San Francisco is pretty damn talented when it comes to bread. They have several bakeries that have claimed a name to fame, but the most popular is probably Tartine. What started out as a humble bakery in Mission District has grown to so much more. It’s slowly but surely started to take over LA (starting with a massive ROW DTLA complex that was short-lived), and has several locations in Seoul too.
Tartine hasn’t just become a foodie destination, it’s become an authority on bread and rustic cooking and baking, with a whole repertoire of cookbooks that have quickly become modern classics. But at the end of the day, most of us are content with having someone else make the bread, and their many locations churn out baked perfections every day.
The hardest decision will be what to order, so pro tip: bring a friend, or four, and order everything. Tartine does everything well, from pastries to sandwiches to tarts to cakes. And of course the bread. Do yourself a favor and grab a loaf of bread.
the details
| Address | SF: Mission Bakery | Manufactory | Inner Sunset | Berkeley LA: Sycamore | Santa Monica | Silver Lake Seoul: Dosan | Hannam | Yongsan | Ryse Hotel |
| Website | https://tartinebakery.com/ |
| @tartinebakery | |
| Hours | varies from location to location, but most open around 8 or 9 in the morning and close in the early evening, though some are open later too. |
| Price | $$ – $$$, baked goods are pretty standard priced, restaurant dinner leans more toward $$$ |
| Aesthetic | also varies from location to location, they definitely fit the context, the original one is no frills and very tiny, while the newer ones are polished in that breezy California way, well designed and pretty enough for the vainest LA influencer and Seoul instagrammer. |
good to know
Go here for: a high quality carb fix, a casual lunch or a nice brunch at the Manufactory
Order this: you really can’t go wrong with anything in their pastry case, but they are famous for their morning buns, which are pretty damn good. Also sandwiches.
Amount of time to spend: perfect for a stop by to grab pastries to go, but better to stick around for an excellent breakfast or lunch for an hour or two
When to come: they’re ovens are hard at work all day, so fresh pastries are always available, but there’s something about bakeries in the morning that is just… better
Parking (for LA):
- Sycamore: it’s kind of on a weird block, a little farther north from the busier part of La Brea, so parking usually isn’t an issue… but we’ll revisit this in a year and see what happens when more things open.
- Santa Monica: thankfully it’s not in downtown Santa Monica, so you can probably find street parking around the residential streets between Wilshire and Santa Monica Blvd. For pick ups, you can use the adjacent lot, but make sure not to park in a space reserved for residents.
- Silver Lake: this location is in the heart of Sunset Blvd, where parking is never fun. There are meters on Sunset if you’re lucky, otherwise street parking is easier to find west of Sunset.
Other things to note:
- They also have a location in SFO, perfect for a last minute haul before you hop on the plane.
- The Manufactory is a full service sit-down restaurant, breakfast, lunch and dinner (they also have wine, beer and cocktails); whereas the bakeries are counter service.
Last visited: February 2020
Last updated: April 2020
