If you’re looking for an authentic Italian bakery in Fort Lauderdale, Pan’E Dolci Bakery Fort Lauderdale is absolutely worth a stop. This café-style bakery is known for its Italian pastries, desserts, coffee, and massive savory sandwiches. The display cases are filled with cannolis, cookies, croissants, and breads, and they even have 22 flavors of homemade gelato.
Everything looks so good that it’s honestly hard to decide what to order.
If you’re visiting Fort Lauderdale for a short stop or before a flight, this bakery fits easily into a quick itinerary. I talk more about how to plan a short visit in my guide to One Day in Fort Lauderdale: What to Do If You Only Have a Few Hours.
And if you’re planning a longer stay, you can find hotels in Fort Lauderdale here. I usually find great deals and plenty of options.
Walking into Pan’E Dolci Bakery in Fort Lauderdale feels like stepping into a traditional Italian bakery. The pastry cases are packed with options, and the smell of fresh bread and desserts hits you immediately. If you’ve ever walked into a bakery and suddenly wanted to order one of everything, this is that moment.
The atmosphere is casual. You can grab something to go, or sit down and enjoy it at one of the small tables inside. When we visited it wasn’t overly busy, but there was a steady flow of people coming in and out — which is usually a good sign.
The staff was also incredibly friendly and happy to help explain what different pastries were. Honestly, everything looked so good that I wished I had a bigger stomach so I could try more.
There are a lot of great options here, but these are the things we tried.
I ordered the Italian sandwich, and calling it a sandwich almost feels like an understatement.
This thing was huge.
It’s made with fresh sliced salami, provolone cheese, ham, tomatoes, eggplant, and fresh basil on focaccia bread.
The ingredients tasted incredibly fresh, and the focaccia bread held everything together perfectly.
The sandwich was so big that I ate half for lunch and saved the other half for the next day — which honestly felt like a bonus meal.
The Nutella donut is an absolute must. If you’re deciding between pastries, get this one. It’s soft, sweet, and filled with Nutella. Basically everything a donut should be.
We also tried the apricot cookie with pecans (sometimes walnuts), raisins, and cinnamon. It’s a traditional Italian-style cookie that’s packed with flavor and a little different from your typical bakery dessert. If you like fruit-forward pastries, this is a great one to try but if you can only get one thing make it the Nutella donut!
The portions at Pan’E Dolci Bakery Fort Lauderdale are very generous. The sandwich alone was about $20, but it’s large enough to easily split between two people or save half for later.
The pastries are only a few dollars each, which makes it easy to try several things. This is dangerous information if you’re someone who believes dessert is a perfectly reasonable breakfast option. (No judgment here.)
The biggest thing that stands out here is the variety.
You’ll find everything from:
Cannolis
Biscotti
Croissants
Cookies
Italian breads
Gelato
Huge savory sandwiches
It’s the kind of place where you walk in planning to grab one thing and suddenly want to try five.
If you’re planning a full food-focused trip through South Florida, this bakery pairs really well with some of the Cuban and Latin spots across the region. I share more great food stops in my guide to Little Havana Miami: What to See, Eat & Do.
A few quick things to know before visiting Pan’E Dolci Bakery Fort Lauderdale:
It’s casual and easy to stop in
You can grab food to-go or sit down
Portions are large, especially the sandwiches
The pastry selection changes depending on what’s fresh
If you’re flying out of the area afterward, it’s also helpful to know the airport layout and timing. I break that down in my Fort Lauderdale Airport Guide: What to Know About FLL Before You Fly. If you’re flying into South Florida for a food trip like this, I usually start by comparing flights so I can arrive early enough to actually enjoy the day instead of losing it to travel. You can compare flight options here.
Absolutely.
If you love Italian bakeries, Pan’E Dolci Bakery Fort Lauderdale is a great stop. Between the huge sandwiches, the fresh pastries, and the friendly atmosphere, it’s the kind of place that’s easy to come back to again.
And if you go, don’t leave without trying the Nutella donut.
If you’re continuing your food tour around South Florida, I also put together a guide to Where to Eat in South Beach Miami: A Local Food Guide, which includes several of my favorite restaurants and must-order dishes.
Booked this Bryson City yurt for the ‘ber months and it’s already my top fall pick this year. 🍂
The Junaluska Yurt sleeps six but feels more like a stylish cabin than a yurt, two real queen bedrooms with actual doors, a full kitchen, and a private bathroom with a walk-in shower. Check-in is just a door code texted to your phone, no lobby, no waiting.
The real win is outside: wraparound porch, private fire pit, free firewood, a gas grill, and Smoky Mountain sunsets that stop you mid-sentence, picture all of that with October color on the ridgeline. Heads up, the last stretch in is a gravel road, so skip the low-profile rental, and there’s no restaurant onsite, you’re minutes from Bryson City, Dillsboro, and Sylva for dinner.
Two to three nights is the sweet spot. (We actually stayed in the dead of winter and it was still stunning, fall just takes it up a notch.) Full review linked in bio.
Italian food felt like the last thing I expected to find in the middle of the Appalachian Mountains... until I sat down at Ilda in Sylva.🍝
They call it Italian-Appalachian, and that’s not just a tagline. Homemade pasta, craft cocktails, local ingredients pulled straight from the mountains around it, this is the kind of meal that makes you forget you’re two hours from the nearest city. It’s cozy, it’s a little upscale, and it is not a walk-in kind of place, call ahead, because tables go fast on weekends.
It’s not cheap, and it’s not trying to be. But if you’re already making the trip out to Sylva, this is the one reservation worth planning your day around.
Full write-up, including what to order, link in bio.
Booked my fall cabin before September even started, and I’m not sorry about it. 🍂
These are the stays that make you actually want the cold to hurry up fireplaces, mountain views, the kind of porch you don’t leave. Not every one of these is going to fit every trip, but if a cozy fall getaway is on your radar, this is the roundup to start with.
One of my favorite travel seasons is almost here, and I have zero chill about it. 🍁✈️
There’s just something about fall trips cooler air, apple orchards, that first flannel of the season, food that actually makes sense with the weather again. I’m already mentally packing for it before September even starts.
If fall is your favorite time to travel too, tell me where you’re headed... I’m taking notes for the list.
Pack your bags... ✈️🧳My hiking and road trip gear shop just got a refresh, and this is everything that actually earns a spot in my bag. The dry bag pulls double duty for beach days and trail days, the Osprey backpack is the one I grab for anything motorcycle or day-hike related, and the GoPro comes with me literally everywhere at this point.
Nothing on this list is filler it’s all stuff I’ve used, packed, and repacked more times than I can count. Full shop linked in my bio if you want to build out your own kit before your next trip.
Follow @travelwithwendyplummer for Beautiful Beach Destinations, City Guides, Foodie Spots, and Luxury Hotel Recommendations.
