F Monteleone Bakery & Cafe
“I ordered an array of italian cookies for my mother who has a weakness for cookies that are sweet and crumbly.”
“Shell was crunchy, cream was spot on, and all-in-all the cannoli didn't last long.”
“I went here specifically to get a fruit tart for my fiance's birthday and it didn't disappoint!”
F Monteleone Bakery & Cafe
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range Moderate
8 reviews
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But everything's too pretty to eat!
Post dinner treats were in order and Monteleone was the only place open past 7 on a Sunday. The bakery itself is a cute place to hang out, complete with traditional cafe chairs and tables. We had our fair share of pickings and settled on a half-and-half cannoli, chocolate-dipped cream puff, marzipan cherries, and a ganache-covered chocolate hazelnut mousse.
Presentation was beautiful, and flavors were even more on point. The cannoli still had its crunch and the ricotta filling wasn't sickening sweet. The cream puff was oh so light and the pastry carried the cream well. I didn't get a chance to sample the marzipan because the hazelnut mousse held my attention. So fluffy, so rich, and so amazing, I would definitely recommend it to any new visitors. Initially I thought it would be way too rich with the ganache but six bites in I knew it wouldn't last the night.
I grabbed some cannolis (only $1.25!) for the roomies on the way, which have kept well since our visit. I'll definitely be back if I'm in the area again.
This classic, family run Italian bakery has just about every baked good you would expect, and some you may not even know about. I'm not very good when there's too much variety, I get pretty overwhelmed. And there is a lot of variety here.
From cookies, to classic Italian treats like cannoli and gelato, to cakes and tarts, this bakery has it all. So, I took a deep breath, asked for a couple suggestions, and went with some classics from a few different categories.
First, I had to go for a cannoli. The outside tube had a slight crispness to it and almost a savory quality. Inside, the filling was smooth and creamy with just the right amount of sweetness.
Then, I tried their raspberry tartlet. This little tart had a buttery, cookie like crust with a creamy and subtly sweet custard. The raspberries add a bit of tartness and freshness to the dessert.
Finally, I had a Pignoli. This was probably my favorite out of the three. The cookie exudes an almond flavor, crisp around the edges and soft and chewy on the inside, and toped with pine nuts.
The challenge: finding some fantastic dessert to finish off an Italian-themed date night. There are so many bakeries on Court and Smith, I wasn't sure where to go, but judging from the amount of people coming in and out of Monteleone, I figured they must be legit.
They are.
A half-dozen sesame cookies and a pair of cannolis, $3.50 total. So reasonably priced, so delicious.
Delectable little dessert shop. Perfect for a quick pop-in and carry-out. I was craving chocolate covered strawberries and couldn't find them anywhere… but F Monteleone came to the rescue! Fresh strawberries, dipped in rich chocolate and drizzled with white chocolate.
Diabetes? Oh, for sure.
Line was a little crazy and disorganized (there were two lines for buying different things but no one bothered to tell the customers) but it was Mother's Day so I guess everyone needed their pastries or whatever.
Standard Italian bakery. They have gelato which I'll be checking out in the future.
The five stars are for the cannolis. Not only were they the most aesthetically pleasing cannolis I think I've ever seen but my mom LOVED them. It totally made her day because we had just moved from Astoria (land of good food from all over the world) and she was disappointed because we wouldn't be able to bring her cannolis when we visit anymore.
Problem solved. Yay!
Monteleone one of the neighborhoods nicest bakeries. It's a real Italian bakery that is extremely clean with extremely well stocked cases of baked goods. As it's doubled as a cafe there's also several tables so you can stay and enjoy. The woman helping me was very friendly and the prices were very good (small pastries for example were $1.25ea). I'm often leery of shelves of pre-filled cannolis but mine was top notch and still crunchy. I also enjoyed the lemon bar and fig cookies. I've had better napoleons and the 7 layer (3 color) cookies elsewhere but even those weren't bad. I'll still go to Court St Bakery for my lobster tails and apple turnovers but for everything else, Monteleone is the place to go.
Lmao for all those people that are saying the people that work here are rude, welcome to Brooklyn, welcome to New York, where we don't have time for your gluten free garbage, and we like things the way they have been done for years! I've been coming here since I was a kid, since before the renovated, since there was a college bakery on court street which also made amazing cakes before developer bought them out to accommodate the new comers, so it makes me very happy when I walk in here and see old school workers with Italian accents, and a no nonsense attitude, because I feel like I'm actually in Brooklyn, not in small town America, which these new comers are changing court street into! But enough about my rant over negative reviews.
I came to for a last minute birthday cake because there closed on Monday, the lady who everyone is complaining about had zero issue with making me a cake today, and also 20 cupcakes, the so called nasty bakery came out to discuss what I wanted, it was all done and ready on time. I also couldn't leave without some delicious Italian cookies!
So if you want someone to kiss your behind new comers it isn't going to happen from a old school shop, they expect you to basically know what you want! And order it, there is no sitting there with your thousand dollar scroller while your Nannie watches your baby, so you can sip on coffee….welcome to Brooklyn! Glad places like this have survived the horrible gentrification!
still best cannoli, small or big. and their sesame sicilian bread is soo good, sooo crunchy. The smell of the toasted sesame seeds makes me think of Italy and reminds me my grandma baking bread in our fireoven !
Love Sicily!