Best Dessert Spots in Richmond
Richmond, Virginia — updated August 22, 2026
Seven Richmond bakeries, pie windows and donut counters, ranked by how squarely they answer a sweet craving and how settled their ratings are.
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Richmond's dessert scene runs on short hours and sell-outs more than on late-night counters. A pie shop in Church Hill sells only what it baked that morning, a Carytown bakery works entirely without dairy or eggs, and most of the city's best pastry is gone by mid-afternoon. The list below is ordered by how directly each place answers a sweet craving, with review counts as evidence of how settled each rating is.
1. Country Style Donuts
The most heavily reviewed dessert-first spot in the city, and the rating has held: 4.8 across more than 2,000 reviews is proven, not promising. The shop on Williamsburg Road bakes donuts and pastries fresh daily and posts hours of 5am to midnight, with the caveat that it closes early if it sells out. Closed Mondays. That combination of a long day and an early-close risk means the safest windows are the morning bake and the evening hours before the trays thin out. Tripadvisor reviewers have it ranked near the top of the city's restaurants overall.
2. Proper Pie Co.
New Zealand-style pies, savory and sweet, sold from a front-door window the shop calls the PieHole. It holds a 4.8 from more than 1,600 reviews, which puts it in settled territory. Hours are Wednesday through Sunday, noon to 6pm, and everything is baked fresh that day: online ordering opens at 10am, or you can walk up at noon and order in person. Orders are day-of only unless arranged in advance, and once a pie is purchased it is held for you, so call if your pickup slips. Savory pies run $7.95.
3. Sub Rosa Bakery
A Church Hill bakery on North 25th Street with a 4.8 from more than 1,200 reviews, which is a lot of agreement for a small operation. The pastry case has included a chocolat salami and a cheese croissant. Hours are Tuesday through Sunday, closed Monday, with the doors open by 8am at the latest and closing at 5pm. Special orders require 48 hours' notice, so anything beyond what is in the case that morning needs planning. Go early in the day if you want a choice rather than what is left.
4. Minglewood Bake Shop
Billed as Richmond's first 100 percent vegan bakery, on West Cary Street in Carytown, which makes it the default answer for anyone avoiding dairy and eggs. The 4.7 rating comes from 378 reviews, a smaller sample than the shops above, so treat it as strong but less settled. Hours run 8am to 4pm at the start of the week, which puts it in reach of a morning coffee run more than an after-dinner stop. There is a deli alongside the bake case, and the shop takes special orders and allergen questions through its website.
5. Sugar & Twine
A West Cary Street bakery and cafe with a carry-out window at 2930 and a sit-down cafe next door, holding a 4.6 from more than 800 reviews. Baked goods are made by hand each morning. Cookies are sold by the dozen at $30, which makes this the practical choice when you are feeding a group rather than yourself. Doors open at 7am seven days a week, closing at 3pm early in the week and 4pm from Friday through the weekend. Sandwiches stop at 1pm at the window and 2pm in the cafe.
6. WHISK
French-inspired pastries in Shockoe Bottom, open since 2015, with a 4.5 from nearly 900 reviews. That is the most tested rating in the lower half of this list, and the pastry case is the reason to come rather than the sandwiches and salads that share the menu. The Main Street shop opens at 7am daily and runs to 4pm Tuesday through Saturday, with a shorter Sunday that ends at 2pm. Reported Monday hours vary between sources, so check before making a Monday afternoon trip.
7. Early Bird Biscuit Co. The Fan
Biscuits are the headline, but the bakery case is what earns the spot here: apple pie danishes and strawberries and cream roll cake have both turned up on the counter. The 4.6 rating comes from more than 600 reviews. Hours are the tightest on this list: 7am to 1pm Tuesday through Friday, 7am to noon Saturday, closed Monday and Sunday. On North Robinson Street in the Fan. Given the half-day schedule and the day-of baking, this is a morning errand, not an afternoon one.
What we left off
Ellwood Thompson's, the natural foods grocery on North Thompson Street, was dropped. It is locally owned and well reviewed, but it is a full grocery store rather than a dessert destination, and it does not match the premise of this list.