'Lovely Cannolis' — This Cash-Only Boston Dessert Shop Is Worth The Long Wait

There are plenty of Italian-centric neighborhoods in the United States, like Manhattan's tourist-heavy Little Italy or the wildly popular and always bustling Little Italy neighborhood of San Diego. But few are as old and historically significant as Boston's North End, which is home to not only incredible Italian food but also Paul Revere's house. While there are many Italian bakeries in the North End, none might be as popular as Mike's Pastry, where people wait in long lines to leave with cannoli and other delightful pastries packaged in a white box with blue lettering and tied with a string. 

Opened in 1946, Mike's Pastry is best known for it's cannoli. The bakery was started by Michael Mercogliano, who arrived in Boston from Italy at 12 years old with no pastry experience, but learned his skills at his cousin's bakery located next door. Mercogliano kept the business in the family, as his stepson Angelo is now in charge of the cash-only operation. 

The cannoli at Mike's Pastry come in a wide variety of flavors (like strawberry, chocolate cream, mint chip, pecan caramel, and amaretto) that you are unlikely to see in other traditional bakeries. Mike's Pastry also serves traditional Italian treats like biscotti and tiramisu, as well as more American sweets like Oreo cheesecake, peanut butter cookies, and donuts. The bakery also specializes in sfogliatelle, also known as lobster tails, which are triangles of crispy, laminated dough stuffed with a creamy filling just after ordering so they stay fresh and crisp.

The bakery is cash only, and visitors should also be prepared to wait in long lines, as many reviews online report wait times of over 45 minutes. While it's regularly packed with tourists, it's also a hot spot for locals who love quality cannoli. One customer gave a glowing review on Google, saying, Mike's has "some of the best cannolis I've ever had and the best Lobster tail I've had. The line is really long, but worth the wait every so often." On Tripadvisor, others also warned of wait times, before going on to call the pastries "lovely," "amazing," and "delicious."

Other than it's original location in Boston's traditionally Italian North End neighborhood, Mike's Pastry also has locations in Cambridge, famously home to Harvard University, as well as Somerville and the TD Garden, home to Boston's Bruins and Celtics. 

If the line is too long at Mike's Pastry on Hanover Street, head one block south to Modern Pastry Shop, which also has incredible cannoli that are custom filled to order, as well as sfogliatelle as big as a newborn baby. For those who can't make it to Boston, Mike's Pastry also sells a cannoli kit online, where the shells, a choice of regular ricotta or chocolate ricotta filling, and toppings are all packed separately so you can assemble them at home, which is essential as you don't want the filling to sit in the shells too long, making them soggy.