Pastry Shops in Bergamo: Ratings and What to Order

What to order at a Bergamo pasticceria

Start with the torta Donizetti, the cake named after the composer from Bergamo, which the Gambero Rosso round-up names as a classic at Caffè Cavour 1880 alongside more modern creations. A slice with an espresso is the cheapest way to test a shop's standard, and most will box a whole cake if you ask at the counter. Brioche, biscuits and viennoiserie appear daily for breakfast, so a morning visit shows the shop at its busiest and most representative.

If you want to sit down rather than stand, order at the counter first and take the receipt to the table, the usual Italian arrangement. Boxes of mignon are sold by weight or by piece and make a better souvenir than a single large cake. Pasticceria Krizia lists a croissant, a krapfen (a filled fried doughnut) and monoporzioni (single-portion desserts) among its signature items, which gives you a short list to work from.

Bergamo's savoury cooking runs on casoncelli, the stuffed pasta folded and served with butter and bacon, and it is worth balancing a morning of sugar with a plate of it at lunch. The casoncelli guide explains the shape and the fillings so you know what arrives on the plate.

Caffè Cavour 1880 in Città Alta

Caffè Cavour 1880 is the Bergamo address to know: a Città Alta institution holding three Torte with a score of 91 centesimi in the Gambero Rosso 2025 guide. The range is broad for a single shop, from the torta Donizetti to dozens of different cakes, mignon, spoon desserts and its own gelato, plus specialities made with Da Vittorio, the restaurant group, sold to take away or give as gifts.

Because it sits in the upper city, it works as the first stop of the day before the streets fill, and brioche, biscuits and viennoiserie are laid out for breakfast. If coffee is the main event rather than cake, the best coffee in Bergamo covers the counters worth a detour.

Pasticceria Cortinovis in Ranica

Cortinovis, in Ranica just outside the city, shares the top score of 91 centesimi and the three-Torte rating with Cavour. Giancarlo Cortinovis grew up in his family's restaurant kitchen before turning to pastry, and the shop is known for the balance between how a cake looks and how it tastes.

This is a deliberate detour rather than a walk-in from the hotel: you need to plan the trip out and back, and it suits a morning when you are heading towards the valleys anyway.

Pasticceria Krizia on Via Baioni

Krizia, on Via Baioni in Bergamo, is a young shop run by Krizia Algeri and Emanuele Ippolito, and the Gambero Rosso guide lists it with two Torte. The owners describe their approach as building something new out of tradition, with an emphasis on raw ingredients and precision.

Its day runs from breakfast to aperitivo, so it works at either end of the afternoon: a brioche and cappuccino in the morning or a small pastry with a drink later. Look for the croissant, the krapfen and the single-portion desserts, and ask what the seasonal piece is if nothing on the counter looks familiar. The shop also lists personalised cakes and tasting selections.

La Pasqualina and the century-old shops

La Pasqualina is the historic name on the list, a shop with a century of Bergamo pastry behind it and two Torte in the 2025 guide. Its appeal is continuity rather than novelty.

Morlacchi, in Zanica, sits at the traditional end of the Bergamo range, also with two Torte. Zanica is a small town on the plain south of the city, so pair it with a trip to the lower city rather than with Città Alta. For the parts of Bergamo that are not about food, the Attractions guide covers the sights worth building a morning around.

Pastry shops across the province

The nine are not all in the city: Cavour in Città Alta, Krizia on Via Baioni and La Pasqualina are in Bergamo itself, while Cortinovis is in Ranica and Morlacchi in Zanica, Dario is in Grumello del Monte, at the edge of the hills towards the Valcalepio, and Paolo Riva is in Treviglio on the western plain. Locatelli and Giosuè also feature among the Bergamo-area entries in the Gambero Rosso list.

These are village shops, small and often with limited seating, so they suit a stop on the way to somewhere else rather than a destination in themselves.

How the Gambero Rosso Torte rating works

The Torte are Gambero Rosso's own scoring system, and three Torte go to shops scoring 90 centesimi or more. In the 2025 edition, 660 shops were reviewed across Italy and 33 reached three Torte. It is a useful filter because the scale is consistent across the country, not a local popularity contest.

A shop outside the nine can still be excellent, so use the scale to judge what you find rather than as a reason to ignore the bar on the corner. A one-Torta rating is a solid neighbourhood pastry shop; three means a place worth crossing the city for. Ratings reflect a given year and shops change, so treat them as a starting point for choosing between two addresses on the same street.

Ordering and paying at the counter

In most Bergamo pasticcerie you order and pay at the till first, then hand the receipt to the person at the bar or the counter, which is also how coffee works across Italy. If you want a box of assorted pastries, ask at the counter and say how many people you are buying for; they will choose the mix.

For the full list of Bergamo food and drink addresses, start from the Best Restaurants in Bergamo guide.

Bergamo sweets to know by name

Beyond the torta Donizetti, ask for brioche and viennoiserie in the morning and mignon when you want a mixed box for later. Panettone, the big Christmas cake, is also made by bakers around Bergamo. Polenta and casoncelli alla bergamasca are the savoury names to know for the rest of the day.

Mignon are sold by number, so say how many you want and let the shop pick a selection rather than naming each one. For a savoury stop between sweet ones, trattorias in Bergamo lists the places serving the local pasta and braised meats. For the full list of Bergamo food and drink addresses, start from the Best Restaurants in Bergamo guide.

Which Bergamo pastry shop should you choose?

For a single visit, choose Caffè Cavour 1880 in Città Alta for the setting, the torta Donizetti and the widest range of cakes and mignon. If you are staying in the lower city or heading south, Krizia on Via Baioni is the practical two-Torte choice, with breakfast through aperitivo in one room.

Travellers with a car or a spare morning should add Cortinovis in Ranica for the top-rated precision, or a plain-side stop at Morlacchi in Zanica for the traditional version. Either makes a livelier start to the day than a hotel breakfast, and the bill for coffee and a pastry will be modest whichever you pick.