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.

Hannah and Zachary Welton run this tiny Upper King Street bakeshop, where the case shifts week to week around laminated pastries like kouign-amann alongside kolaches, pasteis de natas, croissants and almond orange cookies. The Post and Courier's bakery roundup names it a driving force in Charleston's pastry scene. Order whatever laminated pastry is in the case that day, plus a kolache for the road.

What started as a farmers market stand on James Island now runs out of a storefront on Folly Road, selling almond croissants and house-made Pop-Tarts alongside avocado toast, brioche French toast and Italian sub sandwiches. The Post and Courier counts it among Charleston's essential bakeries for that range, sweet case up front and a full breakfast-and-lunch menu behind it. Order a Pop-Tart with the avocado toast.