This is our favorite bakery in the area for several reasons. There is a wide variety of baked goods…read moreto choose from and nothing is too sweet. They make cookies, pastries, breads (pan loaf and hand-formed ones), soups, hand pies, and sandwiches. The variety is amazing. During the holiday season, they offer larger pies and have various seasonal goods to offer. But what's also wonderful is this bakery gives back to the community in many ways. During the height of the pandemic, they offered free bagged lunch to anyone who needed one. They also were (are?) part of the pilot project for Durham's guaranteed income. It looks to me that the owners/company are concerned about being good citizens of the community and that's a great thing. These days, so many companies get bought out by private equity companies. I hope this bakery continues to be locally owned and operated! (Also, generally this bakery isn't offering the very fancy European/European-ish style pastries which is fine by me. The prices are very reasonable, possibly in part because they aren't trying to make their baked goods a "high end" item. There are other good local bakeries that offer "high end" pastries, but they are also much less affordable and for my taste, too rich.)

The muffins at 9th St Bakery are my favorite. They are not too sweet and have a nice cakeyness to…read morethem. I swing by here for a snack, loaf, or just a sandwich for lunch very often and love their day old bread section as well.

Beautiful, unique, delicious chocolates! Go! They made a lovely gift and we had so much fun trying…read morethe flavors!

Miel Bon Bons is a cute little artisanal chocolate shop and bakery nestled within Brightleaf…read moreDistrict! We got a pack of 8 chocolates (admittedly they did cost a pretty penny haha), which ranked from my most to least favorite are: 1. Horchata: So good, the horchata essence hit me as soon as I took a bite. Very cinnamony, very milky & creamy. 2. Passionfruit: I'm a sucker for anything passionfruit. The curd-like filling did not taste artificial at all. 3. Almond cardamom: Topped with a real almond, but more cardamom forward, reminded me of chai. 4. Hazelnut sassy monkey: Distinguished more coffee than banana, but it was there. Also liked the layer of crunch. 5. Raspberry lychee: The raspberry jam was strong and tasty, the floral essence from lychee was subtle. 6. Sesame matcha: Surprisingly citrusy? I did taste some bitterness from the matcha and appreciated the earthy sesame crust. 7. Ube: Sadly did not detect much ube flavor. 8. Earl grey lavender: Definitely the prettiest, but tasted like what I imagine soap would taste like. In terms of whether the chocolate is worth the price: I've never had this experience of trying such diverse and interesting chocolate flavors before so it was for me. Ambiance is nice, I think there was only outside seating. There's good parking nearby in the Brightleaf lots or on W Pettigrew St. Service was fast and friendly. 8/10 would recommend!

We had been here years ago and I was in the neighborhood at Costco and decided to stop by. I…read moreunderstand it is owned and run by an actual French baker although when I stopped in most of the staff appeared to be Latino. The location is a little hard to find but just GPS it. There were several patrons sitting and eating but there aren't many tables. I got a croissant and sourdough loaf to go. Croissant was good but the sourdough tasted more like refined white bread than the rustic kind that we prefer. We're not in this area too often but I'll need to remind myself this place is here.

The bakery itself is cute, clean, and always a joy to visit. The food is delicious and the…read moreemployees are super friendly and polite! I love coming here even though it's a bit out of my way, it's worth it! Can't wait to try what we got this time! The pastries are great and the mini quiches and cookies are tasty too!

Oh weeeeeee yes please !…read more This bakery and restaurant needs a location in Orlando ASAP. The food , the service X the ambiance were all absolutely fantastic! My family and I enjoyed our meal here with such great conversation from the locals and staff, we laughed and shared stories .. truly wonderful ! My latte and steak and fries sent me on my way happy and full.

Great vibes and great food! Stopped by for brunch on a Sunday morning. They don't open until 9…read morewhich was surprising. We got there early enough that parking and the wait wasn't an issue, but on our way out it looked rough. The vegan breakfast sandwich was great! I was impressed with the iced vanilla latte as well. Overall a great breakfast spot.

Loaf is tucked away on a not so popular street but thanks to their yummy treats, they are known all…read moreover Durham as the place to grab a sweet or savory when you need it. What I also love about Loaf is that if I am unable to go downtown, Loaf items are all over Durham, namely at the Coop and so many other businesses. It makes it easier to access and grab when you are on the go. Staff are always so friendly and welcoming. We always appreciate their warmly decorated business that is cozy but also smells of fresh, newly baked bread (or cookies!) We always look forward to stopping by to see what they have for the day!

Caution. No self control? Then you better avoid the Pecan Chocolate Chip cookies at Loaf…read moreBakey...delicious, addictive, delightful

The desserts were absolutely delightful & tasty. We look forward to returning & trying something…read moredifferent. The owner was very nice and welcoming. There was also a refreshing corner nook to sit, eat and enjoy coffee

We recall this shop and owner when it was in the Durham Food Hall. We had read he had relocated and…read morepopped in while we were wandering around Brightleaf Square. It was mid-day and we weren't starving so we only got the cookie cake bites and ate it at the counter in the shop. It looks like another customer was there picking up a larger order (catering maybe?). They have various -- I would call -- artisan baked goods and limited coffee options. It is branded as a dessert cafe after all, so you're not going to get breads, bagels, etc., here. I'm glad we popped in.

Snagged a TGTG macaron surprise bag from Sweets by Shayla (boy, those go fast!). It came with like…read more5 macarons for ~$4, which is a pretty good deal. The macarons themselves were classic and tasty, some flavors were more apparent than others (my favorite was like a rose-flavored one). Ambiance is cute, pretty small with a few photo opps. Service was fast, they had the bag ready to go when I arrived. There are some street parking spots in front/nearby for a quick pick up. 9/10 would recommend, hoping to be able to grab a baked goods TGTG bag from here too.

Sweets by Shayda is one of my fave bakeries in Durham Shayda knows my face now. I purchased two of…read moreher AMZING chocolate croissants. Always a 10/10. She has so many great desserts to choose from and is known for her macaroons. They offer coffee and tea as well. They are so sweet and welcoming. It's such a cute shop, with pink and white decor.

"VERY hole-in-the-wall Middle Eastern patisserie"…read more This gives hole-in-the-wall new meaning. The location is in a strip-mall that's set back a ways from 55, so it's not really visible from the street at all. However, it's weirder than that-- you have to drive AROUND the strip mall to the back, past the various loading docks for other stores, and they you see this place is open just from the BACK of the strip mall. I heard the owner is Algerian, but there are many Palestinian references and flags around the shop, so if that's triggering, then know this in advance before coming in. Still, the place is brightly lit and airy, with tables to eat. They do custom cakes, cupcakes, and other desserts, but we just wanted to sample some sweets. Hours are funny-- just midday Friday through Sunday. We ordered a pecan brownie and a pistachio chocolate dish with kunafa (shredded Middle Eastern pastry), as well as a mocha coffee. The mocha coffee was rich and delicious, as expected. The pistachio chocolate dish with kunafa was to-die-for... SO delicious. Super thick and messy, as you'd hope it would be. And of course the pecan brownie was amazing. I will say the pastries are not "cheap". I got a single tahini chocolate chip cookie to go for a friend, and that was $4.50 for a modest sized cookie. The other dishes above were in the $6 range. But these are unusual custom-made dishes, so it's fair.

Finally got to try La Recette Patisserie, a Middle Eastern-French bakery in South Durham! We got a…read morebunch of pastries (Apricot gateau, Opera cake, Tahini majesty, Makroud, Ghriba, Mchewek), all of which were delicious. To drink, we got the Sahlab (only comes warm)- this was so delicious (milky and perfectly floral, very comforting). This spot has a very unassuming exterior, but the inside is pretty cute and spacious with lots of seating (you actually need to walk to the back of the building to find the entrance). Would be a great spot to hang out and do work at. Service was fast and friendly. 9/10 would recommend!

Pro tip: We always order a big box of cookies and brownies and they keep very well for the whole…read moreweek if we transfer them to an airtight container. Everything here is amazing. I ordered a personalized cake recently and requested they leave it plain/ugly bc I had bought decorations I wanted to use. Darn them, they still gave me a gorgeous cake!!!! It was a large cake for two people (especially when one doesn't like chocolate) but my partner was brave and destroyed it in 2 days. EVERYTHING is delicious. Try it all.

First time here and I will be back!! Everything was great from start to finish. Today they only had…read morecinnamon rolls because it's national cinnamon roll day. They had four favors but by the time I made it only two flavors were left. I tried both the blueberry lemon and the apple pie one. The blueberry was dry but the apple pie one was soooo good! They allowed me to swap out the dry one for another one it was goooood!

OMG!!!!! I have to say AJ is awesome and the cheesecakes are better than..... well let's just…read moresay they are amazing. We strolled in the other night after 10pm looking to find something sweet and found a little bite of heaven right there in Durham. Thanks AJ from the KY boys. We will be back. Even if it takes 9 hours to get there.

I absolutely love this place. The cheesecakes have NO preservatives which I absolutely love because…read moreI have allergies to preservatives in food. I have to admit that I can't visit as often as I like because I'm diabetic but what I have had, has been great! I love the caramel cheesecake, the red velvet cheesecake, and strawberry cheesecake. I feel the cost is a little on the high side, HOWEVER, you get what you pay for! An excellent melt in your mouth cheesecake without an allergic reaction and anaphylaxis! Worth every penny and I have spent quite a lot pennies at this place. When you get a cheesecake, be forewarned that it more than likely is frozen- it has to be since there are no preservatives!! I like to get home and cut it into 4ths and put back into the freezer to freeze them to keeep them from getting to soft and mushy since I only eat a 1/4 at a time. Plus it's easier to cut them when they are frozen. My only wish is that they had a sugar free version.... But then again, maybe it's a blessing in disguise! I would be there every week and my pocketbook would be tapped out! They do also have vegan cheesecakes, and I tried two- but I honestly wasn't very fond of them. I think they had a good flavor, but it was a texture issue for me and a personal preference. So don't hold that against them! I'm sure if you're vegan, you would appreciate them. Another note: they have odd hours in my opinion. The only time I can go get my cheesecake fix is when I'm on this side of Durham- (my job is driving everywhere in the RTP and further, and when I don't end my day on this side of Durham, I don't make the special trip. They open at 4:00.