San Francisco Bakeries

From LoveToKnow SanFrancisco

San Francisco bakeries are variety, convenient, and delicious. If you’ve got a craving for something to munch on that is A. sweet and B. loaded with way too many carbohydrates, then San Francisco is the perfect spot for you to get your bakery groove on. There are plenty of great places in just about every neighborhood you step foot in, and most are well within reach of even the tightest budgets. Below is our guide to some of the best bakeries San Francisco has to offer.

Tartine Bakery

600 Guerrero Street (at 18th Street) (415) 487-2600 Official Web Site: Tartine Bakery

Tartine was an absolute overnight smash upon opening, with word of its mouthwatering croissants, brioche, hot-pressed sandwiches, and freshly baked bread loaves spreading quickly and widely. The hot chocolate is to die for (it’s made from Scharffenberger chocolate), and you can order beer or wine to go along with whatever treat you purchase (coffee—of course—is available, too). If you plan to eat in, be patient—tables can take an eternity to snag.

San Francisco Bakeries: Sweet Inspirations

2239 Market Street (between Sanchez and 16th Streets) (415) 621-8664

Giant, hunking, delicious slabs of carrot cake, strawberry shortcake, black forest cake, and about a million other different kinds of cake await you at this perennial sweet tooth favorite in the Castro. There’s also gelato, amazing chocolate mousse, and a wide variety of cookies and pastries to select from. The line to order can get long on weekends and at nights but is well worth standing in. I couldn’t recommend the poppy seed cake with cream cheese frosting more highly.

Citizen Cake

399 Grove Street (at Gough Street) (415) 861-2228 Official Web Site: Citizen Cake

Celebrated pastry chef Elizabeth Falkner’s patisserie, restaurant and bar has become one of the best places in town to splurge for a friend or loved one’s birthday cake. There are also hearth breads, panini, cookies, and mini-bread puddings to stop in and indulge on. Individual slices of all cakes are available to eat at any time, too. Patisserie items are available to take out, or you could sit at the bar and eat your treat with a cup of coffee or glass of wine. There’s a mini-Citizen Cake downtown in the Virgin Records Store (Market and Stockton Streets) called Citizen Cupcake. The shop offers an abbreviated version of the full Citizen Cake patisserie menu, and is a wonderful place to stop at when you’re out and about on Union Square in full-on shopping mode.

San Francisco Bakeries: Schubert’s Bakery

521 Clement Street (at 6th Avenue) (415) 752-1580

This Richmond District bakery is the best of San Francisco bakeries to hit after stuffing yourself on dinner or lunch at one of Clement Street’s many Thai, Vietnamese, or Burmese restaurants. They specialize in light, fruit-oriented pastries and cakes, plus cookies, and tiramisu. Custom -made cakes for all sorts of special occasions, including weddings, are also available.

Arizmendi Bakery

1331 9th Avenue (between Judah and Irving Streets) (415) 566-3117

Longstanding bakery and pizzeria is so popular that fans brave the tough neighborhood parking for a fixing of their choice. The bakery makes one type of bread per day and that’s it, so don’t go expecting an enormous selection of different types of loaves to take home for dinner. But whichever type of bread they decide to make for the day, well, you can be guaranteed it will be heavenly. The pizza is a cut above the rest, too, especially the sourdough thin crust. Not a very good place for a sit-down experience so be prepared to take out. Something for the bikers and MUNI riders—you get a 10% discount on your purchase.

Dianda’s Italian American Pastry Company

2883 Mission Street (at 25th Street) (415) 647-5469

Locals swear by this extraordinarily inexpensive Mission District pastry shop, which offers sales of its many mouthwatering cakes (the cheesecake and chocolate rum are especially popular) for just $3 a piece! They are also renown for their almond tortes, éclairs, custards, cannolis, and toasted pannatone. This is classic Italian-style pastry that even a grandmother from the old world would be knocked out by. Wedding cakes are available too—contact the store to set up an appointment to discuss what you want and when you want it.