ON THE NIGHT SHIFT
4 AM PROVIDENCE
Buono’ s Bakery
Reach into any breadbasket on Federal Hill, and chances are the slices inside came from Buono’ s Bakery. Since 1989, the family-owned bakery has supplied many of the state’ s best Italian restaurants, as well as the customers who make their way to the Hartford Avenue shop. Before the Buono family purchased it, the location was known as Monda’ s.“ This building has been a functioning bakery for going on 100 years,” says Frankie Buono, who took over the bakery with his mother after his father’ s death in 2015. At 4 a. m., staff has already put in a full day’ s work, prepping through the night for the two bake sessions necessary to complete the day’ s orders. The bakery produces about 3,000 pounds of dough every day( 4,500 on weekends), according to Buono, an amount that translates to“ thousands of loaves.” While he’ s gradually modernizing the business(“ When I took over, everything was handwritten,” he explains) and hopes to eventually expand to a second kitchen, he knows customers rely on the handmade quality honed over the years. His own memories of the bakery date back to childhood, when he’ d sleep across flour sacks while his father worked through the night.“ I’ d be rolling wine biscuits on the bench to the left of the oven there,” he says, pointing to the imported Italian oven. Today, his nineteen-year-old son is involved with the business as well, offering hope that the four-decade family legacy will live on for another generation.
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Frankie Buono and his cousin, Stephanie Buono, prepare the bakery’ s front counter early in the morning; packaging the finished rolls; the oven was imported from Italy and can bake loaves up to six feet long; drivers depart by 7 a. m. to deliver bread to restaurants around the state; dough ready for baking.
88 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY I APRIL 2026