Leone’s Bakery & Cafe

I wish I could rate the food but I have yet to try it. I work for a large company in the area. There are anywhere from 5 to 15 of us that order lunch (almost) every day. We decided to try Leone’s but there weren’t any prices on the menu? None of the employees were willing to order blindly on price and it was too time consuming to call and ask the individual price for each person. We decided to pass. Just seems like bad business not to post prices on the menu.

I finally got a chance to check out this bakery and I am glad I did. When you walk in there are several tables to sit at to the left and right and straight ahead is where all the baked goods and pizza is. When I visited I got a ricotta filled cannoli with chocolate chips on the ends and I also got three slices of pizza one cheese, one pepperoni and one sicilian with sauce and parmesan cheese. The cannoli was very good and the pizzas were good but the sicilian was the best of the three. A note about the pizza slices. The pizza that they sell by the slice is not kept warm or hot so if you do get a slice from them expect it to be room temperature or cold unless they heat it up for you or you bring it home and heat it up yourself. You can also order a hot & fresh whole pizza if you like which I probably will do in the future.

Arrived at 1:40 on a Sunday. They close at 2:00 and it was obvious the woman behind the counter was annoyed that I arrived so close to closing. So much that I actually felt the need to apologize for my timing! I was there to order an assortment of pastries. She asked how many I was ordering so she could choose the correct size box. I told her I was ordering a bunch, but did not yet know how many, as I had not made up my mind yet. I chose 3 and she then told me I could order 1 more, as that was all the room she had left in the box! What I had ordered was all smooshed in the box. She was very unfriendly and did not smile even once! Not a great first impression for a business new to the area. The assortment of pastries was just the usual of any bakery, nothing special! This review is on service only, as we have yet to taste what we ordered.

This bakery is a welcome addition to our town. Although it only opened for business last month, the owners previously operated St. Rita Bakery in Rocky Hill. I arrived shortly after the doors opened seeking breakfast pastries and found a selection of muffins, elephant ears, strudels and more. I purchased one each of pistachio and lemon muffins. While waiting for my order to be bagged, I asked the owner about the difference between lobster tails and sofgliatelle which are both offered. He mentioned that a batch of sofgliatelles were in the oven and would be available in 10 minutes if I wanted to wait which I did. The muffins were light in texture and well flavored. The sofgliatelles were a disappointment, crispy on the outside, but the filling was way too heavy.

Leone’s Bakery & Café occupied the space of the poor No Name Tortilla, which is across from another Berlin landmark Italian restaurant, Portofino’s. I only learned about them because they had a coupon in Clipper Magazine. This place opened about a month ago.
I always try to patronize new local, family-​owned restaurants, especially in the town where my husband and I own a home.
From reading their brochure, Leone’s is a reincarnation of St. Rita Bakery in Rocky Hill, CT. I never ate there so I cannot compare the two.
I walked in yesterday morning to purchase a sweet treat. I bought myself a piece of icebox cake; it was moist and flavorful, though it was predictable. From looking at the display of baked goods, it looked very typical of an Italian pastry shop, but however, Berlin needs a baked good place since Salerno’s closed. The cookies sort of looked sad and the coffee comes from a K-​Cup, which not acceptable in a cuisine known for their coffee roast.
When I was walking out, a huge crowd suddenly came in. I didn’t know what they were ordering, but I guess they do something right. I will come in for lunch one of these days or order a pizza.