Pastries & Croissants
Flaky croissants, morning buns, kouign-amann and the bakeries that make them.
La Fournette
A French bakery on Wells run by a Strasbourg-born baker, known for flaky croissants and baguettes that taste like the real thing.
Hendrickx Belgian Bread Crafter
A tiny Belgian bakery tucked off Michigan Ave, with croissants and crusty loaves that hold up against anyone.
Publican Quality Bread
The bakery behind the bread at half of Chicago's best restaurants.
Lost Larson
A Swedish-leaning bakery that mills its own flour. On every critic's list.
Kasama
A two-Michelin-star Filipino restaurant with a daytime pastry counter.
Del Sur Bakery
Filipino flavors meet French lamination. Time Out calls it Chicago's best bakery.
Good Ambler
The textbook croissant downtown.
Floriole Cafe & Bakery
A longtime French-style bakery in a sunny old building. The best canelés in town.
Loaf Lounge
The pastry chef behind Publican Quality Bread and Avec runs this bakery-café.
Chicago's bakery boom
Chicago has become one of the country's best pastry cities. There are French bakeries turning out classic croissants and canelés, Scandinavian-style bakeries that mill their own flour, and Filipino-French bakeries combining ube and longanisa with laminated dough.
What to try:
- A plain croissant: it's the best way to judge a bakery
- Cardamom buns and morning buns: a Scandinavian-style specialty
- Filipino-inspired pastries: ube, calamansi and longanisa in flaky dough
Good to know: the best bakeries sell out, especially on weekends. Mornings are your friend.