No one in Boston orders babka from New York. They go to Bakey, where Danish-Israeli co-owner Uri Scheft offers kosher, yeasty confections. He also serves up croissants filled with veggies or cheese, and elaborately braided challahs, some dusted with seeds.

You can judge a North End restaurant by the contents of its bread baskets, and, in this realm, Bricco excels. Follow the smell of fresh bread down a narrow alleyway to its modest panetteria. A fragrant (often still warm) Italian or French baguette costs $3 — or spend more for a gorgeous olive-studded loaf. With some prosciutto or fig jam and cheese from Bricco’s salumeria next door, that’s a picnic.

Clear Flour Bread has been open since 1982, and may it stay that way forever. We salute this Brookline mainstay for its longtime excellence, but we love it for its roster of European-style loaves and pastries: olive rolls, sourdough variants, the cheese-ready New England Night (wheat, rye, pecans, and cranberries), and German pretzels; morning buns, chocolate pretzel croissants, fruit tarts, and perfect chocolate chunk cookies.

Expanded from Medford to Melrose and now the South End, this French bakery practices culinary diplomacy wherever it goes. This is thanks to eggy, burnt sugar-y canelés, perfectly buttery croissants, and baguettes to carry home like a real French person, plus an assortment of other appealing goodies.

This Boston-area institution could also fairly be called “Butter,” serving up flaky, rich breakfast pastries such as a corn chili cheddar bialy, homemade Pop-Tart, or, best of all, the supremely gooey “sticky sticky bun.” With 10 locations across Boston and Cambridge, it’s easy to find an excuse to try the breakfast sandwich: custardy slabs of egg with tomato and cheese all piled on a brioche bun and slathered with dijonnaise.

Grace Young, a James Beard-winning advocate for all Chinatowns, practically swooned over this unassuming spot during a visit in 2024, telling the Globe it’s “the type of Cantonese bakery you don’t see much of anymore!” Find labor-intensive delicacies such as savory taro rolls flecked with scallions and dried shrimp, glistening egg custard tarts with flaky crusts, moon cakes in different flavors, and soft buns filled with slow-roasted barbecued pork.

In both of their shops, Iranian-born pastry chef Soheil Fathi and his wife, Sarah Moridpour, bake eclairs, croissants, pain au chocolat, kouign amann (a delectable, multilayered, buttery pastry), and other French classics; American favorites such as sourdough bread and chocolate chip cookies; and barbari, a Persian flatbread.

From the time it opens its doors, this Colombian bakery never stops moving. Locals fill the Maverick Square cornerstone in search of freshly baked goods and quick lunch plates. Of the dozens of options this cafeteria-style spot offers, the oven-hot pandebono — cheese bread — is a standout: sweet, moist, and subtly cheesy.

A Somerville classic: In a world of fast-casual breakfast grain bowls, toasts, and free Wi-Fi, Lyndell’s, which opened in 1887, remains refreshingly rooted in the past. At this simple spot — inhale deeply for yeast and sugar overload — stand in line and gaze at the case until it’s your turn to point: at saucer-sized M&M’s cookies; glistening hot cross buns; red velvet cupcakes … all oversized and gloriously fresh.

Skip the line outside Bagelsaurus in Porter Square and stop by Ayham Haddad’s Middle Eastern bake shop instead for a calmer — but no less tasty — experience right next door. Country sourdough pitas are the mainstay here, but spinach and feta fatayer (essentially a stuffed bread boat) and ajvar sfiha (flatbreads with roasted bell pepper and eggplant) steal the show. Grab a dip — muhammara, baba ghanouj, or hummus — to go with your delicacies.

Park yourself at a window seat and watch nonstop passersby as you bite down on the crunchy shell and creamy ricotta filling of a classic cannoli at this North End fixture, owned by the same Italian family since 1930. Save room for a slice from the selection of decadent cakes — a Tiramisu drenched in espresso, or the Boston cream cake, a tasty take on the Boston cream pie.

The ultimate move at Petsi Pies (pronounced peet-see) is to double up: one savory, one sweet. That makes dinner and dessert. It’s picnic food, or dinner party food, or I-really-cannot-deal-with-any-more-dishes food. We’re partial to the silky quiches. And in addition to regular sweet offerings, which include a dense, decadent chocolate bourbon pecan pie, there are seasonal favorites such as a bright lemon chess with blueberries.

Fans of this small Middle Eastern bakery, cafe, and specialty shop in Cambridge rejoiced when a second, larger spot (35 seats) opened last year in Allston, where all of its baking now occurs. The bold and savory delights from Oleana chefs Ana Sortun and Maura Kilpatrick are found at each locale, including the popular spicy shakshuka. But a glorious cardamon-spiced morning bun with orange blossom glaze is among the pastry offerings that alone are worth a visit.

Its tagline is, “If it tastes gluten-free, we don’t sell it.” To the uninitiated, the bakery cases piled high with fluffy, frosted cupcakes; crispy, chocolatey cookies; and indulgent breads such as the challah or English muffins look, well . . . glutenous. But for the gluten-free crowd, the Cambridge shop is a gem.

This Palestinian bakery and cafe is a labor of love and culture, presided over by hospitable owner Abdulla Awad. Sip some tea or refreshing citrus-ginger lemonade with pistachio-filled mamoul cookies and nut-rich baklava, or try hummus with manaqeesh flatbreads, or eye-candy stuffed dates. Many of the recipes are traditional and historic, originating in Jerusalem, where Awad’s family has long lived in the Beit Safafa Somerville.