A former San Francisco restaurant known for its innovative cuisine and fermentation techniques, where Cortney Burns was a key figure and co-authored its cookbook.
Chef Nick Balla is renowned for his innovative approach to Central European cuisine, emphasizing sustainable, seasonal ingredients, and a strong focus on bread baking, fermentation, and food preservation. He...
Came in the mid afternoon on a Weekday and there were still pastries left! Went on another time on a sunny weekend and line was out the door but line gradually moves.
The passion fruit lime coconut cake slice is SO good. Was very tempted to go back to get another. Perfect to take to Dolores park on a sunny day.
Loved their chocolate croissant - perfectly crispy on the outside with a flaky interior. Would def again. Personally, it’s slightly better than Arsicault (because of the crispy exterior).
Wasn’t a huge fan of their cherry almond frangipane croissant though. Croissant itself was good but the almond frangipane wasn’t my favorite flavor. Plus paired with the dried cherries. Part of me was expecting cherry compote and not actual dried berries.
Blueberry buckwheat scone is good if you want something a little healthy. Definitely has more of a bread-like crumb.
Ham & cheese croissant is good but only one piece of ham. Definitely heat it up before consuming.
Friendly staff!
Breakfast stop on a sunny SF Monday. Had the egg sando on a buttermilk loaf, gougere, cafe au latte and bread pudding. Loved the crusty cheese exterior with soft aerated bread of gougere. The bread pudding was a sweet fruity custardy heaven . Great egg sando too.
5
I completely understand why Tartine Bakery is raved about. The morning bun was one of the best pastries I’ve ever had!
Caramelized sugar + orange zest for that hint of citrus. The texture was perfectly flaky and still soft in the middle.
The line on a Saturday morning took about 30 minutes, it was wrapped around the block so I’d say it went pretty quickly.
5
We heard great food, long lines, and hard to find parking. We were able to find street parking ok and only had to wait for 2 people in front of us. Oh my, everything was delicious! Friendly staff. Looking forward to coming back!
2
Secured free two-hour street parking on Guerrero Street for a three-minute transit walk to the bakery, arriving at 8:08 AM for a pre-scheduled, prepaid 8:15 AM pickup order. The bakery was fairly busy, with some interior and exterior spaces occupied. Upon arrival, counter staff could not locate the pre-staged to-go bag on the holding racks. After cross-referencing email confirmation and register data, the order had to be manually fulfilled on the fly. The interaction lacked basic hospitality standards; the associate appeared visibly bothered by the packaging task, and no thank you was offered upon handoff.
From a distance, the employee was observed sharply tapping the small pastry box down on the countertop before folding the lid flaps. Upon returning to my home for the structural audit, the consequence of this handling error was clear. The cardboard box was completely undersized for the four-inch Lemon Cream Tart, which cost $11.50. The restricted cardboard perimeter compressed the product, completely fracturing the right side of the brittle pastry crust and causing the lemon curd surface to shear and crack cleanly down the center.
The Classic Butter Croissant at $6.75 and the Pain au Chocolat at $7.25 suffered a catastrophic structural slide, tightly crowded alongside multiple baked elements into a shared container. Macro-analysis of the croissant's exterior revealed a well-defined shell with caramelized lamination bands, but both pastries completely lacked the shattering, brittle crispiness required of an elite viennoiserie matrix. Applying a standard serrated knife resulted in immediate compression rather than a clean shear. Forensic cross-sections exposed the interior crumb network, revealing an under-baked, gummy, and dense core moisture trap near the base that rendered the matrix texturally non-viable. An identical structural failure was evident in the Pain au Chocolat, where a collapsed, wet internal crumb surrounded the chocolate batons, indicating severe thermal core under-development during the bake cycle.
The Morning Bun, priced at $6.50, offered a distinct operational contrast, delivering a well-developed, satisfyingly chewy texture complemented by a vibrant, clean citrus flavor profile. The Chocolate Rye Tea Cake, also $6.50, delivered a pleasant flavor profile, but the internal crumb structure was flatly heavy, and dense, completely missing the lighter, delicate aeration expected of a premium tea cake. Total spend was $38. At a premium tier pricing model—featuring one of the priciest lemon tarts in San Francisco—there is zero operational headroom for sloppy packaging logistics, front-of-house apathy, and under-baked pastry cores. Legacy brand hype cannot mask a visible slide in daily operational execution.
