penne with spicy sausage, fresh mozz, and marinara was al dente, spicy, very tangy, and awesome.
The huge garlicky bread-​crostini thing that came with it was *not* the afterthought it appeared to be; IT WAS SO TASTEE.
Brilliant idea to serve pasta specials almost everyday! Quality execution on low-​cost ingredients = savings of time and money + happy food coma for ME. Come to think of it, I literally can’t come up with a lunch place downtown that offers a better culinary-​time-​price value than does Potenza Bakery.
The biggest downside to lunching here? Probably carbo-​overload drowsiness at work. Drink more coffee.
This week’s specials:

I stopped in yesterday for lunch and got the daily special.
For 9 dollars you get the daily entrée special, which was shells stuffed with roasted veggies and cheese topped with marinara, a HUGE hunk of semolina baguette, a soda, and some Italian cookies. Quite a deal if you asked me.
It was all really tasty. At first when I saw the bread I was overwhelmed with the size, but then I touched it and felt its toasty warmed, and opened to find butter and roasted garlic slathered inside — awesome! I wanted more. The cookies were a nice little end of meal treat.
The service yesterday was great as well. The guy behind the counter was keeping tabs on the 8 two top tables in the bakery. Refiling drinks, taking empty plates, and being overall pleasant. If I worked in the neighborhood I would be here everyday for lunch.

Awesome italian sweets made daily fresh in downtown DC.
— Canoli had crispy shell and not-​overly sweet ricotta cream filling inside. Only $ 2. SO WORTH IT!
— Cream horn: double size of canoli and if you love vanilla frosting, get this. Silky not-​overly sweet butter cream overflowing the crispy shell.
only $ 2.
— All desserts you’ve seen at Potenza restaurants are available to-​go from the bakery ($ 1 less than restaurant:)).
I go back there whenever I can to get more sweets and a cute small bag of italian cookies:)
I don’t have to go to little italy any more.

Having recently returned from Rome, I have to say that Potenza’s bakery delivers a pretty authentic experience. The only thing that costs this place a star is that the service is inconsistent, and the coffee is mediocre (and Americanized — not what you would find in Italy).
That all being said, the bread is amazing, the soup is lovely, and the paninis are exactly what you would find in any sidestreet café in Rome. The mozzarella, proscuitto, and tomato panini absolutely brought me right back to my vacay. Very good and very authentic.
We also purchased a bag of freshly baked breadsticks on the way out — these too were quite fabulous. Finally, the gelato also looked really good… good enough to make a DCist want a bite of cold awesome even in the middle of Snowpacolypse.
I highly recommend this place, overall… and will definitely be back.

Sure the service was a bit appalliing (–1 star), but the 5-​star bakery items I ordered on a recent trip to DC left a soft spot in my heart. I randomly walked into this place because the bread looked so delicious. After walking in, I was forced to change my anticipated order from bread to pastries. There was little variety in the desserts display, but I was fortunately suckered. My criteria for items ordered was that they must withstand a trip from DC to Chicago. So I not-​so-​intelligently ordered a cannoli, croissant, slice of nutella coffee cake, and a cream horn.
I couldn’t cope with my mistake of ordering a cannoli when I knew it would have to stay fresh for about 4 hours, so I quickly gorged it. The others, however, I took home to woo my sweet wife with.
The cannoli had a nice, crisp shell, with a slighlty different filling than usual (ricotta AND marscapone?). It had a few chocolate chips and a coffee tinge. Excellent.
The nutella coffee cake was decent. They mixed the nutella filling with some type of cheese, but the top was perfectly crumby.
Croissant — even after a long trip, it was delish. Airy, light, buttery, etc. One of the best I’ve ever tasted.
Cream horn — heavy whipped cream filling (not buttercream) and a flaky, crisp, shell. The best item I ordered.
That’s my review in a pinch. RECOMMENDED.

The gelato is good, but the service is appalling. The first time I went, the girl who helped me was using the sample-​sized spoons to make herself a smörgåsbord of gelato in a little dish to eat behind the counter. That is neither sanitary or professional.
The second time I went, I left without even getting anything. I’m fairly certain that the people working behind the counter were drunk, stoned, or both. I tried to purchase a piece of tiramisu and the person helping me gazed at the tiramisu for a solid 20 seconds, mumbled something to the other person behind the counter about whether or not the tiramisu was «ok», and walked away with the entire dessert. When he brought it back, I asked if there was something wrong with the tiramisu, to which he responded, «I’ll test it and see.» At this point, I informed him that I no longer wanted any, because who really wants to pay $ 6 for possibly spoiled tiramisu?
On this same occasion, my friend ordered two scoops of gelato, and was given the most tiny portion I have ever seen. The girl who was helping her, was having trouble scooping and portioned out what amounted to less than a quarter cup of gelato before giving up. When my friend questioned it, the girl snapped at her that «she knows the prices», which wasn’t even the point being argued so much as the size of the portion.
I will not be back to this restaurant unless they hire compentent staff. Probably not even then since they seem to have difficulties maintaining a supply of unspoiled product.

I had heard about the bakery portion of the restaurant after the restaurant had opened. I kept putting off going. I work in Old Town, but live in DC. So I would tell myself maybe this Saturday I will go, then maybe this Sunday. That never happened.
Finally, I had a visitor in town and was determined to go. We actually walked all the way over. Upon entering, it smelled awesome. They also have fresh cinnamon rolls at certain times in the morning. I made a note to come back for the fresh rolls.
I ordered some type of pastry that they put the crème in as you order. This is an amazing thing to me as I have no real bakery experience. I also ordered some type of cookie that looked like a short bread cookie. My partner in crime for the day ordered a crème pastry as well and the crumb coffee cake. He consumed it so fast that I had not even finished my lovely espresso.
I actually had a wonderful time with the staff. But, I was in a good mood and put some extra effort in my disposition.

Partially sublime, partially slimy.
The great: The to-​go bread and the gelato. The gelato is sublime and ties Pitango for the [second] best in DC [Dolcezza is the best]. While they don’t have as many flavors as Pitango, they do have the most creative: For example, today I had rosemary and honey gelato. Pure genius. In addition to the gelato, the bread is wonderful.
However, the sandwiches disappoint the bread. Most sandwiches are either premade or take a long time. I had one made to order, the muffaletta, and it was far too thick, heavy and greasy. The bread was the best part, the rest a criminal trespass upon it.
The service is strange. I don’t even know how to describe it; its neither friendly nor efficient, but not terribly so. I feel like I’m disturbing them at all times, but that’s about it.