Life is Sweet
Family-owned Italian bakery, Dolce Caffé, serves tasty treats.
Tucked into Mayberry Landing in Reno is a sweet slice of Italy. Dolce Caffé — or Dolce to regulars — specializes in traditional Italian baked goods and inviting ambience, serving café-style breakfast and lunch, as well as coffee and espresso drinks, charcuterie, and wine. Multi-course, family-style dinners spotlighting local ingredients also are hosted seasonally on the café’s charming outdoor patio.
Dolce co-owner/baker Melissa Iturriaga treasures childhood memories of family and friends gathering around good food. In college, she began recreating her mom’s beloved tiramisu recipe and discovered her love of baking. Classmates clamored for more of her cookies, galettes, and scones, and Iturriaga realized she had found her calling. She saved up to study in Sicily with acclaimed pastry chef Gianni Rapisarda, who taught her traditional Italian recipes.
Melissa’s parents, Claudio and Giuseppa Iturriaga, purchased Franz’s Backstube Austrian Bakery in Mayberry Landing with the intention of keeping the menu loved by loyal locals. Slowly, they introduced Melissa’s Italian specialties and saw how popular they were. In June 2022, Dolce Caffé was born with the three Iturriagas as co-owners.
“This bakery is my parents believing in me. My dad is guiding me to be an owner, a manager, a logistics person,” Melissa says.
Friends Old and New
Claudio compares Dolce to the bar in the TV show Cheers, where everyone knows your name. One couple recently got engaged at the café, and another will be married there in 2026, in a ceremony officiated by Claudio himself.
“This is the ambience we want. We want people to feel at home,” Claudio says.
When you enter Dolce Caffé, you’re greeted by the friendly staff and a display case bursting with temptations: plain and filled croissants, cipollina and raviola, savory quiches and scacciata, and a staggering variety of cookies and mouthwatering morsels. Soups, salads, sandwiches, and pastas round out the lunch menu, with charcuterie boards and wine available and gelato for dessert if you have any room left.
Commitment to Tradition
The Iturriagas take pride in sourcing traditional, high-quality ingredients, such as illy coffee, Spanish Iberico chorizo, and Anima Verace flour, which is available for sale in the bakery.
Dolce Caffé accepts special orders for celebration cakes and holiday cookies, as well as panettone imported from Italy during the Christmas season.
Whether you linger over a glass of wine with a friend or pop in for a quick latte, you’ll feel right at home at Dolce, where the philosophy is, “Eat what makes you happy.”
Dolce Caffé
Mayberry Landing, 3882 Mayberry Drive, Reno
775-624-2921 · Dolcecaffereno.com
Open 7 a.m. – 4 p.m. Tues. – Thurs., 7 a.m. – 5 p.m. Fri. – Sat., 7 a.m. – 4 p.m. Sun.
Don’t miss the café’s occasional dinners on the patio.
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