Best Bakeries
san francisco, ca

Some of the best bakeries in San Francisco are listed below. You'll find that I know my cookies :).

Tartina Bakery, corner of 18th & Guerrero St, Mission -- The pastries here are outstanding and generally regarded to be the best in San Francisco. In fact, in 2009 the co-owners were selected by their peers to win the national James Beard Award for Outstanding Pastry Chef and Baker. That's why there is often a long line. Parking can be difficult too. But, if you have some time and patience this is definitely the place to go.

Hot Cookie, 407 Castro St (just south of Market St), Castro -- One of the richest tasting chocolate chip cookies around. Excellent and freshly baked, i.e., "hot". I rarely visit the Castro area without buying one. They also have cookies with shocking names to entertain tourists.

Arizmendi Bakery Cooperative, 1331 9th Ave, Outer Sunset -- Baked breads, pizzas, & basic pastries. Very popular locals' place located a couple of blocks south of Golden Gate Park in an interesting neighborhood. Has won a lot of recognition by local newspapers for "best" bakery in SF.

La Boulange Cafe & Bakery -- Started in 1999 by a French trained baker this locally owned bakery has rapidly expanded in the last few years ... to 9 SF stores (plus 2 more in Mill Valley & Novato). It has obviously hit a sweet spot for San Francisco locals. The setting is nice, food excellent, lattes soup bowl big, and almond croussaints are outstanding.


Specialties Cafe & Bakery, 22 Battery St, Financial District -- This was my most frequented lunch place when working in the SF Financial district. Specialties is a good soup & sandwich chain but I really go for the fresh baked cookies. There are several other locations in San Francisco district and even a few on the Peninsula, e.g., 1886 S Norfolk St/Fashion Island Blvd, San Mateo. Note that Specialities is closed weekends.

#1 coffee dipping cookie
After years of serious research, in probably a hundred different San Francisco coffee shops, I finally found my favorite biscotti of them all. Very tasty, crunchy but not too scratchy or hard, nuts, chocolate, excellent both dipped in coffee or au naturel. Outstanding! But, alas, they could be found in only a few coffee shops.

To our surprise we eventually discovered this treasure of a biscotti at Trader Joe's Grocery Store. They were cheap too, at about $4/bag of eight as compared to coffee shop biscotti which run from $1.50-$2.50 each. Even at Trader Joes you'll need to search to find them. Look for the private label "Trader Giotto's chocolate almond Biscotti". If you are a cookie monster like me it will be well worth your effort.


#1 bagel
House of Bagels, 5030 Geary Blvd/Park Presidio, Outer Richmond -- The best bagels in San Francisco using a recipe imported from Brooklyn, New York. Better than Noah's Bagels though not as good as what I remember in Boston (but who can compete with memories of one's first real bagel :). We usually pick up a baker's dozen on the way back from Sausalito. The deli service is pleasant and competent.

They sell their bagels wholesale too; you can tell who made them by the taste. And, there are a few other locations with the same name and a similar taste, e.g., 526 University Ave, Palo Alto, and 605 Laurel St, San Carlos. However, these other locations are no longer affiliated with the Geary Blvd bakery.

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Yes, these are some of the best San Francisco bakeries around. You'll definitely enjoy this San Francisco thing to do :).


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