San Francisco Takes Bakeries To A Whole Other Level. Here Are My Top 5 Favorites

Anyone who tells you they have the definitive list of the best San Francisco bakeries either has too much time on their hands or is lying to you. The city's pastry scene ranks among the greatest in the country. San Francisco's baking movement started with the sourdough bakery Boudin in 1849, and since then, bakeries throughout the city have had a long time to rise and develop. To survive as a professional baker in S.F. you have to be good. To thrive, you must be special. Perfectionists rule here, and these five establishments are truly top-tier.

I live in LA but have family in San Francisco. I'm always the first to volunteer to drive up and watch their cats, which means I spend weeks at a time there. LA has many excellent bakeries, but the Bay Area bakes on another level. Aside from a storied lineage, one factor that makes the city excel at carbs is its walkability. I have spent days at a time walking from shop to shop. A croissant hits differently after climbing steep hills to reach it. In S.F., you can walk it off. In LA, you just drive away.

How did I narrow my list to just five bakeries? I have a bias toward lamination. Beyond that, these are just the ones that I think about the most. Bakeries you are right to yell at me for leaving out are: Loquat, Parachute, Devil's Teeth, Liguria, Tartine, Craftsman and Wolves, and that place on your block that you visit twice a week.

You can't just pop in to grab a coffee and a croissant from Butter and Crumble. I'm lucky enough to stay near this North Beach bakery, if only to walk my dog past the long lines in the morning. Open Thursday through Sunday, the line typically forms by 7:30 a.m., well before the 9 a.m. opening. By 9, the line has stretched down the block and around the corner. The first time I visited, I arrived around 8:15, and the queue was just starting to spill onto the next block. I made it inside around 9:45. The people waiting were abuzz with excitement. I chatted with my line neighbors about SF pastries. They were Butter and Crumble regulars.

While you wait, you can watch the bakers laminating, using sheeting machines to press blocks of dough and butter together. Everyone working here must be a perfectionist, because the effort spent on each layer of croissant comes through. The croissants take three days to make. Day one starts with mixing and resting the dough. Laminating, cutting, shaping, and filling happen on day two, and on day three, there's proofing, egg washing, glazing, and baking. The work that goes into every flawless pastry is evidenced in the flavor and texture. Butter and Crumble doesn't rely on preservatives or high-sugar recipes to extend shelf life — it sells out too quickly to need them anyway. Don't leave with just one pastry. You need a box to try them all.

The blackberry almond hazelnut croissant I had at Arsicault is one of my all-time favorite pastries. It's up there with anything I had in my months wandering through the cities and countryside towns of France. The soft sweetness of the almond paste and richness of the hazelnut are exquisitely accented by the earthy tartness of the blackberry — all of it encased in flaky lamination. As an out-of-towner, it's a commitment to repeatedly return to any of the five bakeries on this list, but one I'm willing to make. I'm also a big Kouign  Amann fan, and Arsicault has an excellent one that is crispy and sweet.

Armando Lacayo, an MIT grad working in finance who immigrated from France, opened Arsicault in 2015. Back home, his parents ran Arsicault Boulangerie, so he was no stranger to baked goods. He fanatically developed his croissant recipe for years before quitting his job to focus on baking. It quickly paid off, with Bon Appétit calling Arsicault the best new bakery in the country in 2016. The already long lines grew longer. Now with three locations, Arsicault's lines have shortened some, but still give you time to build anticipation.

Breadbelly's kaya toast is a thick slice of the bakery's milk bread topped with a light green coconut pandan jelly. This simple combo was my introduction to pandan, the Southeast Asian staple ingredient, and I quickly understood people's devotion to its floral, slightly grassy, vanilla flavor. The bread, dressed in squiggly green jelly, is one of the few Instagram sensations that isn't just photogenic. The first time I had it, I became obsessed. Breadbelly's original Richmond location is now a regular stop for me when I take my dog to Fort Funston.

I have yet to visit the new Dogpatch location, but the Richmond spot gets busy, so arrive early before items start selling out and the patio fills up. The bakery focuses on Asian and American flavors, with treats like kaya buns, soba-ko cookies (buckwheat and chocolate), and gyeranbbangs (cornbread with chili flakes, scallions, cheddar cheese, and egg). The sandwiches are dreamy — the egg salad with mushroom and squash kakiage is served on the milk bread, and every bite is crunchy, creamy, and salty. The founding trio's fine dining background shows in the precision with which every well-thought-out item on the menu is executed.

If you are a lover of Kouign Amanns like me, you can't leave San Francisco without a stop at b. patisserie. Originating in Brittany, a French region known for butter, Kouign Amanns are buttery, caramelized, croissant-like pucks covered in a crunchy, sugary outer crust. On any given day, b. patisserie's pastry case holds at least three different Kouign Amanns: regular, chocolate, and a seasonal flavor. Chinese flavors playfully accent the seasonal pastries. Past seasonal selections include chili pepper, white sesame lotus, and mango lychee. June 20 is Kouign Amann Day, and for those obsessed like me, it's the best time to stop by b. patisserie. In honor of the holiday, the bakery's pastry case is loaded with every flavor imaginable.

If you have room in your pastry box after filling it with Kouign Amanns, fill the space with whatever else calls out to you from the bakery case. The butter mochi and seasonal almond croissant are among my favorites. Grab a tartine, a French, open-faced sandwich on thick bread, to balance out the sweet with some savory. Pastry chef Belinda Leong, winner of the James Beard Award for Outstanding Baker in 2018, founded the bakery with Michel Suas, founder of the San Francisco Baking Institute. Many generations of bakers in and around the city learned from Suas at his school. So why not get a French pastry from the source?

Juniper, opened in 2023 under the owners of Saint Frank Coffee, one of my favorite coffee shops in San Francisco. The bakery shocked a city full of lamination masters in 2024 by dominating the best croissant competition with wins for the Grand Prix, Best Original Creation (for the Cubano Croissant), and the People's Choice awards.

I knew none of this when I first stopped in. I was just walking by and saw the line. In a city of standard-setting bakeries, if there is a line, there will be good food. My first visit to Juniper was around closing time, so I grabbed what was left — a black sesame croissant loaf — to power the rest of my walk. I've since been back for the loaf multiple times. On my next visit, I arrived earlier, making sure to snag a black sesame Kouign Amann and a mushroom danish. All the pastries here are buttery, crisp, and delicious. San Francisco is one of the best coffee cities in the U.S., and, since the team behind Saint Frank is involved, the coffee here is great — thoughtfully sourced and well-brewed. To have such good coffee with my favorite pastry, a Kouign Amann, means Juniper is a usual stop every time I'm in town.