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Mona Lisa Bakery Pastry Shoppe & Cafe
Rating Details »
Categories: Bakeries, Coffee & Tea [Edit]
Neighborhood: Bath Beach1476 86th Street
(between 14th Ave & Bay 7th St)
Brooklyn, NY 11228
(718) 837-9053
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Wi-Fi:
- No
18 reviews for Mona Lisa Bakery Pastry Shoppe & Cafe
Came here for a late night dessert snack / drive run.
They have such an awesome display of pasteries - it makes you want to try everything!
However, a couple of times I've tried their pastries, it has tasted extremely sweet. Now I have a sweet tooth, but this was diabetic coma-inducing sugar sweet sweet. ... At times. Otherwise it's quite good!
Cannolis: First time I had a cannoli and I was unimpressed. The rolled up part with the cream tasted ok since the rolled up part was quite light.. like a taco. However, the cream had a very chalky texture which I did not enjoy whatsoever.
Eclair: Very tasty, but it is quite sweet. Our sweet tooths were satisfied thoroughly... after sharing ONE eclair.
Their cookies taste pretty good, not too sweet and too chalky like many italian cookies taste.
Wouldn't mind coming back for a different type of pastry. The people here are also very nice and very helpful if you have a question about a pastry/dessert food.
And it isn't too shabby to come sit here to eat either!
Seriously The Best Place For Pastries
in terms of price and quality. The pastry at this place is so much better than a lot of "FAMOUS" places in Little Italy or the LES and price wise its SO affordable.
It's really hard for me not to stop here once a week!
I always buy pastries from this place if I'm going to a friend's place for dinner bc I want to show them that Bath Beach does have the best Italian Bakery in NY!
I am struggling on this review. Three stars for the quality of the food, but a one on the service, so I'm averaging it out to a 2-star rating. I stopped in for gelato this weekend and some seven layer (rainbow) cookies and of course everything was delicious but the girl who helped us was so stupid that it killed my entire experience.
First, if the sorbet is downstairs and you've already scooped out the gelato, why would you wait to serve it to us until you could serve us ALL? The sorbet was nice and the gelato was melting all over the floor.
Second, if I order a pound of cookies - a pound of the SAME cookies, why on earth did you think I also ordered eclairs and a pound and a half of said cookies? Also, why the hell would you weigh them ONE AT A TIME? Oh, and we were still waiting for our gelato while you did this.
Third, if I ask if you ship cakes it doesn't mean I want to order one at this PRECISE MOMENT.
Fourth, if I ask if you ship cookies, see the note that begins with the word "Third".
Fifth, if I ask you who the manager is and you point to someone who is obviously getting into a car and speeding off, and I ask who else I can speak to, it's really not wise to say "no one." Find me someone, even if it's the dude who mops the floors. Just someone other than you!
Sixth, how on earth do YOU have a job with some semblance of income? You can't answer basic questions about your JOB and you have zero common sense.
I took my mom here for a coffee and dessert, great place with AMAZING pastries. Well priced, delicious and local :) I will be back!
I have to say I love their desserts. My first time there was early this year to try the tuxedo chocolate mousse and I can't forget how good it was. This past weekend I went there to get a cake for my boyfriend and we picked out hazelnut cake. The cake taste really good. I am definitely going back there to get more desserts next time.
Mona Lisa from the outside can look like a strip of resteraunts and is known for its pastries and gelato.They also make some of the best panini specialties I ever had. You never have to wait too long for a table and on a summer evening,Its very nice ambiance to eat outside and on the weekends they have lounge music.
Mona Lisa's located on a really underrated block of restaurants. I've gone here a few times for dessert after eating dinner nearby. Their gelato and soft serve ice cream are great! I've never had to wait in a long line, and the outdoor patio is good for chillaxin on a summer night. Can't really beat it, when you look at your options in the area for dessert.
Really delicious pastries, nicely painted mural on their ceiling
I came here 2x, once for the gelato during the summer time, and the 2nd time for their dessert last Friday.
It was obviously too cold to sit outside like they allow you to do in the summer time, so we sat at all the way in the back by the pizzeria section. The chairs and tables are decent, but not that comfortable. My girlfriend and I walked over to the bakery section to check out the desserts that they have. Their chocolate pastries are elegantly designed. They also had some "Gondola" music playing in their speakers. It was quite soothing and relaxing while we checked out the rest of the desserts.
Before I forget, they have a nice mural in their ceiling of a blue sky and there's several people (I don't think I know who) in their cafe area in the front (in the same area where you can get gelato in the summer time).
As for the food, we got a chocolate pastry that was decorated like a tuxedo. It was sweet, but not decadent. I like the cheesecake cone taste a bit better. It tastes just like a cheesecake and the toffee shell was a perfect match because it brings a nice contrast to the creaminess of cheesecake. I almost want to use that cone for ice cream now... Toffee to me is one of those addicting things that is really bad for your teeth, cuz it really sticks to it, but its really delicious.
Overall, I would come back, but maybe hang out in the front (the cafe area with the round comfortable seats) instead of the back.
Having spent my teen years in Bensonhurst, this was the spot for me and my girlfriends. This was where we gossiped and discussed guys over gelato, pastries, and lattes. The place used to be hopping on the weekends, especially in the summer, but the hype has simmered down quite a bit in the past few years. Every once in a while, we still find ourselves meeting up there to catch up.
I haven't lived in the neighborhood for 3 years now but I still go to the Mona Lisa for assorted pastries for special occasions.
EEK! I went there today and it was closed by the health department! Neon yellow Health Deptartment stickers saying they were "Shut down due to public health risk/ health code violations" were posted all over the glass in the front and they were dark inside! They even tried to cover them up with print-outs saying they were closed for renovation, but those failed to conceal the ugly truth. (You have to get a very bad score in the sanitary department for the Dept. of Health to actually shut you down. Most places just pay a fine or are given an opp'y to correct the problem before anything drastic happens like that.......don't even wanna know what it was that caused them to fail)
Because they are a neighborhood and Brooklyn institution, I hope they clean up and are up and running soon. But I probably won't go there again...that kind of thing makes me permanantly lose my taste for a place....yuck
Tasty pastries and pretty surroundings -- though it wasn't too crowded when I went. According to a lot of the reviews, service is bad. This may have not been the case b/c the friend I went with used to go so much that the staff knows her by face, so we got fairly decent service.
This is a great bakery, their stuff is always fresh. I love the mini-pastry trays for when I go to parties for something to bring.
Mona Lisa Bakery has been around in Bensonhurst for a long time. It expanded to add the cafe which is a welcome change. I have enjoyed their pastries since longer than I can remember. Every family holiday had an assorted box of their pastries. I recently tried their gelato and mmmmmmmmmmm.......I'm in heaven.
Mona Lisa is the last example of the old school Italian bakery from my youth. I grew up in Bensonhurst when there was a place like this on every other avenue. The others are almost all gone so Mona Lisa was able to expand into a dining room and outdoor patio. Villa Bella on 86th and 23rd Ave first did this and it was pretty happening on the weekends. They even had a big cart outside with a nice selection of gelato, but I digress. Now Mona Lisa is the only game in town. They make the bread, the pastries and best of all, the butter cookies. This real deal stuff cannot be found in Little Italy. You gotta go to Brooklyn. Trust me. My last name ends with a vowel.
Pastries are good, gelato very good, service not so very good. They have a nice area during the warmer months where you can eat outside and enjoy the wonderful sight of 86th street, but honestly it is quaint. The service is absolutely horrid, unexperienced workers, overworked workers and just frankly its hard to get good help here. They have an area where you can have lunch or dinner, make paninis, entress and pizza's. They also make coffee, latte's, cappuchino, tea and of course the gelato and waffle sundae.
Cannolis are good, pecan tarts are delicious and everything else is made with perfection, just why does the service have to be so bad? Oh Mona Lisa I'll still keep coming, but I'm gonna still be grumpy about your service.
Edited: 05-04-07
I have been here many times and it keeps getting better so I will increase to four stars and tell you to definitely give them a try. Last night I tried their pizza and it was really, really good. If you like thin crispy crust then you have to order the pizza. I was so surprised at how fresh and yummy it was. We ordered the Margarita pie which is fresh mozzarella, little sauce and garlic/herbs. We added some grilled eggplant which was thinly sliced and added a bit of something to the all ready delicious pizza. The give you a good size and the price isn't bad at 16.00. Enough to feed three to four, two if your really really hungry. They also have a large selection of paninis and you can even get Whole wheat if you desire. Next time I'll give them a try. They also have specials which consist of pasta dishes and soup of the day. They have a cute area to sit and even have outdoor seating for the lovely weather we have been having. You must make a trip to Mona Lisa and enjoy the treats and delicious food.
A nice slice of Little Italy in the middle of Bensonhurst. A good place to hang out with down-home friends for dessert and coffee on a lazy Saturday evening. Nice outdoor seating in the front during warmer weather.
I haven't been there for a while until a buddy from out of town who drop in after the dinner. We headed out for the food hunting. GUess what catch our nose. The smell of the pizza, coffee and bakery. I will recommend the bakery first, then you can sit down for the coffee and pizza. Maybe not the best place for family, but definilty for bringing in your date. :)
I've ordered for delivery their pizzas and their paninnis and they are delish. However, there is rumor that Mona Lisa might be bought or taken over by somebody else. :-(
