Founded by Italian immigrant Antonio Bova on Salem Street (but across the street from its current location) in 1926,[1] they specialized only in bread.

It eventually added booths, becoming a diner before removing them.

By the 1990s, they added more substantial meals like rice balls, pizzas and calzones.

[2] In March 2023, the bakery closed down for a week to be used as a shooting location for the film The Instigators, starring Matt Damon and Casey Affleck.

[1] An Irish tourist, in 2012, brandished a knife and demanded cannoli.