I love the cannoli with chocalate chips.

Pretty much everything at Mike's is great. You can get a headache from all the choices.

Will007 and Eileengs2:

Wow! It looks like Mike's Pastry has a lot of good desserts to try out. I guess we might be confused on what to try after looking at their menu...:)

Thanks for the replies!

I am sooo glad I don't live anywhere near the North End because I would either weigh 500 lbs or be dead from a heart attack.

www.mikespastry.com/cannoli

www.modernpastry.com

www.northendboston.com/marias

www.lulusbakeshoppe.com

http://www.mikespastry.com/cannoli.html

I always think of Mike's as a place for tourists or people who don't actually live in Boston. They pre-fill cannoli, sacrilige. I think both the Modern and Maria's are better.

BSA, listen to Veronica. She lives in Boston so she's smarter than us tourists and folks who don't actually live there.

Not smarter, just intolerant of pre-filled cannoli.

Will007:

I looked at your links that you posted, and every one of them had tantalizing photos. Modern pastry seemed to have lots of ship to order things. They were on Food Network, so that must be something special. Maria's looked very nice- as they had a ton of photos. They were very straightforward with their layout of the website- they had a page on specialties! This dessert place also looked like the place we saw on the HDTH channel on Boston- and probably was due to the similar looks and packagings. Lulu's showed their entire menu- but they didn't point out what was special. All the cannolis, tiramisus, and other pastries didn't get much attention- but their layered cakes, cheesecakes, and fruit tarts seemed to be their specialty (there were photos). Mikes had a really professional website (really popular meaning and not? family owned but has franchises???), and their explanations were really good on the cannoli. Haven't tried a cannoli, but could have a few days ago. :(

Thanks for all the links! They were really good. Thanks again for your help!- and I agree with you too that I should listen to Veronica. We might try Mikes to see what the hype is all about- some people say it's awesome, while some don't like it.

VeronicaSawyer:

I agree with you on that Modern and Marias are better- they've been on TV, but Mike's hasn't (not recently). I could see the difference that Mike's is more touristy because their website was more professional with lots of intricate layouts, links, and more. Usually, mom and pop shops or places that aren't too big have simple websites. Thanks for your opinion!

I guess I "have to" weigh in (pun intended) on the cannoli issue.

Personally, I wouldn't bother with cannolis anywhere. It's just not my favorite dessert. Whether they are prefilled or not, I wouldn't begin to be able to tell you.

If you go to Mike's, my advice is to get a slice of their rum cake, and a lobster claw. Then, run up and down Hanover St. about 6 times, both to work off some of the calories, and to counteract the sugar high :)