Pergamino's Bakery & Café

Published February 7, 2023

The last weekend in January, when the weather still reached the 50s, my boyfriend and I went to Boonton for the afternoon to explore their shops. I’ve had dinner in Boonton before, but never breakfast. I was excited to start our day with brunch at Pergamino’s Bakery & Café.

 

We parked in the two-hour parking lot on Boonton Ave, across from Sharky’s West. We walked down Boonton Ave back to Main Street. Pergamino’s sat across the intersection with a clean black and white exterior that made me think of Tatte Bakery & Cafe in Boston.

Interior Design

Pergamino’s Bakery & Café was a huge space that was well lit from the large front windows. A colorful column in the center of the room had the breakfast and lunch menu written on it.

We read the breakfast menu before walking the length of the pastry counter. Baskets of bread, a tall rack of pastries, and a sign advertising fresh fruit smoothies led us to the drink case. Luckily we had missed the morning rush and we could take our time with ordering.

A young woman behind the counter told us about their coffee selections. We placed our order with her and crossed to the right-hand side of the room. There were rows of four-top tables and a long bench with a counter for seating.

We selected the last four-top table against the wall before the room transitioned to casual seating. Additional two-top bar seating sat against the wall.

Napkins, plastic cutlery, and spices sat on a cart on the other side of the column. We grabbed cinnamon for our coffee and waited for our breakfast order.

Brunch at Pergamino’s

Small Cappuccino

I ordered a small cappuccino with sugar and my boyfriend ordered a medium. I thought the cup sizes were generous — my boyfriend’s medium cup was huge!

Our drinks arrived boiling hot. We added our cinnamon on top and let them sit without the lids to cool. They were delicious.

Breakfast Sandwiches

Our breakfast sandwiches arrived not long after our drinks. We were in no rush and were happy to see that the sandwich portions were just as large as the drinks.

Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Sandwich

I ordered a bacon, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwich. I added my own ketchup, salt, and a pepper from the nearby cart.

My sandwich had 3-4 slices of bacon, a fair amount of eggs, and a thick slice of cheese. We couldn’t figure out what cheese it was, but it was tasty.

Taylor Ham, Egg, and Cheese Sandwich

My boyfriend’s sandwich was a mirror of mine, with the exception that he ordered Taylor ham instead of bacon.

Both of our rolls were fresh and sturdy enough to hold the sandwich together. It was a big portion and I was already getting full by the time we finished our sandwiches.

Pergamino’s started to get busy around 11:30. A young boy dressed in his gi came in with his parents. They ate by the front window and practiced his spelling. Several couples ordered pastries and coffee to go. They sat near the front window and waited for their orders. One woman ordered a smoothie to go.

The young woman behind the counter was accompanied by a man who greeted some of the customers by name. I wondered if he was the owner.

We wanted to share some pastries as we finished our coffees, so we went back to the pastry case and selected two pastries from the front. We asked about some of the breads and pastries on the tall rack, many of which had Spanish names that I cannot recall. I was tempted to order one of those pastries or try some of the prepackaged slices of cake — red velvet, tiramisu, Oreo and more — but we didn’t want to order more than we could eat, so we started with these two pastries.

Strawberry Puff Pastry

Each of the pastries in the case had an English and Spanish label. We selected this pinwheel-shaped pastry because it was strawberry flavored. It arrived in a light wicker basket.

The strawberry pastry was light and airy. The best bite with the most filling was directly in the middle of the pastry.

Palmier (Elephant Ear)

I picked this pastry because it looked crisp and coated in sugar.

We easily split this pastry in two. It was crisp and not too sweet. I dipped it in my remaining cappuccino. I preferred the taste of the palmier to the strawberry pastry, but both were fresh and tasty.

We stacked our pastry baskets and sandwich plates on the side of our table. We were finishing our coffee when the man behind the counter brought us a third pastry. It was one of the Spanish-named pastries from the tall rack we had been looking at. “I wanted you to try this one, on me.” He said. It was such a lovely surprise and I was excited to try this pastry!

He cautioned that the pastry (which he may have called an empanada) was hot. We gave it time to cool off before breaking in two.

The filling was guava and cream cheese, which was a sweet and creamy filling. It was my favorite pastry of the three that we tried. I would order it again and try some of the other sweet empanadas that were available.

My Recommendations 

I give Pergamino's Bakery & Café a 9/10 for the following: 

• Decor and Design

  • The restaurant is bright, spacious, and welcoming. The pastry cases were filled we beautifully organized with pastries and breads. I love the two walls with the Pergamino’s logo and the memorable neon colors. The back seating area with plants and comfortable seating makes Pergamino’s a great cafe for dining in and hanging out.

• Service

  • The woman behind the counter was helpful and understanding as we navigated our way through the menu and ordering process. She was friendly and our food arrived piping hot. The man who helped us select our pastries was helpful with showing us all of the options, and I appreciated the thoughtful opportunity to try a pastry I was unfamiliar with.

• Food

  • Our breakfast sandwiches and coffees were great and I was happy with the large portions and freshness. The pastry cases and variety of options for both classic and Colombian pastries was fantastic. While I could not provide an itemized breakdown of our visit, all of our goodies totaled $29 (with tip)! I think that’s a great price for the meal and pastries we had. I am excited to go back to Pergamino’s to try their smoothies and even more of their breads and desserts.

Have you tried Pergamino’s Bakery & Café before? 

Leave a comment below with your favorite pastry. I’d love to hear your thoughts. 

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