Dolce Si Sicilian Bakery & Cafe

We came here for dessert after our meal at Wildfin Feb 2016 and I couldn’t have been more pleased!
We shared a slice of the Tiramisu cake, a vanilla cannoli and a 20oz latte. It was so delicious! This place is perfect for Tacoma & Ruston!
All of the pastries and desserts looked so delicious. Now, each time I come by, I will try something else.
My new favorite bakery!
Visited February 2016

Amazing gelato, try the coconut or pistachio nice workers & beautiful tables. Great addition to the area

The food is beautiful, the staff is nice, they could be more helpful and knowledgeable about the desserts – especially when new customers are attempting to make a choice… Staff failed to let us know there were more goodies on the other side of the bakery, and when looking for cakes during our 2^nd visit they didn’t show us the tower case behind the entrance (we saw it on the way out), so be sure to check all corners out prior to ordering! The coffee was burnt. The ambiance is clean and new. Prices are steep. The desserts are lovely but if I am comparing to other high end bakeries, this wouldn’t be my first place for sweets, I’m a Bakery Noveau fan. I have not tried any of the savory items here. The items my husband and I tried can be shared by 2, were sweet and rich, but just didn’t stand out to us, perhaps we just don’t have the palette for a Sicilian bakery.

Hard to find some incredible pastries, especially cannoli’s in Tacoma until I found this place!
The inside is charming, the cannoli’s are near perfect and have a wide variety of other pastries, tart’s and cakes. The gelato is very good as well.
Coffee is decent, wouldn’t be my first choice for espresso but if you’re in the area and need some coffee, this would be the go-​to place.
Just keep in mind, this place is quite pricey.
Lack of stars for customer service. I came in with a friend and we were looking at the case to figure out what we wanted as we have not been there before and the woman who was helping us seemed irritated to begin with and made us feel really rushed and answered questions about the pastries as if we were torturing her. I literally only asked two questions. Not a single smile. Eyes rolling, hand on hip, pure hatred of her job attitude. But I get it, some days are rough, we all of issues, but SHEESH.
Will be back for more pastries and gelato though!

Best Gelato ever… and everything else is wonderful too!!!
My Kids want to go here every day now and we’ve tried almost everything:).
Elisabetta and her crew are really an incredible addition to Tacoma… Thank you for being here.
Definitely try the Cannoli too!!!

Mmmm! A Sicilian bakery! Yummy!
Dolce Si Sicilian Bakery and Café is located in the new Ruston development where there is a brand new multiplex theater there, various restaurants, walking paths all mixed in with apartments and town homes.
I have been in here a couple times before when I was about to see a movie but it was always closed by the time I got out. Lol! So this time the priority was to go to JUST the bakery!
They have a ton of pastries all Sicilian or Italian style along with gelato which I haven’t had the opportunity to try yet.
What I did get was a chocolate filled cannoli which was excellent! It had powdered sugar on the rolled dough and the chocolate filling was delightfully pudding like… perhaps it was. Delicious!
I also got a pannini that they had in the case. That too was delicious and wonderful. The ingredients were very fresh and the service very prompt and friendly… even when there are large crowds here.
The ordering is a little bit confusing though. When you come in the main door there is the case where all the food is where you can place your order the counter right by the case is where you place orders for coffee then around the corner is where you pay. At the cash register it seems like that is also where you get the gelato too. So it gets to be a little bit of a pile up here and there but everyone works so quickly that the line usually dissolves in a short amount of time before the next wave comes in.

The coffee was good. Very typical italian roast. Smoother and less robust than what you find in a typical espresso shop in the area.
I honestly didn’t care for the benet. It was incredibly dense, and honestly just not that appealing. Might just be my american palate needing more sugar (and salt), but these things are just too doughy, and kind of missing something. There’s definitely a market for these things, but I’m not a buyer.
Currently the only espresso place in «Point Ruston.» It would be awesome to see another independant roaster set up shop down here, but I don’t think that’s gonna happen. It’s too manufactured and posh down here to support something that cool.

We loved the easy parking here, great location for sitting and have a quick cup of coffee. Indulged in the cannelloni, and picked up some pastries for breakfast tomorrow.
What a perfect place.

Sunday morning+new café= CHAOS.
Arriving at Dolce Si was at first exciting, this being our first time. It quickly turned into an anxious and strange visit. The pastry cabinet was amazing in looks and held many wonderful Italian baked treasures. Unfortunately, the young kids working behind the counter were helping too many people at once, not speaking up and an introduction to what was in the case would have been helpful!
After ordering, it was a cattle call and confusion as you had to seek out where to pay. Where do I get my coffee? My sweethearts latte never showed and he had to ask for it after waiting at least 5 minutes. BUT… it was a delicious, thick latte.
For efficiency, there is a need to move their coffee menu to the very large front wall when you first walk in. There is no directional signage as you navigate the pastry case then a spot to pour your own drip coffee and THEN pay the cashier. At this stage you walk to a counter loaded with plates of everyone’s «for here» orders and its very confusing.
All in all… the ordering process was chaotic. The drip coffee was awful. If they train the kids working here to be more vocal as to how the line works, 15 people at once should be a breeze. As a former barista… there IS a better and more efficient process!
Drip coffee: watered down and flavorless
Vanilla latte: delicious and perfect!
Treccine: light and chocolaty pastry
Cipoline: savory pastry with cheese, onions and ham. Sublime.

I went on a drive and drove past this place twice. Decided to come in during my third time passing this place and just go in. First stepping in the door you’re met with bright colorful patterns and the amazing display of Italian desserts! My kids and I first wanted gelato but decided on pasteries. We chose the black swan, white chocolate covered bigne, and I got tiramisu cake. Can you say coffee cream heaven! The richness of the cake and the pastry cream was out of this world!
My daughter wants to come here on her birthday. So good! Will come back soon!

I love this place! First I’d like to say: it’s NOT a French pastry shop, it’s Italian! STOP trying to say you’re looking for pastries, then write an average review because the ITALIAN bakery didn’t meet your «French pastry» expectations! Doesn’t even make sense!!!
All that being said, This is my go-​to bakery shop around here! Everything I have tried has been delicious! The staff members are all friendly and helpful, but don’t hover! I have gone different times of the day and even on their busy days they acknowledge every person that walks in and will answer all your questions!
The pastries are the perfect amount of «sweetness»… People who complain about the pastries being «bland» don’t understand, you don’t need to TASTE THE SUGAR for the pastry to be good! It’s an entire compilation of cream, chocolate, vanilla, sugar, fruit and/​or whatever pastry you have decided to eat…
STOP thinking pastries have to be SUGARY AND WAY SWEET to be good (haven’t tried gelato… YET (!)… Will update when I do)
Did I mention the coffee and espresso: PERFECT combination of sour, bitter, AND yesssss… SWEETNESS! It’s not Starbucks — THANK GOODNESS!!!
Pricing: OF COURSE it could be cheaper, but if you want QUALITY it takes better ingredients, right? Better ingredients mean a bit more money! They offer military discount!!! Treat a service member and/​or Vet to some deliciousness… There’s your «cheaper price»!
All in all, I absolutely love this place! From the time you walk in to when the staff thanks you for stopping in on your way out, this bakery makes each visit a pleasant and satisfying one!

I decided to come here and grab a cake for my daughter’s birthday. They had a few different gelato cakes available to purchase and I decided to go with the mango pomegranate one. It was a nice change from the typical ice cream cakes that you would get from like Baskin Robbins or Coldstones. The cake was composed of a layer of mango gelato and pomegranate gelato with a small layer of cake on the bottom. I thought it was a perfect combination.
The bakery itself was cute. They had several different pastries available and gelato to choose from. I think they can use more help behind the counter though. Or maybe we came on a bad day, I don’t know cause it took a minute before anyone helped us. Not only that but a bit confusing on where you should be or wait in order to be helped. My kids wanted gelato so they waited under the sign that said «order gelato here» but unfortunately noone helped us. I had to go in line under the «order coffee» sign to be helped. It was a bit confusing on where to actually go to order what you want.
Maybe one day we will back to try out their pastries.

This place is absolutely adorable. It kinda-​sorta reminds me of the pastry shops in Europe… But bigger.
We came in on a Saturday evening after a movie and we happy to see tables available (there were long waits elsewhere). We were greater and asked if we had questions. The pastries looked a lot like what I saw in Europe and that really just made me all sorts of happy inside. I don’t eat glutenous treats and was somewhat bummed that they didn’t have any gluten free options. Certainly nothing to hold against them… There are other places that do!
We sampled a good bit of their gelato… Holy cow! So. Good. I went for half peach/​half pistachio. Random, I know. My kiddo got a gelato bar that was almost as big as her face. Huge. Needless to say she could not finish it (and she loves her sweets). They also have a pretty great wine and cocktail selection. I chose a prosecco that paired nicely with the gelato.
There are some Italian pottery pieces, puppets, and handmade cards for sale as well. Cute stuff.
I think the prices are on point for the quality of the product. There are other places that are pricier… And other places that are cheaper. Take your pick. I kinda-​sorta like this place and am pretty sure I’ll be back.

I was introduced to dolce si Italian bakery by my grandma who is half Italian. Right when you walk in you feel at home and like you walked into a real bakery in Italy with all of the Italian décor. The owner is so friendly and has a true passion for what she does. You can tell she really cares about her customers experience, and she even sat and visited with us for a little bit today and we got to try a sample of a new cake she was making! There are so many yummy items to choose from and are beautifully displayed. I will definitely be back again and again, and 100% recommend this place to anyone! I’m not sure why someone would ever write a bad review about dolce si. I know the owner would only want to make an unsatisfied customer happy because that is the kind of heart she has, so I would suggest going back and rethinking this AMAZING bakery! So glad Tacoma has a spot like this.
~Sara

Delicious! Their deserts are almost too beautiful to eat… almost! And the service was wonderful!

Dolce Si is a fantastic addition to Point Ruston, and I’m thrilled to see it busy and thriving every time I stop by.
What to get: the Arancini is a must if you’re in the mood for something savory. It’s a fried rice ball filled with either ham and veggies in a cream-​based sauce, or a meatball-​and-​marinara filled option. You can’t go wrong with either choice.
For a sweet treat: The macarons are the most amazing I’ve ever tasted. This is a dessert that’s incredibly tough to nail perfectly, but they’ve done it. The dipped chocolate cookies are so simple, but so good you have to try one (at least!)
For those complaints about the prices, I think they are very fair for the bespoke drinks and house-​made sweet and savory treats — this isn’t the mass-​produced pre-​wrapped Starbucks cookies trucked in from who-​knows-​where. Keep that in mind, the prices are a touch higher than your average cookie cutter coffee house, but you get what you pay for.

Over priced bakery.
Cannoli was ok.
The mocha with almond milk was ok.
But service and knowledge was EXCELLENT!

What a wonderful coffee shop
The owners are so friendly and kind
Her beautiful work on cookies cakes and pastry are unmatched anywhere in Tacoma
The coffee is as close to Italy as you can get
And homemade gelato in lots of great flavored
If your looking for a special gift there is hand painted ceramics from Sicily
My favorite is the aracini or the breakfast sandwiches on fresh brioche

Amazing desserts! You have to try to this place. They have the most delicious sweets in town here. We have also tried the arancini, brioche panini, cookies, and a wide variety of pastries. Dolce Si is always full of people, but the service is quick and there’s adequate seating. The desserts are special and intricately designed while still being reasonably priced. If you’re in the mood for something savory, grab an arancini (rice ball); in the mood for something sweet, you can’t go wrong with any of their beautiful desserts! This place just opened and it has already become a family favorite. :)

Went today with coworkers and was very impressed. Very cute, friendly bakery with adorable Sicilian ceramics for sale. We each (there were 5 of us) chose something different and everyone loved their choice: gelato, beigne, cannoli, cookies, espresso, etc. They didn’t put a foot wrong while taking our order or making us feel welcome. The owner came to speak to us and was very gracious and welcoming.
I will be back and will bring the family!

What a great addition to Ruston. However, I ordered a 12 oz Americano and asked to leave a little room for cream and was charged $.60. Total price was nearly $ 3.40 for a cup of coffee. I really don’t think I’ll be back. Such a great place, you just drove a customer away. Shaking my head…

Before I talk about Dolce Si, you have to understand something: There are hardly any bakeries In T-​Town. It’s bizarre. For some reason all the old bakeries shut down and we have suffered for it.
You cannot find freshly made French pastries in Tacoma.
So Dolce Si is a HUGE step in the right direction and hopefully a sign of things to come in this croissant-​less, pâté choux hungry environment.
This is not super authentic Italian pastry but you will find good bites for your sweet tooth. They have gelato and canoli and rum cake. My children like the Sweet Involtini — basically pastry wrapped around chocolate or vanilla cream. Slightly pricey — they are $ 4.99 each. Good selection of cookies — sugar & meringue. I particularly like their jam filled cookies.
Savoury options include rolls, like a Mafalda, which we tried. They were quite blond. Soft and kind of non-​descript, good for a sandwich. They also have some stuffed pastries and Arancini. I am coming back soon for that!
Solid espresso. Not artisan, like Valhalla for example, but stands up to Star*ucks. Prices are on par with their pricing. I like that they do not go for «foofy-​fluffy» drinks here… yet. Hope they stick with that.
Dolce Si clearly did not anticipate that bakery starved T-​Towners would flock to inspect their wares because there is not much seating here. Do NOT come here thinking you can camp out with your lap top inside. There isn’t space. Lastly, service was friendly but confused. That’s the owner’s fault. The layout is bad, no flow, no signage… people don’t know where to order what.
Hopefully other entrepreneurial bakers will see the business at Dolce Si and join them in Tacoma!

It all started off very wrong when I ordered a mocha with mint and the girl looked at me like I was incredibly stupid. She said «we don’t have mochas, but I can put some chocolate in» and just stood there looking at me like I was a hassle. I said «oh, ok… that’d be great… do you have mint (?) or what other flavors are available?» Once again I got the are you stupid look, and she said «uh, no? We are strictly an ITALIAN bakery and only carry Italian flavors. We do have flavored creamers over there.» and pointed toward the condiment stand, where I saw French Vanilla & Hazelnut creamer jugs.
Hmmm…I didn’t realize French vanilla was Italian! My bad, I guess that’s what I get for being stupid?
At that point I SOOO badly wanted to question miss smarty pants why then, since they were strictly Italian, are they pushing out PUFF PASTRIES and Napoleons?
Our Puff pastries were terribly undercooked and raw inside. Though this is a very common mistake, a baker should always test their products before serving. The chocolate filling in the puff resembled a pre made bulk pudding and was somewhat yuck. The Napoleon had issues with soggy layers that lacked flavor.
I may stop in again, but rude snotty service and underwhelming food kinda ruins a place.

Location is great. Pastries look beautiful however I was deeply disappointed in the flavor or lack thereof. Zeppoli were extremely tough and flavorless, tried the cannoli with ricotta again no flavor, the frangelica pastry was tough, chocolate mouse was grainy, no flavor and felt like it had been frozen. Sincerely disappointed — if you are looking for a cup of coffee or cocktails and a view you are okay but if you are looking for tasty pastries you are out of luck

Decided that I’d give this place another try since we were in the area and craving something sweet. First of all, there were just a few folks in there and several servers so we got prompt attention. While I was trying to decide the server came out and actually walked me over to both cases to show me the chocolate items since I said I wanted something chocolate which I very much appreciated. We settled on a chocolate biegnet for me and a white chocolate one for my husband. They are pretty small but since filled with yummy insides you only need one.
When I mentioned wine, the server said let me bring you a taste of these two wines we are thinking of serving and you can tell me what you think. That was fun even though I’m not crazy about dessert wine.
My biggest complaint is that their prices seem to be pretty high for what you get. However, that might just be me. My husband paid $ 7 for the two small items but I guess rent there is high and you need to make a profit.
The server did tell me that the owners will make special Italian desserts if you call ahead and speak to them which I think is a nice perk.

This new bakery was a nice surprise.
Pros:
Our coffee and pastries were amazing! So many options. I wanted one of everything! The staff was nice. The shop has an authentic feel and is decorated nicely. Plenty of seating.
Cons:
Parking kind of sucks. Not enough people working. Had to wait awhile to order… A long line had formed.
Maybe come up with a better system for ordering and checking out? It seemed like people were confused by the two cash registers.
Will be back!

Came here on a sleepy Saturday morning. As a new place in town we were excited to try it.
I have to say we didn’t get any of the pastries so that might have changed our score… we are willing to go back and try them when we’re getting a sweet tooth craving.
The ladies that were working were very nice. We ordered an espresso and a chai latte. I have to say, sadly, the chai wasn’t very good. It was very watered down tasting. They do have alternative milk (almond, soy etc) which was nice but the chai was just… meh. The coffee was okay, not amazing quality like you would find at Blue Beard or Vahalla but still okay.
I do wish they had healthier options for breakfast. Every pastry is heavy and sugary… granola, yogurt… something like that would be nice :)
The place itself is cute and welcoming… we’ll try it again before or after going to the movies (which is in the same center) to try a pastry.

Service: stood there for 10 minutes, no greeting, no nothing but 7 staffers standing there, 3 of whom were not doing anything. 1 looking exasperated and hating people.
Coffee was a C+ given such a fancy Illy computerized machine was doing all the work. I’m a coffee snob, but first latte ever in life I ordered with no art just lots of foam.
Pastries were ok, average, probably overpriced for being mediocre.
Last but most importantly, saw a worker COUGH on a pastry then handed said infected pastry to a customer. Died.

Great place for authentic Sicilian with a view. The owner is out conversing with her customers and shows a clear passion for this line of work. Looking over the reviews I have noticed a reoccurring complaint of high prices however, being that Point Ruston is the more aristocratic side of Tacoma, if you can’t handle higher prices in exchange for great quality food and an even greater experience, perhaps you’d be better off at Dunkin Doughnuts. I enjoyed a variety of lovely pastries and coffee while admiring the intricate hand made tables sent over by friends of the owners from Italy. This bakery screams authenticity from its hand crafted pastries, both sweet and savory, to the art that is showcased throughout the store. I will definitely be back again :)

Overpriced!
Crowded of what felt like stuffy people.
Too cramped inside unless you want to hear everyone’s business.
Frankly parking sucks and unless you get lucky or don’t mind walking from garage its a drag because no one wants to leave those parking spaces right out front
Walking in summer okay… winter. blah and brrrr

Coffee too expensive pastry too chewy.
I thought their pastries were very dry and not very taste. I will not be back.

The «meh» is based on the one slice of cake I tried. Boring. It had a cake section and two «dough» sections on top and bottom which were sort of salty and hard to push a fork through. There was a thin custard layer which was ok, but not great. It supposedly had liquor in it and a sooort of tasted an orange something, so maybe that was it, but I really had to smack my tongue against my palate to derive any flavor from the slice. Another really bad part of the cake were the chocolate chips with the curly cues, the kind we all buy in bags and put in chocolate chip cookies. They were hard, cold and just an inappropriate size/texture…should have been shaved chunks/​shards. They just sort of bounced away from your teeth and became separate instead of being one with the bite.
I MAY come again and give them one more chance with something else… I just may have to rely on Dockside Donuts for my dainty fix.
****update. I have can now officially say that the Neopolitan I had from Fred Meyers bakery was more «Italian Bakery» than «Dolce Si Sicilian».

Great pastries and coffee!
What a great addition to Point Ruston; I hope they continue the trend bringing cool, tasty places to this area.
This was my first time in here since they have recently opened and I was impressed. Upon entering the doors you are greeted with a cornucopia of beautiful looking pastries and cakes. Not the place to enter when you have not had breakfast; won’t make that mistake again. They also offer beer and wine as well, which would be a nice place to unwind at the end of the day and take in the fantastic views of the water and the Cascades.
I ordered an Americano and a few pastries to take home. The coffee was very good, ok not as good as Stumptown roasters, but very good and much better than Starbucks. I drink black coffee and the occasional latte just to put it in perspective. I had a cannoli and one of their cookies which I found amazing, light in taste and texture and everything is made in house. I guess I will have to go back and try a few more of their items.
Overall a cool place which I think will do well. The location is great, since it is close to me, and the views of the water make this a very comfortable place. Check them out if you are in the area; just don’t go in if you are hungry.

Small italian bakery im Ruston. Limited selection of Gelato but homemade and delicious. Baked good appear to be and taste fresh.