REVIEW: Emilio's Bakery- **** / $

I have a hard time putting my love for Emilio's to words. So much of what they are is perfect. The quality, the recipes, sigh. I'm drooling as I write this.

Emilio's is generally a take-out kind of place. They have small tables in the quaintly decorated interior. You can sit down and enjoy a cup of decent coffee with the utterly fantastic desserts. In fact, as far as ambiance goes, it is one of the most European places I've ever been, merely because it's not trying to be. European decor isn't a shtick at Emilio's. It just is.

I'll highlight the stars, which are numerous. The slices of chocolate covered cheesecake are sweet, creamy, and imbued with an incredible cheese flavor. Some of the best I've ever had. The coronets are the best I've ever had. I've never had a coronet that comes even close to the flaky, airy perfection of the dough, or the sweet, creamy decadence of the filling. Their chocolate covered coronets are great, but stick to the traditional ones. They have some of the best éclairs on Earth, with a perfect filling, firm, buttery dough, and rich icing on top sending your mouth into a tizzy.

Their wide selection of cakes and pies are all excellent. The cake is moist and rich. The icings are all rich and not too sweet. Only a few of the cakes spoil the party with bland fillings and too much icing overwhelming the cake. Their wide selection of house-made cookies threatens to turn anyone into a Cookie Monster. Their fruit tarts, cookies, and danishes all cry out to be gobbled down. Unfortunately, some of their cookies are NOT house made, which seems odd in a bakery with such wide offerings. These are pretty standard butter cookies, but can't hold a candle to the flavor of the house-made butter cookies.

For pastries and cakes, I always, without hesitation, make the trip to Emilio's. Their prices are just this side of insanely cheap. You can walk away with three more inches on your waistline in a box for under $20. Some other bakeries compete in price, or in quality, but never the two combined. Emilio's is the killer combination of both that leaves everyone else wanting.

UPDATE 3/19/09: I've eliminated a star from the review. Not because the quality went down, but because I wrote this review years ago for another website and I think I was too much of a cheerleader. The bakery is not without problems, such as cake that is too dry, and as such a five-star review denoting perfection is unwarranted.

Emilio's Bakery: ****
Price range for two: $5-$20

287 Legris Ave
West Warwick, RI 02893-2905
401-828-2456

Hours
Tuesday through Sunday: 8:00am to 8:00pm