The Cannoli Battle of Boston

The North End of Boston is famous for its cannoli, but which one has the BEST (according to me)?\

By: Kristina Cahaly

Photo by Vivienne Andersen

There’s an ongoing debate among Boston locals and tourists alike: who has the best cannoli in Boston? Mike’s Pastry? Modern Pastry? Bova’s Bakery? As a native of the greater Boston area, I’ve been to all three bakeries too many times to count! As a kid, I never really thought to compare all three bakeries in respect to one popular dessert—the cannoli. Today, I’ll break down each bakery’s cannolis based on creativity of flavors, presentation and, of course, taste.

Modern Pastry

My first stop of the afternoon was Modern Pastry, known for its iconic red boxes with red string. Of the three bakeries, this is the only one where you have the option of sit-down service, but I chose to take my cannoli to go. Here, cannoli are filled to order, using a “build your own” system. First, you choose your shell, followed by your filling and topping. I chose the plain shell, whipped cream filling and chocolate chips—although I was disappointed to find that when I went to try the cannoli, there were pistachios instead. I ended up just picking the pistachios off, and the cannoli was still great! I enjoy whipped cream filling over traditional ricotta because I feel the light, smooth texture goes better with the texture of the shell.

Mike’s Pastry

Of the three bakeries, Mike’s Pastry is definitely the one that’s most geared toward tourists. From its iconic blue and white boxes to the lines out the door and the cannoli menu covering the walls, it's hard to miss when walking through Boston’s North End. There were lots of creative, out-of-the-box flavors, but I chose a mint chocolate chip cannoli, as that was a flavor I had never seen before. I didn’t expect the mint flavor to be as strong as it was, so much so that it tasted a bit like toothpaste.

Bova’s Bakery

For years, Bova’s Bakery was a local charm, although with social media, it has become much more touristy over the past few months. When I was younger, my family and I would always bring home treats from Bova’s whenever we took day trips into the city, and even now, it’s my autopilot destination when I want to do cannoli runs. Its flavors of cannoli are more traditional, but they have great options. Although I’ve tried many of their flavors, I chose the crème brûlée for the purpose of Cannoli Wars because it was the most out-of-the-box flavor I’ve had there. I enjoyed how the filling had a thicker texture, without having a grainy feeling, like I get when I have ricotta-filled cannoli. I also liked how the shell wasn’t so hard that it fell apart when I took a bite, which has always been one of my biggest pet peeves with cannolis.

I found Cannoli Wars to be a great experience, as I hadn’t been to Mike’s or Modern Pastry in so many years that I had pretty much forgotten what their pastries were like. In the end, when picking a winner, I went with my gut–my first instinct when it comes to dessert—Bova’s!