The Miami Pastelito Power Rankings

A Cuban bakery display case without pastelitos should be illegal. Every Miamian looks forward to the mesmerizing sight of beautifully glazed pastelitos in the morning. They’re the appetizers at our parties, the breakfast of sugar-dependent champions, and the rare flaky friend that’s never going to let you down. This city's pastelito spectrum is vast. But for this guide, we focused on the classic guava and guava and cheese versions. We judged each one based on flakiness, filling ratios, strength of guava, and whether or not we could see ourselves in its shiny glaze. We tasted them back-to-back in a single painful afternoon (and later went back to revisit our favorites). Here are the best.

THE PASTELITOS

Ricky Bakery Coral Way

These are the most well-rounded pastelitos in Miami, with defined layers of puff pastry that look like the fore-edge of an ancient book. Ricky has a great guava pastelito, but the pastelito de guayaba y queso is even better. It has the perfect balance of tangy cream cheese and guava paste that’s more tart than sweet (compared to other sugar bombs we’ve had). The sweetness with this one comes from the glaze. Most pastelitos are just glazed on top, but Ricky brushes both sides with a thin layer of syrup. It’s pastelito genius, and demonstrates the kind of attention to detail that makes Ricky’s pastelitos the best.

Cakeland Bakery

Hats off to Cakeland for not only making the best croquetas in Miami , but also the second-best pastelito. Their guayaba y queso is airy with lots of volume and guava that wraps around a cheesy center. It’s a timeless classic. But if you’re going to order just one pastelito here, prioritize their pastelito de carne. We tried to only consider guava versions for this guide, but Cakeland’s carne is too good to ignore. It’s filled with tons of ground beef surrounded by more golden layers than a pile of autumn leaves—and just as much crunch.

La Nueva Fe Bakery

If you put swimsuits on the pastelitos from Nueva Fe, you’d think they were part of a tanning ad campaign. The golden exterior shimmers from all the butter that’s folded into the pastry dough. The outcome is a pastelito so delicate, the flakes start trickling down with nothing but a stern look. It has an edge-to-edge guava-to-pastry ratio that makes each bite gooey and crispy. If you want to introduce a newcomer to the pastelitoverse, this is a perfect example of how a great one looks and tastes.

Versailles

Tape 10 of these together, and you’ve got yourself a puffy, fluffy (albeit sticky) pillow with enough height for side sleepers. But the best part is the guava filling. It doesn’t just fill the pastry, it slips out the opening like a sleeping puppy’s tongue. And although Versailles the restaurant is more for the tourists these days, the bakery never lets us down. If it's winter and it's totally packed with tourists, just cross the street to Versailles’ sister restaurant La Carreta for identical pastelitos.

Party Cake Bakery

If we gave Celia Cruz (R.I.P., Queen) Party Cake’s pastelito, she’d be yelling “¡Azucar!” so loud they’d hear it in Tampa. First, it’s glazed with a very sweet syrup on both the top and bottom of the pastelito. So the first thing you taste is—yes, azucar. But the puff pastry is incredibly crunchy too. You can puncture the top with your finger, leaving a hole that goes several layers deep. It’s a simple, minimalist pastelito with just enough guava and cheese, the perfect breakfast companion to a colada because la vida es un carnival.

Pinecrest Bakery

When we did our pastelito tasting, our notes on Pinecrest's versions included praise for its oozing guava, layers, puffiness, flakiness, and glaze. So, pretty much everything. Pinecrest just makes a very balanced pastelito. The only thing holding it back is the flavor of its guava and cheese filling. Neither have flavors that really register when you bite in, but given the amount of Pinecrest locations in Miami, this is a solid choice next time it's your turn to provide the office pastelitos.

Breadman Bakery

Nothing Breadman bakes will ever let you down. And the same goes for their pastelitos. These have a lighter and less flaky dough, which means you could eat one before an important meeting and not look silly. They're topped with a thick glaze so glossy you can check your makeup with one. The guava filling has a balanced flavor and beautiful color. Stick to that one instead of their guava and cheese version, which usually has an uneven distribution of filling. And even though we only considered those two pastelito flavors for this ranking, Breadman has outstanding unique pastelitos like Nutella, dulce de leche, and beef with plantain.

Cafe Chantilly Bakery

The color on this pastelito is a little off-putting—it’s yellow. But don’t let the jaundice deter you from ordering it. It’s still a solid pastelito with a sweet and sticky top and multiple lacey layers that look like the bottom of a ruffled dress. The cream cheese in the pastelito de guayaba y queso isn’t our favorite—it’s just a solid block of cheese—so stick to straight guayaba, and you’ll be fine.

Las Delicias Bakery

When it comes to pastelitos, the inside matters just as much as the outside. The ones from Las Delicias have an even bake, guava filling that slightly peaks out of the sides, and a pillowy puff with a respectable rise. But the guava is just a bit too sweet and the pastry has no exterior glaze. Still, it’s a pastelito that’ll get the job done for when you need an 8am sugar high to go with your caffeine high.