20+ Must-Try Sweets and Treats in St. Louis
From cookies, cakes, and pastries to donuts, ice cream, and confections, these St. Louis bakeries, coffee shops, and restaurants serve up the sweets.
Whether you’re looking to pick up treats for a party or as a gift or just want something sweet on the go, these St. Louis bakeries, coffee shops, and restaurants have you covered.
Amaizing Arepa Bar
At Amaizing Arepa Bar in Downtown St. Louis, owners and sisters Mayra and Maria Pacheco share delicious Venezuelan cuisine. The house specialty, arepas, are cornmeal cakes made with sweet corn and stuffed with a variety of meats, veggies, and cheeses, but don’t miss the Pachecos sweet treats as well. Choose from desserts such as tres leches cake, churros, and quesillo, a Venezuelan flan covered in caramel sauce as a sweet last bite.
Read our full story on Amaizing Arepa Bar and the Pachecos here.
Story by Nancy Stiles
Photo by R.J. Hartbeck
City Foundry STL Food Hall
Bringing together more than a dozen kitchens with varied cuisines, City Foundry STL’s Food Hall draws St. Louisans to Midtown for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Many vendors serve some sort of dessert, but a few focus on all things sweet.
Options range from sweet snacks like the gourmet flavored popcorn at Pop Pop Hurray to the decadent desserts at Patty’s Cheesecakes. Cool down with velvety scoops of ice cream served in housemade waffle cones at Sylvie Dee’s, which also serves donuts, specialty candies, and more. And everyone can find something sweet at SweetArt (Too), which specializes in plant-based meals and desserts.
Read our full story on City Foundry STL’s Food Hall here.
Story by Cheryl Baehr
Photo by R.J. Hartbeck
Clementine’s Creamery
With nine shops in the metro and counting, from Lafayette Square to St. Charles, and shipping available across the U.S., pints of Clementine’s Creamery ice cream are always within reach. Owner Tamara Keefe takes pride in the growing national buzz around her superb ice cream, including signature flavors such as gooey butter cake and salted caramel cookies and cream. Keefe’s shop is known for its beloved seasonal flavors, non-dairy options, and “Naughty” ice cream made with alcohol (think maple-bourbon with candied pecans or pink champagne sorbet). Order a cup or a few scoops in a waffle cone to enjoy in one of Clementine’s charming cafes, or take a pint home or to share.
Read our full story on Clementine’s Creamery here.
Story by Cheryl Baehr
Photo by Jennifer Silverberg
The Cobblestone STL
In early 2024, The Cobblestone STL, a market, deli, and coffee shop opened on Laclede’s Landing in the six-story red brick Christian Peper Building. Co-owners Camille Jackson and Chris McMenomy, who opened The Cobblestone STL in partnership with Luke Jackson, Kyle McEvoy, Tim Meinecke, and Andy Roesch, are adamant about making The Cobblestone STL, which is 70 percent locally stocked and sustained, a community spot that’s safe, comfortable, and welcoming to all. The shop is well-known for its “Cheesecakes of the Week” made by CK Sweets, with rotating flavors such as Oreo-Reese’s, raspberry-kiwi-lime, and double layered cinnamon roll.
Read our full story on The Cobblestone STL and the history of St. Louis brick here.
Story by Heather Riske
Photo by R.J. Hartbeck
Coffeestamp
Inspired by the coffee they grew up drinking in their native Honduras, Patrick and Spencer Clapp are elevating the St. Louis coffee scene with Coffeestamp‘s ethically sourced beans. Stop in the Fox Park coffeehouse to grab a single-origin cup of coffee and pair it with a pastry or dessert made with just as much care. House specialities include alfajores, a kind of shortbread cookie sandwich, with past flavors like PB&J and dulce de leche with toasted coconut and cacao nibs, as well as muffins (think banana-caramel) and more.
Read our full story on Coffeestamp here.
Story by Cheryl Baehr
Photo by R.J. Hartbeck
The Corner Cup Micro Bakery
In 2019, Amanda Boyer, opened The Corner Cup Micro Bakery at 2 E. Main Street in Festus. The coffee shop and bakery adds to the revival of the community’s growing Main Street, offering a spot for folks to gather and enjoy quality coffee and treats. Stop in for housemade muffins, cookies, scones, and more, including seasonal specials and cookie plates for the winter holidays. This holiday season, stop in for a gingerbread latte and pair it with a cranberry and sweet almond muffin.
Read our full story on The Corner Cup Micro Bakery and Main Street Festus here.
Story by Alecia Humphreys
Photo by R.J. Hartbeck
The Fattened Caf
Charlene Lopez Young and Darren Young serve up Filipino flavors with their barbecue and smoked meats business, The Fattened Caf. Located in the Gravois Park neighborhood, the restaurant serves full lunch and dinner menus, including dessert. Try the Lola’s Ube Banana Pudding, a Southern-style banana pudding infused with ube flavors and topped with a whipped cream and salted nilla wafer crunch.
Read our full story on The Fattened Caf here.
Story by Cheryl Baehr
Photo by Michael Thomas
The Fountain on Delmar
Located in the Delmar Maker District, The Fountain on Delmar specializes in coffee, baked goods, ice cream, and retro cocktails and mocktails, which customers can watch getting made at the counter. That’s the whole idea of the Maker District, Danni Eickenhorst, owner of The Fountain on Delmar, says: to serve up an experience rather than simply something to eat or drink. Pop into the shop for ice cream scoops, shakes, and sundaes, including the Delmar Delight, with vanilla ice cream, crushed CrackerJack snickerdoodle cookie, hot caramel sauce, cinnamon sugar, and whipped cream. The Fountain also serves baked goods, including gooey butter cake cookies and banana bread.
Read our full story on The Fountain on Delmar and the Delmar Maker District here.
Story by Valerie Schremp Hahn
Photo by R.J. Hartbeck
Fresh Gatherings Cafe + Farm
Serving seasonal eats, Fresh Gatherings Cafe + Farm is a unique culinary teaching lab on the Saint Louis University campus — and serves as a model for colleges far and wide. The Fresh Gatherings farm came first, opening on SLU’s campus in 2002 as a vehicle to teach students in the nutrition program how to grow food. The café opened in 2004, around the same time the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics launched its culinary emphasis. Today, Fresh Gatherings operates two locations on SLU’s South Medical Campus. The main café, located in the Allied Health Building, offers hot breakfast, a full-service coffee and espresso bar, grab-and-go offerings, and a full bakery as well as daily changing blue plate specials. Stop in and support the students (the cafe is open to all) and browse baked goods and treats such as croissants, cookies, brownies, slices of cake, and more.
Read our full story on Fresh Gatherings Cafe + Farm here.
Story by Heather Riske
Photo by R.J. Hartbeck
Goshen Coffee Roasters
With a focus on ethical sourcing and high-quality beans, Goshen Coffee Roasters, headquartered in Edwardsville, Illinois, serves up delicious coffee in the St. Louis region and across the U.S. Visit its cafes in Edwardsville or Glen Carbon or its St. Louis outpost in Soulard to enjoy a cup of coffee alongside a rotating menu of breakfast and lunch fare, including pastries and baked goods. Try favorites like the coffeecake, oversized muffins, scones, oat bars, and more.
Read our full story on Goshen Coffee Roasters here.
Story by Nancy Stiles
Photo by R.J. Hartbeck
La Pâtisserie Chouquette
At La Pâtisserie Chouquette in Botanical Heights, co-owner and executive pastry chef Simone Faure makes dessert dreams come true. Treating each creation like it’s a work of art, Faure concocts everything from soaring wedding cake towers to triple-chocolate croissants to buttery Madeleines. Each item is sculptural in one way or another, with layers of frosting, flowers, and candy playing off of and into each other. It’s delicious art that has inspired thousands of Instagram photos from customers who weren’t prepared for what would spring from Faure’s mind but were delighted with the results. Stop in the store for its signature macarons or just to breathe in the sugary air and gorgeous confections.
Read our full story on La Pâtisserie Chouquette here.
Story by Allison Babka
Photo by R.J. Hartbeck
Maaji Street Kitchen
Maaji’s Street Kitchen in St. Ann offers wholesome homestyle Northern Indian Cuisine cooked lovingly by chef, owner, and resident “maaji,” or mother, Heena Chopra. Since 2022, the self-taught cook, who hails from New Delhi, has gradually expanded her business to nourish the community. Today, the menu is bigger and better than ever, including desserts such as gulab jamon, sweet rolls, rasgulla, kaju katli, and kheer, as well as drinks such as a mango lassi and golden milk.
Read our full story on Maaji Street Kitchen here.
Story and photo by Mabel Suen
Made. by Lia
With a passion for showstopping painted cakes and from-scratch baked goods, Lia Holter of Made. by Lia is ushering in a new generation of investment in her native Florissant. The shop, which opened in August 2020, has quickly become a staple in the community, known for its baked goods such as blueberry scones (both vegan and gluten-free), jumbo chocolate chip cookies with flaky salt, and St. Louis Cake, a silky, not overly sweet spin on the city’s famous gooey butter cake. Holter continues to take orders for her signature painted floral cakes for weddings and other special occasions, but the bakery, which also offers a full coffee and tea menu, is also an everyday neighborhood gathering spot.
In 2023, she self-printed a cookbook featuring Christmas cookie recipes, including both childhood favorites and bakery staples. In 2025, she released a larger cookbook in collaboration with AB Mauri and Reedy Press that features recipes for a “greatest hits” of sweet and savory baked goods and yeast-raised breads and rolls such as an everyday loaf, her kids’ favorite chocolate-cherry cake, and her lemon meringue tart.
Read our full story on Lia Holter and Made. by Lia here.
Story by Heather Riske
Photo by R.J. Hartbeck
Pharaoh’s Donuts
At Pharaoh’s Donuts, Syeeda Aziz-Morris is carrying on her family’s tradition of donut-making. With locations in the Central West End and Downtown St. Louis, Pharaoh’s is famous for its classic glazed donut, glazed twist, glazed cake donut, jelly- or custard-filled, an iced long john, an apple fritter and donut holes. Aziz-Morris’ father, Amon Aziz, launched Pharaoh’s in 1994 when she was just 5 years old, delivering donuts to gas stations and corner stores. Pharaoh’s became a sleeper hit at those locations across the St. Louis metro, with longtime favorites like the classic glazed and donut holes garnering cult followings. Beyond the classics, Pharaoh’s now also serves more fanciful creations, available bright and early at 6 a.m. Try the bacon-topped glazed donut, red velvet cake donut, iced cinnamon rolls, cheesecake crumb donuts, or the aptly named Death by Chocolate.
Read our full story on Pharaoh’s Donuts and Syeeda Aziz-Morris here.
Story by Nancy Stiles
Photo by R.J. Hartbeck
Spoonful Desserts
After a corporate career that took her across the globe, Monica Lee returned home to open Spoonful Desserts, which offers up Korean desserts, drinks, and a palpable sense of community in Creve Coeur and Edwardsville, Illinois. By introducing guests to the epicurean pleasures she grew up with as a Korean American and came to love as a world traveler, she brings a taste of South Korea — and Asia more broadly — back to her fellow St. Louisans. Spoonful centers on two signature sweet treats. First, bingsu: Korean shaved ice cream made with milk and condensed milk and served with a range of possible toppings, from house-made fruit sauces to candy or cereal. A second and complementary item is taiyaki, a popular street food in both Korea and Japan. It is akin to a stuffed waffle and traditionally baked in the shape of a fish. The café also hosts a substantial beverage menu, from bubble teas to iced and hot coffees sourced from St. Louis’ Blueprint Coffee.
Read our full story on Spoonful Desserts here.
Story by Ginger O’Donnell
Photo by Jennifer Silverberg
Sugarwitch
Sugarwitch’s ice cream sandwiches are unarguably delicious, with surprising and nuanced flavors, each one cleverly named for a witch in literature or pop culture. While the witchy names are endearing, they’re also a window into the minds of chefs/owners Martha Bass and Sophie Mendelson, and the care they’ve taken into launching their small business in St. Louis. Visit one of their locations — in the Botanical Heights and Carondelet neighborhoods — to get a taste of ice cream sandwiches like the Elphaba, with mint chip ice cream and salted mint brownie or the Tara, with miso brown sugar ice cream and milk chocolate chip blondie. Sugarwitch also sells ice cream cakes, sweet waffles, pints of ice cream, and more.
Read our full story on Sugarwitch here.
Story by Nancy Stiles
Photo by R.J. Hartbeck
Winslow’s Table
Michael and Tara Gallina’s Take Root Hospitality serves seasonally inspired and regionally sourced eats at three lauded spots in the St. Louis area, including Winslow’s Table in University City. The casual neighborhood restaurant with a small market and prepared foods case was a beloved community gathering place before the Gallinas took it over in 2019. Under their stewardship, it has built upon that legacy and garnered a reputation as one of the city’s essential daytime eateries. Stop in for bakery favorites including cookies and bars, breakfast pastries, and breads; the salted caramel monkey bread and cinnamon rolls (the latter is only served on Sundays), are some especially beloved bites.
Read our full story on Winslow’s Table and the Gallinas here.
Story by Cheryl Baehr
Photo by R.J. Hartbeck
Join the Story
- Did we miss your favorite bakery, restaurant, or coffee shop? Drop us a line with your recommendations here.
- Learn more about culinary creators in the St. Louis community here.
- When you purchase from local businesses, you’re also deciding the kind of community you want to build. In addition to shopping at the spots on this list, check out these #STLMade stories for some places to show your love.
