Nino's Bakery

Review! Downtown, Washington D.C. // Italian & French Bakery + Viennoiserie // Feels like Europe

the ELEVATOR PITCH

You’ve probably heard about Nino’s Bakery in all of the “must-try D.C. bakeries” lists and forums all over the internet (I, for sure, did!). With a brand that touts providing small batch “artisan croissants” that take a 3-day lead time by employing the traditional Italian and French methods (and that have a rustic, non-uniform, almost “bowtie shape” look like The Real™ European street corner bakeries) my curiosity was piqued!

Then I saw the hours… Nino’s is legit only open 4 week days (not even on the weekends! ), with each one of these days only for 3 hours in the morning, 8:30 - 11:30 AM (I couldn’t even pull my stunt of waking up before the crack of dawn to swing by before work!). Talk about elusive! Never met anything like her.

But if we know me already, we know that I love a challenge, and that pastries are always worth pursuing (all is fair in love and war as they say, and I am devoted). So I dragged my husband over to make 👏 it 👏 happen👏 and check out what all of the fuss was about (it is a decent jaunt from any metro stop though, beware).

Nino’s Bakery is like a city on a hill that can’t be hidden (Matthew 5:14)—their storefront’s neon-yellow dachshund silhouette is stunning against what would otherwise be a street lined with bland office buildings that are the same color as the cement sidewalks they sit on. The bakery’s interior also stands apart from other bakeries in the sheer number of photos of furry friends hanging on the walls, with encouragement for patrons to tag Nino’s Bakery while enjoying their baked good with their pet. While Nino himself (the owner’s dachshund) may have passed away, he’s definitely left a legacy of pet-friendliness behind.

At this point, I had heard bits and bobs of the story behind Nino’s Bakery’s namesake, so seeing just how much the love for furry dog friends pervaded the bakery led me to Zoe Glasser’s article on Washington Post to fully get the comprehensive picture and color in all of the details.

It turns out, owner and head baker, Miranda Rinaldi met her wiener dog, Nino, in 2012 when she was stationed in Milan, Italy for the U.S. State Department. Spurred on by Nino’s stellar sense of smell, Rinaldi ended up exploring the city of Milan and its bakeries, leading her to meet her neighbors and become quite the connoisseur of pastries. In 2015, she decided to move back to the United States, and decided to enroll in the French Pastry School in Chicago to continue to nurture her growing love for baking.

Fast forward a couple of years, and Rinaldi opened Nino’s Bakery in January 2018, in the same location it is in now. It has birthed almost a cult following since! The locals (and tourists, like me haha) are so devoted to her flaky, delicately layered, slightly-crisp-exterior-with-melty-buttery-interior crescent-shaped breads, that Nino’s Bakery was able to thrive during the pandemic in 2020 (as much as a business could) and the community of patrons also didn’t skip a single beat the instant they reopened after Rinaldi had to take a pause for parental leave in 2023.

Seeing how nothing will slow down sales, it’s no wonder that Nino’s Bakery still operates with such lean hours and limited inventory, with no indication of expanding to be more accessible (for them, there’s no need to!). While I’m selfishly sad for me, I do appreciate their desire to minimize food waste and provide only fresh goods daily, which is pretty nice for those who can make it.

So, is Nino’s Bakery worth pining over, shifting your schedule for, or putting on your bucket list? There is definitely something to be said about remaining “local and unique and small” (quote from Zoe Glasser’s article), and that’s kind of the mindset you need to embrace with Nino’s Bakery. They’ve found their niche, and they have really great croissants (though the fillings themselves could do with some more flavor zhuzh for me), but they’re not trying to cater to the masses. The operating model of Nino’s Bakery is truly like the vintage old days—where each street corner bakery really only caters to their neighborhood, and aren’t trying to become a multi-storefront phenomenon. There’s something simple and sweet about it, and for those of us not in the neighborhood, we just need to accept that visiting daily or weekly just may not be feasible or sustainable and that we’ll have to settle for planning ahead, going out of the way, and having it as a rare occasion treat once in a while.

Now what did we get from the menu?

Keep scrolling for the reviews 👇

Pistachio Croissant: the cream/frangipane in the center tastes good, but would’ve liked twice the amount of pistachio flavor (at least). The croissants here are crisp on the outside, and super buttery on the inside. (rating as a pistachio croissant: 4/10; rating sans pistachio frangipane: 8.5/10)

Black Sesame Croissant: sad sad! I wasn’t too happy with the filling on this one either—the black sesame vibe just didn’t come through. It’s bicolored-ness is visually appealing though. (rating as a black sesame croissant: 3/10; rating sans black sesame filling: 9/10)

Onion Goat Cheese Danish: a well seasoned savory (I love caramelized onions and goat cheese, so it would’ve been difficult to hate!); I very much enjoyed the buttery distinct layers that is their signature croissant dough in danish form. (rating: 10/10)

Sfogliatelle: the citrus comes THROUGH and is delightfully refreshing. The juxtaposition between the crispy flaky thin shell and the airy soft ricotta filling is so fun! That said, I still prefer croissants over all else, and also still prefer the texture of frangipane/cream over ricotta, but my husband really enjoyed this! (rating: 9/10)

Almond Croissant: tasty filling, but the almond-ness doesn’t come through. (rating as an almond croissant: 5/10; rating sans almond frangipane: 9/10)

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the RÉSUMÉ

address // 1310 L St NW #100, Washington, DC 20005

operations // Tuesday - Friday, 8:30 AM - 11:30 AM; Saturday - Monday, CLOSED.

logistics // make sure to get there early, they sell out! And sometimes there’s a line 😱

• can take the metro, but be prepared to walk a couple of blocks

• there are a number of bus stops within a block

• only street parking/garage parking is available, not free 🙁

amenities //

• 1 bathroom stall

• no free public WiFi or outlets; not suitable for #WFH

• not accessible (i.e., tables are not accommodating to wheelchairs, ordering counter is standing height)

• indoor seating is minimal—a small two-person counter

• outdoor seating is 2-3 tables

• very pet-friendly (they even provide dog treats!)

vibes // intended for grab and go, but has a mom-and-pop-shop feel

menu // no artificial preservatives are used

• beverages ($3.25 - $4.35): drip coffee; espresso (lattes, cappuccinos, Americano, macchiato); orange juice, sparkling water

• baked goods ($2.00 - $4.00): blueberry scone, Sicilian Pistachio Cookies (paste di pistacchio)

• viennoiserie / pastries ($4.00 - $5.25): croissants (butter, almond, pistachio, black sesame almond, chocolate, chocolate hazelnut); danishes (onion goat cheese, everything)

  ⭐ box of 6 assorted sweet croissants ($27.50)

recs // come for the croissants, just keep in mind the flavors of the croissant fillings are mild and not extremely true to their namesakes

site // Nino's Bakery

~ cath!!