Pastry Shops in Modena: Where to Eat and What to Order
A guide to pastry shops in Modena, from historic pasticcerie near Piazza Roma to neighbourhood bakeries, with the dishes and breakfasts to order.
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The pastry shops in Modena worth planning a morning around are Pasticceria Remondini in Largo San Giorgio, Pasticceria San Biagio on via Emilia Centro and Dondi out on via Vignolese, three very different stops that between them cover the counter coffee, the historic shop and the neighbourhood bakery. This guide works through what each one is for, the Modenese breakfast to order once you are there, and how to tell a quick morning stop from a sit-down one.
What a Modena pasticceria is for
A pasticceria in Modena covers more ground than the British idea of a cake shop. In the morning it works as a café, with coffee and a pastry taken at the counter or at a table; later in the day the same counter sells dolci (sweets and small cakes) by the piece and whole celebration cakes to collect. Pasticceria Remondini, at Largo San Giorgio in front of Piazza Roma, is described as the place to go for a wide choice of pastries and small cakes, which is exactly the dual role these shops play.
That double life shapes how you use them. Come at breakfast for the coffee-and-pastry ritual, or mid-afternoon when the counter is quieter and you can buy a box of assorted pastries to take away. Some shops keep a few tables so you can eat in rather than walk out with a paper bag, which makes them a slower stop than a bar.
The Modenese breakfast: gnocco fritto in cappuccino
The breakfast to order at least once in Modena is gnocco fritto, a small pillow of fried dough, dipped into a cappuccino. It sounds odd and works: the savoury, faintly salty dough against the milky coffee is a classic local start to the day. Caffè del Collegio on via San Carlo is the address for it, serving gnocco fritto freshly made for the purpose.
Dondi, the bakery-pasticceria on via Vignolese, also turns out the typical Modenese breakfast built around gnocco fritto, though it is known above all for its cannoli alla crema (pastry tubes filled with cream), which the same guide rates the best in the city. Order one coffee and something small; the pastries are the point, not a long sit-down.
Pasticceria Remondini, Largo San Giorgio
Remondini sits at Largo San Giorgio, in front of Piazza Roma, and its tables look across to Palazzo Ducale; it is the pastry shop to choose when you want the view with the cake. The shop appears in the Gambero Rosso guide Pasticceri & Pasticcerie 2015 with a score of 77, a recognition from 2015 rather than a current rating. It had been taken over a year before that guide appeared by Mauro Rossi, working with master pastry chef Velio Michelini, with a stated focus on tradition.
Practically, this is your centre-of-town stop: order and take a seat outside if the weather holds, because the position near the Duomo is half the reason to come. If you are building a day around the centre, our guide to the best restaurants in Modena picks up where the coffee ends.
Antica Pasticceria San Biagio: shop as well as café
Antica Pasticceria San Biagio occupies a small shop in the heart of Modena on via Emilia Centro, and it is as much a place to buy as to eat. At the start of the twentieth century the shop was run by the Allegretti family, who kept it going successfully for around forty years, and today it is laid out much as it was in the early 1900s; Gianpiero Ronchi, nephew of Cav. Barbieri, now runs it with his wife and children.
Beyond the pastry counter, the shelves carry Aceto Balsamico di Modena, jars of preserves, marrons glacés (candied chestnuts), wines and liqueurs, and gift boxes, which makes it the obvious stop for edible presents before you leave the city. It is also listed as one of the city's Botteghe Storiche, Modena's register of historic shops.
Dondi on via Vignolese: worth the detour
Dondi is a long-established bakery-pasticceria out on via Vignolese, away from the centre, and it is the one shop on this list where the food alone justifies the trip. It is small but welcoming, with a few tables inside and on the street, and the cannoli alla crema are rated the best in the city, with the rest of the case close behind.
Plan it as a deliberate stop rather than something you pass on the way: it is away from the historic centre, and it gets busy because locals use it as a daily bakery, not a tourist café. Go early in the morning for the fullest counter and a table.
Caffè del Collegio and Caffè dell’Orologio in the centre
Caffè del Collegio, on via San Carlo, is the most straightforward answer to where to eat gnocco fritto for breakfast: it serves it freshly made, ready for the cappuccino. Caffè dell’Orologio, in Piazzetta delle Ova, is a Bottega Storica that has kept the atmosphere of an earlier age, with good coffee and tables set out in the small square — the stop for a slower, more atmospheric coffee.
Both sit within a few minutes of each other, so you can treat them as one morning: pastry and coffee at one, a second coffee in the piazzetta at the other. Bar Molinari, on the corner of via Emilia and via San Carlo, is the third of the old centre addresses, fully renovated but still a good place to sit on the dehor and watch the main street go by.
Quick stops: Pasticceria Zeta, Latteria 21 and Mon Cafè
Pasticceria Zeta on via Giardini suits a standing coffee with a small dolce, taken at the counter in a couple of minutes rather than at a table. Latteria 21, on via Sant’Eufemia, is the one to remember for brioche and pancakes if you want something more than a pastry. Mon Cafè on corso Canalchiaro serves good coffee from selected blends and has outside seating for a short pause.
These are useful when your day is already full: order and drink standing, and you are out in the time it takes to eat a brioche. Save the table service for Remondini or the piazzetta.
Giulia near Parco Amendola for a slower stop
Giulia, in via Allegri not far from Parco Amendola and inside the shopping complex beside a supermarket, is a neighbourhood pasticceria rather than a centre address. It is well known in the city, with a wide range of cakes and pastries and plenty of tables, which makes it the pick when you want to sit down for a while before starting the day.
Come here if you are staying outside the historic centre or driving in, since it is easier to reach by car than the streets around Piazza Roma. The trade-off is clear: less atmosphere than a piazzetta table, more space and a calmer breakfast.
How to order and pay at the counter
At a Modena pasticceria the morning usually works the same way: order and pay at the till, keep the receipt, then hand it to the barista at the counter, and drink standing at the bar. Say the coffee first and the pastry second, and use the Italian names — un cappuccino, una brioche — since that is what the staff hear all day.
For cakes and pastries by weight or by the piece, pay at the same till as the coffee, and ask for a box if you are taking them away. If you want a proper sit-down meal afterwards, our pick of the best restaurants in the city covers lunch and dinner, including Osteria Francescana if you are planning a serious booking.
Sweet things to take home
The pastry counter is not the only thing worth carrying away. Antica Pasticceria San Biagio sells Aceto Balsamico di Modena in several sizes alongside preserves, candied chestnuts and boxed selections, so you can put together a gift without a separate trip to a deli.
Buy conserves and balsamico last thing before you leave, so nothing sits in a warm bag all afternoon, and ask the shop to wrap bottles properly if you are flying. A boxed assortment of pastries travels better than cream-filled cakes, which are best eaten the same day.
Centre versus avenues: matching the shop to your morning
Choose by how your morning is shaped. If you are sightseeing around Piazza Roma and Palazzo Ducale, Remondini gives you the pastry case and the view in one stop; if you want a historic shop with gifts to buy, San Biagio on via Emilia Centro is the one. For the classic Modenese breakfast, head to Caffè del Collegio on via San Carlo.
If you have a car or Don't mind a bus ride, Dondi on via Vignolese and Giulia near Parco Amendola are the ones worth the detour, with more space and a genuinely local crowd. Standing stops like Zeta, Latteria 21 and Mon Cafè fill the gaps when time is short.
Which pastry shop should you pick?
For a first morning in Modena, pick Remondini: the pastries are good, the tables face Palazzo Ducale, and you are in the middle of everything. If you want a historic shop to browse and presents to buy in the same stop, take San Biagio on via Emilia Centro, and if you want the full Modenese breakfast, make it Caffè del Collegio for gnocco fritto and cappuccino.
Beyond that, the choice comes down to time. Dondi repays a detour with its cannoli alla crema; Giulia offers space and calm near Parco Amendola; and the counter shops — Zeta, Latteria 21, Mon Cafè — keep a busy day moving. Pair a pastry stop with a coffee at the counter and you have eaten the way the city does.
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