Vaccaro’s Bakery & Cafe

As much as I love pastries and all things carb, perhaps it was only fate that I’d eventually run into a bakery that didn’t have it all together. This was one of them.
I was in a frenzy looking for fast casual dining, when none that I saw fit he bill I went for bakeries, and Vaccaro’s happened to be «it»… I’m always up for Italian pastries! Upon walking in they have an abundance of goods adorning their long display, perhaps more than I can count which was pretty overwhelming, for any bakery, much less those in the old Italian neighborhoods I know.
Upon having made my choice on a chocolate cigar and coffee, I was ready to pay, only to notice the only lady behind the counter was running frantically all over the place doing more than she could handle. I feel bad, i really do.
At the end of the day, i did get my coffee and pastry, a few minutes more than necessary, however the baked good was unfulfilling and dry, as if it had been sitting awhile. It’s probably difficult for me to quantify how old or new it was but nevertheless, it seemed dated.
I really hope they pare down the amount of offerings, spruce up the place, and run it a tad more efficiently.

Presentation is okay when you walk in. The counter women was very nice as well and welcoming. However, she did not know how to pack the pastries correctly. She wrapped them with aluminum foil and stacked them ontop of each other. I got 2 choc mouse mice– they were crushed when I got home.
You can tell the pastries were not fresh. Very hard and rubbery in the outside. I didn’t eat the whole thing.
They just renovated this place. Was hoping for better product.

Good spot to get pastries and cute gift sweets. Their baked goods are quite tasty. Ive had the experience a couple of times with their cupcakes or small cakes portions not fresh, but they pretty much hold the bakery monopoly in that neighborhood. So Ill just kindly ask when they were made ahead of purchasing.

When I walked in, it all looked so amazing and delicious. There’s a bunch of pastries atop the counter for your viewing pleasure.
Contemplated and debated, weighing between lemon walnut or chocolate and almond goodies, settled on a chocolate pretzel and café au lait. Looks are deceiving, or maybe its bad luck on a bad day.
The pretzel was hard and not flaky but crumbly and dry. And the café au lait was going to be coffee plus water. Wait. Wut. After some sarcasm he made it as I explained– coffee plus steam milk– and he was apologetic. But threw in a quick quip. Was it joking or patronizing? I don’t care and don’t want to know. Just know if you order anything more «fancier» than a coffee make sure its the way the rest of the world does it. In that store a coffee with steamed milk is a latte… Sadly the the coffee was pretty bland. Didn’t taste rich or roasted, wasn’t burned thankfully, but just barely ok. Smh.

As much as I have a love/​hate thing with bread and other carbs. Occasionally, I splurge and I ended up here one day. In addition to all the breads and cookies that I haven’t eaten they have deli sandwiches and pizza as well. The deli sandwich area looks, well you could skip it but the pizza looks good. I ended up getting a calzone there and it was pretty good. I ended up with a ham and ricotta one which wasn’t overpoweringly hammy or so full of ricotta that it leaves that weird, ‘too much cheese at one time’ flavor.
There also seems to be a group of older Italian regulars that sit around and sip coffee inside or weather permitting, on the tables and chairs set up. A neighborhood place for sure.