Caputo’s Bake Shop

An old school Italian bakery which feels like a walk back in time when you enter. I remember going to places like this with my grandfather and pressing my face against the glass to stare as much as I could at the cookies in the case.
Came in to buy cookies for a gathering. Jumbo jam and chocolate filled cookies are $ 6 a pound!!! They also have VERY good half and half cookies (some call them black and whites). Brought everything home to some very happy customers. Staff at the bake shop are super warm and friendly, even pointed us in the direction of the closest market.
There aren’t too many places like this left, go while you still can.

Here is the reason for this terrible review: I was waited on by a woman in her 50’s or 60’s. She was indifferent to borderline rude. I figured this was the luck of the draw, the negative stereotype of a New Yorker. Being originally from New York, I know that most people are not like that. What I could not abide was what she said when a young, rather diffident, Asian woman came in to buy some donuts. She hesitated and another worker asked what she wanted. She did not immediately reply and the woman who had been helping me said quite loudly: «Chinese people don’t talk.» It was a completely gratuitous remark, quite bigoted. And in fact the young woman could talk and understand English. I only regret that I did not hand back the items I had ordered. But this review is the next best thing.

Authentic Brooklyn Italian bread and pastries. These types of establishments are becoming harder and harder to find. Delicious food. A must have from a native Brooklynite.

I’ve been going to Caputo’s a couple times a week since I moved to the neighborhood about 4 years ago. There is no better place in the city to buy bread and cookies. The Ciabatta is wonderful, as is the Rustic and the black and white cookies may be my favorite treat in all of NYC. The prices are totally reasonable. In fact, sometimes I worry about them being able to survive the onslaught of higher rents on Court Street. In addition to the wonderful food, the people who work there are really great. I sometimes go in with my daughters, and the women behind the counter come out to say hi and talk to my girls. It’s really great. This is the kind of place that makes you love your neighborhood.

We love the cranberry walnut rolls and the fluffy cinnamon danishes loaded with tons of cinnamon. From just inside the shop you can see the bakers hard at work in the back, with the giant ovens, with guys carrying big brown paper sacks of bread over their shoulders rushing out the door to make deliveries. Good bread, decent coffee, and normal fair prices. I look forward to seeing their hand-​painted windows during the holiday season. Love this store!

My favorite bakery in the neighborhood. The ciabatta is always excellent, as are their other breads. Skip the cookies here — you’re better off at Court Pastry or Mazzola’s. This place does bread best. The service can be a little gruff sometimes but the bread makes up for it.

(1) Lard bread
(2) Olive bread
(3) Cranberry and walnut bread
I rarely carry cash, even in Brooklyn, except for my trips to Caputo’s — they’ve taken plenty of my $ 5s, because that’s my limit — one loaf, and run, before I fork over another bill and die by carbs.
My go-​to is the lard bread: cheesy, meaty (salami), peppery goodness. It leaves a shine on the paper bag, has more of a cake-​y denseness than traditional bread, and I can eat half a loaf between the bakery and my apartment. Over the years, I feel like the price has crept up while the size has become more compact with less meaty goodness, but that may be a fatkid to fatgrownup complaint: in my days, it was a nickel! I walked through snow! etc. Or not. But as long as it hovers around 100 nickels, I’ll adjust for inflation and come back for my daily (bimonthly) bread.

Have ordered two birthday cakes from here — a Brooklyn blackout for my husband’s birthday, and half a sheet cake for my son’s 4^th birthday. I have very high standards and am not impressed by most cakes, but these cakes were incredible. Even our pickiest family members and friends went out of their way to compliment how great the cakes tasted. My mother-​in-​law has fond memories of the Ebinger’s blackout cake, and said this was just as delicious.
Always fresh, the perfect amount of sweet, and the prices are really low for the high quality delivered. It’s a nice mom and pop type of shop — no pretenses or style over substance — and we will continue to support them.

Love them for their savory breads and bagels. Not a huge fan of their cookies. But always go to them to get bread or pizza dough.

Made this part of our Brooklyn Foody day — sadly a low point. Much better baked goods elsewhere — and certainly not the best Italian bakery in the city.

I am sorely disappointed in Caputo’s. I went by this morning to get a muffin. I saw them pull my muffin out of a box with another bakery’s name on it. They don’t bake all their own stuff (!)
I’m a long time, loyal customer and I was under the impression everything was baked on premises. I would like to know why some items are prepared by lesser quality bakeries? (I would like an answer from the owner).
I think this is a deceptive notion because Caputo is a bake shop. One would assume all baking is done on site. If not, at least offsite baked goods would be prepared by Caputo and not some other bakery.
Really, really, really sad.
I will say, the bread still makes this place worth the trip.

5 Stars for the lardo bread… That’s all you need to know…
I only allow myself lardo bread once a year for Thanksgiving or I’d be shaped like a loaf of bread. I wake up super early on Thanksgiving Eve and purchase 4 loaves. My family loves it and it’s perfect for those turkey sandwiches for days after!

Update 2015, the service is nothing less than perfect. The staff are fun and also humorous. I brought a red velvet cake for my cleaning staff and they went nuts.
The red velvet cake was moist, creamy and not overpowering sweet. It was a perfect balance. The red velvet have that velvet chocolate taste that was very pleasing. I will continue to do business at caputos bake shop.
They loved and adore it. So 5 stars.
Been here 3 times service is always well. The staff is attentive and is very polite. They show that they care about there job.
Atmosphere — everytime I walk Inside the smell of fresh bread sends an invitation to try the breads and pasteries. The place can be very small but that nothing compared to the fresh /​tasty bread
Food — everything is made fresh. They have a kicthen which bread is made. I brought their croissants which is sooooo delious and flakey. It is also very soft and cruchy. I brought the crumb cake which is soo sweet and soo good. The cake is moist. Last I brought the cherry crumb cake for a company. All I heard that it was superb and very delightful. A+ I also tried the blueberry muffin which is soo good and I wil coming back for my morning breakfast. The muffin is a great pair with a glass of tea or cup of coffee.
Price — is not expensive. For 1 dollar you get the best croissant. Like come on you can’t find something that fresh in other places. Also the muffin is $ 1.25 cents. That is the best bargain I been to other places where they charged 3.00 or more for muffins brought from a different place.
Well the verdict is clear. This place is one fof the best bread and pasteries shops in Carroll gardens

Caputo’s is rustic, minimalist and reminds me most of bagel shops of my youth replete with the view to the baking equipment in the back of the shop.
Nostalgia is one thing, but where else in the city can you still get rich and creamy cheesecake made on the premises for under $ 10?
That might not sound unusual if you’ve been around the city, but…
I don’t mean a slice.
I don’t mean a mini-​cheesecake the size of a mouse wheel that serves eight as long as the eight are coked-​out models in the Meatpacking District.
I mean a full cheesecake of which Italian Americans would be proud.
Delight your family, friends, coworkers, the potluck /​BBQ where you need to bring something to share.
Pick up some lard bread while you’re at it with all the leftover green.
Please shop here before the old school like Caputo’s Bake Shop disappears as Carroll Gardens begins to evolve.

I have two more words for Caputo’s! They are: «Pizza Dough.» For a buck twenty five, pull a bag of the all-​purpose dough from the fridge behind you, take it home, let it breathe and rise a little, make it THAT NIGHT, hand roll it out, Google «how to make pizza from fresh pizza dough» or something like that, put some marinara on top, put your cheese (and meat if you like) toppings, and you have made yourself the best pizza in NYC.
The pizza /​all purpose dough is wicked good. The best meal-​at-​home hack involves the dough from this place.

I just want to take a minute to replay a conversation I had with one of the employees today:
Me: What time do you open in the morning?
Her: 6am, every weekday.
Me: So… if I come in at 6:30 tomorrow, will you have lard bread?
Her (looking at me as if I’m an idiot): Of course! We always have lard bread.
Caputo’s is amazing. I don’t know if they’re related to the fantastic Italian gourmet market a few blocks down, but this is a true, old-​school bakery.
Lard bread, for those who don’t know, is an amazing, baked loaf of heart-​attack. It’s bread studded with cheese, fat, meat, and peppery goodness. Caputo’s often competes with Mazzola’s, but I don’t think there’s any comparison at all. These guys are the undisputed kings of lard. Go there now.

I used to love this place. It’s cheap and good and great neighborhood bakery. The ladies who work there have that old school devil-​may-​care attitude and it gets old quick but it’s OK.
Their bread is good (Except for donuts) and reasonable but I am giving one star for their sanitary condition.
The people who work at the counter handle their bread and MONEY with the same hands. They wear plastic gloves but they handle money with the gloves on. That’s idiotic.
I saw one young lady who took gloves off and handled money then put them back on. Just one girl. Most of older ladies (and most of them are old) don’t even care.
Sure, I never got sick from eating from their bread but it’s not acceptable for today’s standard.

I get a bagel with butter here for a dollar every morning. A DOLLAR.
I get an iced coffee here every afternoon when the weather is warm. FOR UNDER TWO DOLLARS.
Everything there is shockingly cheap.
The bagels are basically perfect.
The iced coffee is better than anywhere else I’ve ever had.
The olive loaf is a problem because I could eat the whole thing in one sitting if I allowed myself.
Actually, it wouldn’t matter what bread I buy, I still want to eat the whole thing alone.
The women at the counter are quick and funny and will absolutely call you a pet name whether or not you have ever walked in before.
This is one family neighborhood business I hope can hang in there forever because it’s one of the best.

Wow, words cannot express the amazingness of the lard bread here.
I’ll try though: get over here ASAP with just $ 4.75 in hand for one of the most satisfying things you will ever eat. For this small fee, you will get a massive loaf of the lard bread. It is way too much for one person, and probably even two, but it is still well worth it even if you only eat half of it. I was lucky enough to get a loaf that was still nice and warm, so it was even more amazing. It is the most moist, flavorful bread you could ever imagine, with massive chunks of prosciutto generously spread throughout.
I don’t want to know how bad the lard bread must be for you — I’m guessing it must be terrible though, given how ridiculously good it tastes and also for the fact that it is called «lard» bread. Also, my hands and lips were nice and wet when I was done eating it. Delicious. I can’t wait to go back for more. I’m sure the other stuff here is also probably awesome, but I don’t see how I can come here and not get the lard bread (and getting anything in addition to that would speed up the road to morbid obesity).

I have a rule. It goes like this:
If you’re peering at the window display of a bakery trying to decide if you should walk in and grab something and a random old woman that you don’t know stops to tell you that you MUST buy a certain item… you buy it. Especially if it’s called Lard Bread.
You might be saying to yourself, «Lard Bread doesn’t sound like a healthy snack. I should probably stick to carrot sticks today.» Well, maybe you should go on with your healthful, sad, Lard Bread-​less existence.
Because Lard Bread is not healthy. It is aptly named for the lardasses who love it, myself included. Lard Bread is a lazy, fat man’s dream. It’s a buttery, peppery loaf of fresh bread stuffed with chunks of pepperoni and cheese. It’s a sandwich that you don’t have to make. It is a self-​contained, delicious treat that requires no effort. You just eat it warm right from the bakery, or bring it home and heat it up in the oven and you’re ready to go.
It’s my new favorite food group. And at $ 4.75, it’s also a steal.