On a Roll: Long a Pastry Staple, the Cinnamon Roll is Moving to Center Stage

By AnnMarie Mattila

On any given day in the East Village of New York, you may spot a line snaking along Avenue B towards the door of Sunday Morning. The bakery has a viral following on social media, a Reddit thread dedicated to the best times to avoid lines, and a reputation for selling out. They also only sell one thing: cinnamon rolls. And they seem to be onto something, with similar concepts popping up in major cities around the world to much fanfare, each featuring soft, pillowy, American-style sweet buns.

As with many new business ideas, necessity became the mother of invention for Sunday Morning. While there are several European-style cinnamon rolls available in New York, the availability of a great thickly frosted, gooey-centered American cinnamon roll seemed to be lacking. And that’s why co-owner Armando Litiatco began making them. At first, it was to satisfy his own cravings. Then, as he began sharing with friends and neighbors (“I’m a chef, I don’t make small batches,” he jokes), it manifested into a business idea with partner Ahmet Kiranbay.

A short walk away, you’ll find a similar scene and reasoning at Spirals, a new cinnamon roll bakery from Arin Senior. “You could find croissants, cookies or ice cream every few blocks, but so many of the cinnamon rolls that the city had to offer were dry or lacked flavor,” she explains. She began working with chef Warren McAlister to develop what she considered the important elements of a cinnamon roll: “a gooey bottom, strong cinnamon and caramelized sugar flavor, lots of spirals, and most important, not being too sweet.”

While the bakeries offer a more traditional cinnamon roll, they all also develop their own twists. “I saw an opportunity to take this beloved treat to the next level with a range of bold, rotating flavors and a focus on homemade, fresh ingredients,” Senior notes. Spirals offers cinnamon-roll challah, for instance, and a cookies and cream roll featuring black cocoa dough, a chocolate filling, chocolate ganache drizzle, and a sandwich cookie frosting. At Sunday Morning, the surprise hit was guava and cheese, which developed a cult-like following and a lot of complaints when it was replaced. (The secret for locals is just to ask for it on weekends, even if it isn’t on the menu.)

It’s not just New York that has cinnamon roll fever, either. Portland has Kinnamōns, London has Roll Boys, Amsterdam has Canela—that’s just to name a few. Social media certainly plays a role in their popularity. TikTok and Instagram can showcase the over-the-top combinations, the gooey cheese-pull type videos, and the fun behind-the-scenes action that drives views, clicks, and eventual visits. It’s something the businesses lean into as part of their marketing strategy. “Social media is everything,” Litiatco confirms. Even one small video from a customer with a few hundred followers can drive interest.

But at their core, the bakeries know that a from-scratch, handmade cinnamon roll is the key to their success. “The classics sell three times more than the other flavors,” says Litiatco. And the most vital ingredient to sustain a business, particularly one that is so singularly focused, is quality. “In my mind, it’s much easier to do one thing really well rather than several,” Senior explains. And it’s much the same for Litiatco. He loves to see a return customer who remembers the experience and comes back again: “The product speaks for itself.”

While both businesses are relatively new to the scene, their owners are confident in their future longevity. Of course, there are over 1,800 locations of Cinnabon worldwide as proof of concept, but there are also smaller artisanal cinnamon roll bakeries that have held strong for decades. Isles Bun & Coffee in Minneapolis, for example, has been in business since 1993. They joke that their secret ingredient is TLC, but in reality, it is that love and commitment to quality that sustains businesses regardless of how many products they offer.

What may be a trend now has the potential for longer-lasting success and growth, perhaps in other locations or wholesale partnerships. Both Sunday Mornings and Spirals have their eyes on eventual expansion. But at the moment, that doesn’t include veering away from their core product. “The goal is to grow the brand while staying true to our commitment to quality and freshness,” notes Senior. Litiatco concurs: “I’m perfectly fine with just having cinnamon rolls. If you do something well, just do that.”

Given their almost immediate popularity, these niche bakeries are on a roll and have no intention of slowing down. With continued interest from new and existing customers, they are determined to turn the cinnamon roll from a viral sensation into a long-term, established business model with continued sweet success.

(This article appeared in the Fall 2025 issue of Pastry Arts Magazine)