Ottawa doesn’t brag about its bakeries. It should. Somewhere between the government offices and the Rideau Canal, this city has quietly stacked up Cordon Bleu pastry chefs, sourdough bakers with cult followings, and a doughnut shop built on a Finnish family recipe.
Most lists of the best bakeries in Ottawa dump everything into one pile. A croissant and a vegan brownie end up side by side, and you’re left scrolling. So we sorted these 11 by what you’re craving. Flaky French pastry, a real loaf of bread, something sweet, or a treat that happens to be vegan. Find your craving. Go get it.
When You Want Flaky, Buttery French Pastry
Start with Le Moulin de Provence at 55 ByWard Market Square. It’s been a Market fixture since 1998, and it has a claim no other bakery in the country can make. When Barack Obama stopped in Ottawa in 2009, he walked out with one of their maple-leaf shortbread cookies. They still sell that same cookie, now called the Obama Cookie, iced in red and white. The croissants and éclairs are the real reason to go, but the cookie makes a fun souvenir.
Over in Westboro, Mamie Clafoutis at 400 Richmond Road is the first outpost of the Quebec bakery to open outside la belle province. Locals go for the croissants, especially the almond and the pistachio-chocolate. Get there early on a weekend. The good stuff moves fast.
For something more precise, Tartelette Bakery & Café at 175 Main Street in Old Ottawa East is run by Le Cordon Bleu-trained chefs, and it shows in the tarts and cheesecakes. Faces Magazine voted it Best Bakery in Ottawa two years running, in 2024 and 2025. A second location lands in Kanata in spring 2026, so the west end finally gets a piece.
Macaron people, you get Quelque Chose Pâtisserie, with shops in Westboro, the ByWard Market, and Vanier. More than 20 flavours, including gluten-free ones, plus a proper afternoon tea if you want to make an afternoon of it.
When You Just Want a Really Good Loaf of Bread
Art-Is-In Bakery at 250 City Centre Avenue is the one bread nerds send you to. Pastry chef Kevin Mathieson built the place around naturally leavened loaves and the Dynamite baguette, which has a blistered, crackly crust and big open holes inside. It’s tucked in an industrial building off the beaten path, and it’s been on Food Network Canada’s You Gotta Eat Here with the famous O-Towner Donut. Follow the smell.
Bread By Us at 128 Smirle Avenue in Hintonburg has been turning out excellent sourdough since 2013. Unbleached flours, long ferments, the works. It’s a neighbourhood bakery and café that also runs baking workshops, so you can learn to make your own if the loaves inspire you.
Down on Bank Street, Bread & Sons Bakery at 195 Bank Street has held down Centretown since 2005. It’s vegetarian, and the range runs wider than most, with focaccia, pizza, pies, and pastries alongside the bread. An easy grab if you’re already downtown.
When You’re Chasing Something Sweet
You want Suzy Q Doughnuts, and specifically the Hintonburg original at 1015 Wellington Street West. Former Canada Post letter carrier Susan Hamer started it in 2012 out of a tiny wooden shack. The signature is the Sugar Munkki, a cardamom-spiced Finnish-style doughnut based on her Finnish-Canadian mom’s recipe. There are two more locations now, on St. Laurent Boulevard and in Bells Corners, but the Wellington West shop is the mothership.
When You Need Vegan or Allergy-Friendly (And No Compromises)
Strawberry Blonde Bakery at 111 Richmond Road in Westboro is where you go if you’re navigating dietary restrictions. Everything is vegan, gluten-free, nut-free, and kosher, and none of it tastes like a compromise.
Little Jo Berry’s at 1305 Wellington Street West is fully vegan, too, with a daily-rotating dessert menu and a warm, everyone’s-welcome vibe. Go in without a plan and see what’s out that day.
And The Black Walnut Bakery at 979 Cameron Street out in Cumberland is worth the drive east if you’re that side of the city. Everything’s made from scratch with natural ingredients, and it has the kind of community following that keeps a neighbourhood bakery alive for years.
So Where Do You Start?
It all depends on the day. If you’ve got out-of-town guests, take them to Le Moulin in Byward for the Obama Cookie story. If you want a loaf worth building a dinner around, it’s Art-Is-In or Bread By Us. If it’s a Saturday and you want to feel a little French, Mamie Clafoutis and a strong coffee will do it.
The point is that Ottawa’s bakery scene has gotten very good while nobody was looking. You just have to know which door to walk through. Been to one we missed? Tell us in the comments.
