Charleston, SCBakeries

Owner Lauren Mitterer has picked up multiple James Beard Foundation nominations for a shop that helped put Charleston sweets on the national map. The West Ashley location is known citywide for its wedding cakes and sticky buns, alongside a rotating case of pastries baked fresh throughout the week for a loyal walk-in crowd.

David Bouffard and Bill Bowick opened Sugar Bakeshop in 2007 in the Cannonborough-Elliotborough neighborhood, after spending years renovating both the building and the 19th-century house next door. The case runs to cakes, cookies, cupcakes and pies, all made in house in a space the owners built up themselves before the first customer ever walked in.

Fabrice Rizzo ran the pastry programs at restaurants across New York City and later held an executive role within the Union Square Hospitality Group before opening Le Chambertin on Church Street. The shop bakes French pastries, baguettes and quiches, and keeps a short weekly schedule, open Tuesday through Saturday mornings for coffee and something flaky.

The menu at this Upper King bakeshop shifts week to week, built around laminated pastries like kouign-amann alongside whatever else the case is running that day. It won Best Bakery in Charleston City Paper's 2026 Best of Charleston readers' poll, with Baguette Magic taking runner-up, and it also turns up in the Post and Courier's own bakery roundup as a driving force behind the shop.

What started as a farmers market stand on James Island now sells almond croissants, house-made Pop-Tarts and cruffins out of a storefront on Folly Road. Charleston City Paper named it runner-up for Best Bakery in its 2026 Best of Charleston readers' poll, just behind Welton's Tiny Bakeshop, cementing its place among the city's most talked-about pastry counters.