Caldense Bakery

Super affordable and has a lot of variety. We tried plenty of baked goods and enjoyed all of them. The Portuguese tarts were especially delicious. We even bought a bit more right before we left to take some home. There's a lot of seating available as well and is a nice place to go spend time with a couple of friends. Definitely would go back!

Great cafe in the Little Portugal neighborhood in Toronto. I will definitely make it a regular place with my friends . Only gripe is that their coffee is not strong and flavorless. But Ckdense cafe has great cake and sandwich selection.

This has got to be the biggest staple Portuguese bakery in Toronto. It's a very modest place, where older generation people usually hang out and feel at home, can speak their own language and are able to get authentic baked delicacies accompanied by a well made coffee. If you don't know what to order ask for the best sellers, the staff is really friendly!

Just called this store and whoever picked up was incredibly rude and impatient, I didn't even have a chance to say hello when she YELLED into the phone. Their website clearly states that they have fruit tarts so I just wanted to call to confirm and she said they don't have them?? Poor website info and poor communication skills.

So, I basically ate breakfast here everyday during this trip to Toronto. It was walking distance and really convenient. I would DEFINITELY recommend this place to anyone coming on a trip to Toronto. It’s also reasonably priced. They had this strawberry 🍓 pastry that was to die for. It was just the right amount of sugar that went with my green tea. This will be one of my first stops when I return!

I’ve had all the best tiramisu in Toronto (blogTO has a list). And I would add this bakery to the list. The tiramisu cake that I ordered was a crowd pleaser!! Everyone loved it. It was moist, fresh, with perfectly soft ladyfingers. The decoration was also a nice added touch. The 10” cake was enough for 15 ppl. Easy ordering process by calling head office. Thanks Caldense!

Cafe store typical portuguese. Environment and customer service reminded me the same way it is back in Portugal. Pastries looked good, i did not try them tho. Expresso tasted good same as back home. With variety of portuguese products, if you want to try a portuguese typical cafe store and cafe i would recommend to come to Caldense if you are in this area

LOVE the Portuguese egg tarts. I always come here for these. Not too sweet with a rich and creamy custard. A pretty box when you buy 6.

Venezia is tragically closed forever, so I tried going here instead. The natas here are just ok. They have the right sort of edge to the taste, and the clientele are mostly Portuguese, but it's just not as good. Alas.

Stopped in to enjoy a sandwich and desert. The home made buns and custard egg tarts we very nostalgic of eating at grandmas house. The staff is prominently speaks Portuguese and were friendly. They have a handful Of beers on hand.

I finally managed to check this cafe out this morning... it's a moderate sized cozy place with a predominantly Portuguese speaking staff and customer often greeting each other with "Bom dia" Just like some of the other yelpers have mentioned, there aren't any labels on the products so I the only item that I was able to identify were the egg tarts. I've always wanted to try a Portuguese-style egg tart so finally I picked that, together with a swirly danish looking pastry that was studded with chopped candied peel. And of course what better drink to enjoy them with than a nice cup of hot coffee. I thought that the pastries would have costed a bit but the total amount for all three items came up to just $6.25... nice deal! And both the egg tart and the pastry filled me up with the coffee. I especially liked the chewiness of the candied peel in the danish and the custard filling in the egg tart was also somewhat on the fluffy sweet side and I liked the crust of the tart, kind of semi-chewy. Coming here to sit down and enjoy a light breakfast treat while watching the Littly Italy area come alive mid-morning was a nice way to start my own day.

I was in Ossington when I decided to do a custard taste off with another nearby Portuguese bakery. This bakery is quite large with ample seating. It is a bit dark and reminds me of a well loved bakery of previous decade... not that is a bad thing but if you're looking for a sunny place to relax, unwind, and enjoy some Portuguese treats, this may not be your first choice. This bakery has tons of seating that extend all the way to the back. They had lots of treats and baked goods but I was primarily here for their custard tarts. The service here is fast, curt, and efficient. Compared to another bakery, it was a little cold but still, they're quick and that's a plus. The custard tarts all had that great caramelized dark spots. Trying it later that night, it was a near tie but the other bakery just edged out Caldense. Caldense crust was softer and not as flakey as the other one. It had that nice creamy centre but the flavour was a touch more artificial vanilla and one note. It was still good as everyone said it was something they'd eat again. Overall, a solid egg tart. If you want to try one that has a flakier crust, a more creamier centre, and a light vanilla note with a rich egg flavour, try Venezia in the same neighbourhood

This is another one, added to a total of eleven Caldense bakeries in the GTA. The original Caldense Bakery is only a few blocks west in Little Portugal on Dundas a little west of Ossington. This neighbourhood has no shortage of Portuguese bakeries, but Caldense is the most chain-like with the multiple locations selling the same baking. The coffees they make are terrific, and the pastries divine. One could argue that there are better mom and pop Portuguese bakeries, but Caldense I am a fan of because it has the European look and atmosphere so lacking in obvious North American wannabes like Starbucks. Everything about the place, the colours, the graphics, the presentation, the sounds, the staff, all feel different than if you were anywhere else but in Little Portugal, Toronto. Stop in and have a latte, you won't regret it. And, say hi to the neighbours too.

I ordered a cesar salad and got lettuce only... not chicken nothing... just lettuce. 1 star for misleading menu and for the poor customer service!

Best thing about this bakery is that it's open late, 'til 10 PM every night. So when you get that late night craving, you know where to go. They're known for their "Custard Tarts" here, but I bought a brownie instead. It was really gooey and good. It's also not a bad space to sit and have a coffee-- it's clean and the staff don't seem in a rush to get you out the door. I don't think it has Wifi though...something to keep in mind if you're thinking of lugging your laptop there.

We popped in while staying in Little Portugal. We were there around 7:30am and they were just opening. There were cartoons playing on TV and I assume they were speaking Portugese. It was obvious that we were outsiders, but the service was efficient and friendly enough. We had an apple tarte, ham croissant and two coffees. They were all pretty good, nothing spectacular.

Asked for a coffee with cold milk. Girl hands me a coffee and I watch her steam the milk. She then offers to pour half of it out instead of making me a new coffee. Rude.

This place is absolutely disgusting they have cockroaches running around everywhere they're always trying to hide it from customers the food is garbage meat is left for days on end in a freezer that is not cold enough to hold it staff is completely rude owners are ruthless and selfish don't care about no one they pay their poor workers $10 an hour illegally it's just a horrible place to work in horrible place to go to

I live in the area for the past 15 years and I've seen this place but this is the first time I stepped in wanted to buy some bakery bread. There was one person ahead of me and two servers. None of the servers paid attention to the gentlemen, or me. Instead they are busy with short order cooking - both of them. Long story short, the amount of disorganization is astounding. 10 minutes wait to buy a loaf of bread. In a bakery. The table service is ridiculous and it should be revoked immediately. Take cues from High Park restaurant - get all the orders and sort it out. Maybe then you would not be making one by one egg omelette and lose customers. And BTW the bread was not amazing, at best it was so-so, combined with atrocious service, they won't see me coming back. I guess there is a reason why this place is always empty.

Worst bakery in the city. Before you order any of their cake slices, ask them if it was made today. They sell cake slices that are so old, they can bounce like a basketball. Especially beware of their Black Forest Cake and Tiramisu. I would avoid this place altogether if possible.

Service here is not the friendliest. It was our first time trying a portuguese bakery and we asked what a lot of the pastries were or what they consisted of and the staff would either say they dont know or answer unenthusiastically with the "stop wasting my time and get out of here" face. Even though we ended up trying almost everything they had. Either way the pastries are fresh and yummy and the prices are nice.

Went there to grab a couple pastries for a friend and I. Nothing had a price OR a name; there was no way to tell what anything was or what it was made of except by eyeballing it. When I asked if there was a price list, the server acted like she had no idea what I meant. How odd of me to ask for prices *in a store*. The pastry itself tasted like a hostess bar. You could get better quality buying an old box of Twinkies.

Sometimes I order a coffee here and the ladies behind the counter look at me like I'm stupid and say "sit down we'll bring you your coffee" other times I order coffee and sit down and the lady yells at me across the diner and ask me to pick up my coffee

One of the best bakery I have ever been to in Toronto. Reasonable. Great people to serve.

Visited this spot with a hungry stomach & a friend who wanted eggs. When walking in we didn't know if we seated ourselves or waited to sit down. The register is by the door & that specific space was a little cramped because so many people were coming into buy bread. The rest of the place is sort of small but lots of tables to sit at. When sitting down I quickly looked at yelp & wish I had taken the time out to actually read the reviews & know I should have tried the custard. However, the only thing I saw was that customer service was not too great so I was curious to see how our visit was going to be. Staff were so so. Not super friendly but friendly to their regulars. We ordered our beverages, me an apple juice & my friend a coffee & it honestly took a while to get to our table. We both got the omelet with Portuguese sausage & I added mushrooms to mine. The plate came with 4 huge slices of bread which was good & the omelet wasn't something I favored. The omelet was basic, I just overall wasn't impressed. I wish I had taken the time to read reviews & try their custard as people recommend & maybe then I would have had a different experience.

AVOID. The apparent message here is if you're not Portuguese you'll be served last or not served at all. I stood in line for almost ten mins as other customers were in queue. So far so good. Finally it's my turn, I thought. Then the cashier looked right through me like I I had my invisibility shield on, and served the Portuguese lady behind me, even kindly talking to her in her native language. There's plenty of other neighbourhood bakeries.

Really great Portuguese pastries. The pastel de nata are so good. Custard is very flavorful, pastry on it is light and flaky, I could eat a million of these! Everything we got was very fresh and flavorful. My favorite was the custards. So why not 5 stars??? They burnt the espresso which kinda ruined it but the pastries were 5 stars. We brought a whole box of patries to friends for under $15. So good prices as well. The atmoshphere is ok, not great. The place could use a little sprusing up but for take out it was perfect!

Egg Tarts and that's it. I ordered egg tarts, whole wheat bread, and a lemon type Danish. Egg tarts were decent. Some say they are the best in town. They are good but I wouldn't go out of my way to get them. You can get good egg tarts on any decent Asian grocery. Bread was normal. Nothing special at all. Tasted like the regular bread from loblaws. Actually loblaws is more moist. The stuff I got was quite dry. Not terrible but not great. The Danish was terrible. Really. The pastry was dry and almost stale. I won't go back any time soon. I'd pick up the egg tarts again if I was in the neighborhood.

(To the owners) can you please teach the girls how to make coffee or lattes. It very horrible. Seriously I come back hoping it's going to change but freakin no! Stop counting money and help out in the front some time and improve services please.

5 SLICES OF BACON! That's right, five thick slices of bacon. If you order a BLT anywhere in the city you will get 2 slices of bacon, 3 if you're lucky. My sandwich had 5 amazingly crispy and thick bacon slices, which was fried up right on the spot when I ordered it. I ordered the whole grain rye bread with seeds and it was absolutely fantastic! I can not say anymore how much I truly enjoyed this sandwich. Thank you, Caldense!

Want to have the best pastel de nata (Portuguese custard tart) in the world? Want to have coffee just like they serve in the cafes of Lisbon? Chicago couple visiting Toronto had incredibly delicious and authentic Portuguese pastries, sandwiches, bread, and coffee at several of the Caldense locations during our visit. No wonder they were awarded the best pastel de nata! We have been to Portugal several times and we must tell you this is very authentic and just as delicious as any fine pastry shop in Lisboa.

Price is SUPPPPPER cheap for what you get! Head there for breakfast on occasion before school, something worth checking out, however it was very busy and I don't recommend eating in

I like coming here for the natas (Portuguese custard tarts), they're the best in the city! Their other traditional Portuguese desserts are very good as well. Their lattes aren't the best but like I said, I come here for the natas!

Lovely little bakery, delicious treats. Staff took the time to tell us what each item was, and the prices were on point.

The best bread I have tasted so far in Toronto. As European immigrant being used to delicious bread a big frustration in this city is the awful quality of the bread. This stuff is good...real good.

This place is awful. I got a loaf of bread and it didn't set properly so it was basically just an empty crust. Went back the next day after I had cut into it and showed them the hollow, un set loaf and asked for a new one. The counter girl said she'd ask (the manager I'm assuming?) and came back to tell me that after the bread leaves the store it's no longer their problem. It's a shame because I live in the neighbourhood but I am definitely boycotting this place. No wonder their "now hiring" sign is basically permanent. I wouldn't want to work for a cheap place like that.

stringy alien orange tarts or their custard tarts will bring you to happy place. wish the staff was friendlier though.