Union Street in Schenectady, NY is honored to be home to this excellent bakery known for its French…read moremacarons. It also has blondies, brownies, and cupcakes with unique flavors like crème brûlée and bourbon. Bri Larsen, a pastry chef with a Culinary Arts degree from Schenectady County Community College is the creative owner. She offers options for custom cakes and macaron towers. The bakery also offers in-store pickup and online ordering. Specialties: --French Macarons: A wide variety of flavors, including gluten-free options. --Blondies & Brownies: Includes unique options like "the local blondie" with Saratoga Potato Chips. --Cupcakes: A selection of flavors like caramel, cotton candy, and confetti. --Cakes: Custom-order cakes in various sizes. I am not a Macaron lover, so I bought a key lime blondie, a lemon bar, a caramel drizzle cupcake, and a gluten free raspberry drizzle cupcake. I found the blondie to be rather flavorless, but the lemon bar made up for it by being exactly what I think of when it comes to a good lemon bar. Slightly tart, a nice crust, and just a touch of sweetness on top. The gluten free cupcake was enjoyed by my friend who said it was exceptional. The other cupcake is a treat for my husband. Overall, the beautiful variety of macaroons are the breadwinner for this bakery. Not many bakeries make or sell them. Service was great--welcoming, helpful, and patient. I will definitely return. Prices are moderate considering the expertise required and the quality of the ingredients used.

I miss when they were right in Rotterdam, but I've never tried anything from here that I didn't…read morelike. Everyone was always really friendly as well.

We have supported this bakery for over 40 years, and it is time to offer a review…read more This Jay Street icon in Schenectady has the best Italian bread. It comes in round or loaf shapes and in one or two pound sizes. It is available in many local stores including the Niskayuna Co-op. True story: Jack Nicholson was filming in the area and found out about the delicious bread from his driver. He got the bread several times and thought it was great. He had it mailed to him. Photos of Nicholson and a related newspaper article are on display. The bread, rolls, and Tomato pie are baked in a coal fired brick oven from Italy. Besides the bread, there are other outstanding offerings including: Rolls! Breadsticks made at the bakery Bread Crumbs for cutlets and meatballs Tomato Pie -- so popular it often sells out Panini Sandwiches made fresh daily for grab & go. Italian olives and cheeses in the case. Italian cookies Parking in front and in a side lot shared with Cornell's Restaurant.

Perrecca's Bakery + More Perrecca's = Schenectady royalty…read more First things first: full disclosure -- my son is a server here. Yes, I'm biased. But also... facts are facts and the facts are DELICIOUS. It was a full-on snowstorm, the weird dead zone after Christmas where everyone else is like "nah, we're closing early," and Perrecca's was like: "We ride." Just me and the wife, snow coming down sideways, and this place is warm, welcoming, and absolutely cranking out hot food. And I mean HOT hot -- not "restaurant hot," but "careful-that-plate-is-trying-to-burn-your fingerprints-off" hot. Love to see it. Food? Super tasty. No notes. Service? Solid across the board. Bathrooms? Clean enough to eat off of (I didn't, but I could've). Parking? Plenty of off-street, no parallel parking Olympics required. Now let's talk about the hostess -- because WOW. She works the room like she personally built the place brick by brick. Touches every table, warm, friendly, checking in -- you'd swear her name was on the sign out front. Absolute pro. Hospitality Hall of Fame behavior. Between the legendary bakery, the attached restaurant, and the fact that they stayed open when the weather said "stay home," this place is a must-see Schenectady institution. Come hungry. Leave happy. Possibly leave with extra bread you didn't plan on buying but somehow needed. Would go back in a blizzard. Would go back tomorrow. Would go back just for the vibes.

While this was not a food order but a cake order and I was not the one who ordered but it was made…read morefor my niece's birthday party the cake was amazing! The flavor, the frosting, and the moistness of the cake was a hit. Nothing but compliments all around.

DELICIOUS food for breakfast, brunch, or lunch! The customer desserts are amazing and professional…read more Very good customer service. Love the cake decorating classes as well.

A friend turned us on to italian pastries from this shop. Took my son out to Albany to catch a…read moreflight and had time to kill before heading home and decided some pastries would be a nice little treat after a stressful day of flight cancellations and delays. The pastries did not disappoint as they were as good as the ones we had several months ago that my friend brought back. This is a quaint quintessential Italian bakery with cases filled with goodies. Staff were helpful and kind and provided some great recommendations.

Is there any cake decorated more beautifully than a custom cake from this longtime popular bakery…read morein Schenectady? I do not think so. The cakes are made fresh and not frozen. Today, we had a 10" Carrot Cake for an 18th birthday party. It not only looked picture perfect, it tasted great. The website describes the many flavors of cake available in different sizes in round or sheet cake style. When you call to order, you speak to a knowledgeable staff person to select a flavor, size, frosting, and filling. Then you select the decorations and colors you would like. The signature iconic script handwriting of their decorators is attractive and distinctive. You know it is a Villa Italia cake when you first see it. However, always check a custom order cake before you leave. When we picked up the Carrot Cake, the worker did not open box to show us the cake. They should be trained to show the costumer the cake before checking out! Fortunately, I did open box and saw a pink frosted cake saying HB Jackie. My cake was for an 18 yr old grandson. They fixed it so it looked nice, but it was not quick. Please check out my photos to see a few of the cakes we have ordered and enjoyed!

My daughter has a Feb. 14 birthday, so she selected baked goods to celebrate her birthday with…read morefamily. The chocolate cake was not pre ordered. But it was personalized while we waited. The cookies were beautifully decorated showing both experience and skill. Delicious too. The cupcakes were outstanding: PB Boston Crème Coconut Custard And Carrot Cake (great cream cheese frosting but cake part lacked carrot flavor in my opinion) The cupcakes were so large, we cut them in half! Support local!

I love the variety of baked goods here! Today I got my one stand by favorites, Carrot Cupcake and…read moreCoconut Custard Cupcake. I tried the chocolate half and half/Half Moon and it is THE best I have ever had!! Very soft chocolate 'cookie' with delicious vanilla and chocolate frosting. I also get the plain mini cannolis for my boyfriend. I noted they had Apricot Rugelach which I will try another time. The Raspberry Rugelach is fantastic. Chef's Kiss ‍!!

All was good. The creamed delicious. And yes please. Chicken and with stuffing, so tasty!read more

Went to the Blue Ribbon on a Saturday, late morning for brunch. It wasn't too busy and the food…read morecame out SO fast. There wasn't a single thing that we didn't enjoy. The ham wasn't too thick and had a lot of flavor. The hashbrowns were crispy and the eggs were cooked to my satisfaction. The staff were attentive and friendly. We will be back!

Friends recommended us this place. We came on a snowy Sunday. Thankfully parking was not hard along…read morethe street. We got the vegetable omelette and the strawberry & mascarpone stuffed French toast. Both were fantastic. I devoured everything with lightning speed. Highly recommend getting the Cholula hot sauce on the omelette.

First time second for my husband and the union cafe. We went for breakfast and decided to sit…read moreoutside a d enjoy the weather. He got the special lobster Benedict and said it was worth every cent and would get it again in a heart beat. I ended up going for lunch and getting the Greek chicken souvlaki platter with sweet potato fries. 10/10. So much food and the sweet potato fries were some the best I've ever had so crispy. Service was excellent very attentive. Will be back again soon.

For my first delivery of cupcakes. Wow wee They were…read morebeautiful and delish. Support local ! She makes all kinds of baked goods. Check them out !

We ordered a birthday cake from Sandra on a recommendation from friend. We could not have been…read morehappier with what we received! I had joked that we were boring because we wanted a vanilla cake with vanilla frosting, but Sandra told us not to worry, it would not be boring. She could not have been more right! The cake had such amazing flavor. The portions were spot on perfect for our party size. Everyone got a nice sized piece, but it was so good everyone wanted seconds! Next time I'll be ordering double! I will be using Quigley's Cakes from now on, anytime I need a cake. I could not be happier with my experience. From ease of ordering, a prompt effortless delivery experience, and an amazing tasting cake that also looked great, this experience could not have gone any better! I highly recommend.

Now that ShopRite closed on 11/18/23, I did my shopping for Thanksgiving at Price Chopper. I…read morebought natural brined turkeys at Trader Joe's in Colonie as I do every year. The Eastern Parkway store in Schenectady was updated a few years ago, and it is easy to shop. It is clean, well organized, and well lit. The produce section is outstanding and superior to the nearby Hannaford. The selection is great. I found quality Chestnuts imported from Italy for only $7.99 lb., fresh vegetables, and premium Pomegranate. All of the produce was organized and labeled well. Shelves were neat. Aisles were easy to move around in. I found a turkey sculpted butter which I was unable to find elsewhere. The children like the figural butter for the rolls I make. Photo included. The bakery manager was great. She made up six Thanksgiving custom cupcakes for me while I shopped. Since I had to wait. She took $3.00 off the purchase price. She packed the decorations for the top of each in a baggie so that the top of the plastic cupcake container could be closed. She was eager to please and efficient. I wish I had gotten her name to thank her again! Photos included! The deli department is excellent. Also, the store made to go items are plentiful. The salads are delicious. I purchased two chicken parm dinners at $6.99 each to give to my husband on days when I am out in case there are no leftovers for him. They freeze and heat up nicely. Decent for the convenience and the price. Throughout my shopping experience, I was asked kindly if I needed assistance several times. I did. The staff person offered to take me to the item. Great attitudes! Parking was great. Staff were efficient and courteous. They always ask if I need help putting the bags in my car. This does not happen at Hannaford. Definitely a Five Star experience on Eastern Parkway in Schenectady today. I like to support this market because it is the only full scale market left in the city of Schenectady. It can be accessed from the inner city by bus or taxi. It is important to me that this store location remains available to all residents.

I WILL NEVER EVER SHOP AT THE EASTERN AVE STORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have been a regular since…read moreit first opened and sadly I am DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!In the last month I was OVERCHARGED "5" times only to have to wait while double checked (each time I was correct). I was told that employees were at fault for not changing cards Most recently I bought 2 pints of NICKS ice cream that had "going going gone price of 4.30 and I was charged 6.99 I caught it before I paid though the time prior I had to get refund from customer service and prior to that 2 items had to be checked to my embarrassment for holding up line!!!!!!!!!! Later I found that the sliced Gouda cheese had mildew on it when I returned it I asked to speak w/management & several minutes later I spoke w/ assist. manager Joshua s. who was dismissive and rude!!! NEVER AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!