Le Marais Bakery

Le Marais makes beautiful yet delicious pastries as well as espressos, coffees, etc.
You can order to-​go or you can also dine in. They have nicer breakfast fare options (like quiche/​salad) for sit-​down.
I usually get a latte and pastry here. I like their Croissants and recently had their Kouign amann and wasn’t too impressed. The Kouign amann here was really fluffy and airy, so not as much substance. I guess B Patisserie and Craftsman & Wolves has really set the bar high!
Overall– a cute little café joint on Chestnut — perfect to go solo or with a friend!

I love it. Best croissants in town and all those pastries are very delicious.
Staff is sometimes a bit slow and uncoordinated. So if you sit down bring some time. ;-)
I prefer to pick up something rather than sitting down.

Food is great but service isn’t friendly at all. The guy taking pastry orders was annoyed that I didn’t know to order coffee from the other guy. Not a welcoming vibe. Bummer

Had a fruit tart, chocolate croissant and cup of coffee. Very beautiful pastries but the one I came for, an almond croissant was sold out. Word on the street is they are the best. I believe it too as they were all gone. So far for the record the best almond croissant I’ve ever had is from Crispian Bakery in Alameda. Was hoping to compare…
A beautiful spot with many tables, mirrors and well decorated. You might want to settle in with a book or newspaper or I guess Kindle. Is that what people these days do for reading? Guess its a way for people to read romance novels without being shamed by the cover.
I dont remember the exact prices but I thought that everything was a good value except the chocolate croissant. It was sort of dry and not special. People in this neighborhood must be weight conscious and they are the ones being catered to… Where was the buttery crunchy goodness??? The big chunks of chocolate were good but at this caliper of bakery I would expect the chocolate to be a bit more artfully integrated… possibly between multiple layers. Not worth $ 5.
Coffee very good, but Im no coffee snob. Sumptown cold brew available although I just had regular stuff.
The berry pastry was beautiful. Nicely decorated berries. Artfully chopped up on a ved if really good custard. Well worth the money.

Thought we were at Peets Coffee but we’re at this place. Devine! Great neighborhood. Great coffee and the pastries were phenomenal.

This is ABSOLUTELY my favorite place to get fresh authentic French bakery items! I went to Paris last year and was looking for an authentic French bistro and finally found this place.
The croissants are sooooo flaky and buttery. They make their bread and pastries fresh every morning. There is a small selection of macarons but if you want them you have to go there early in the morning as they only make a small batch but they are fresh and full of flavor. My favorite is the lemon meringue tart! The cream on top is light and fluffy, the lemon is a bit tart but enough sweetness and it is just heavenly goodness. They serve Stumptown coffee and espresso drinks.
Also need to mention that they serve breakfast and lunch. Had their breakfast the other day and chose their breakfast board. You can choose 5 items for $ 15 or 7 items for I think $ 19. I got oatmeal, fresh fruit, bacon, scrambled eggs, avocado. It was so yummy and satisfying.
The ambiance is nice and there is outside/​sidewalk seating.
Their service can be hit or miss on certain days but overall the people there are really nice.
Of course I will be back :)

I used to like Le Marais when they first opened since their croissants were so flaky, buttery, and delicious, but the service has become worse and worse.
I came for breakfast and decided to try their seated area instead of my usual self-​seating to-​go area… that was a mistake.
The server took 15 minutes to acknowledge our party of three, and when he finally came over to take our order, he didn’t return for another 30 minutes with our chocolate croissant, egg and bacon over a croissant, and lattes…
When he took our plates, I asked him to box my leftovers. After he went MIA for another 15 minutes, I reminded him about my leftovers and his response was «Oh, I must have accidentally thrown them away.» Um, okay…
He came to the table to apologize with a chocolate croissant that he said was on the house for his mistake.
EXCEPT WHEN HE GAVE US THE RECEIPT, HE CHARGED US FOR THE CHOCOLATE CROISSANT!!!
Honestly, there was no hope to flag him down (yet again) and ask him to change the bill, so we just paid and left.
I’ll come here if I just want a croissant and latte to-​go or if I can afford waiting an hour for a latte.

This is my to go eggs Benedict! Let me tell you I’ve had some bad serves before but this was, top of the line worst service I’ve ever got. The servers are not quality at all, if you tell them the order you have to have them repeat it or else you will end up wit something completely different. It’s too bad the restaurant is in a nice location.

I placed an order for a Blood Orange cake two weeks in advance of when I needed it, and couldn’t have imagined that the entire experience would be a disastrous waste of $ 40 and an afternoon. When I arrived they didn’t know at first if there was a cake for me, then I was told that they were boxing it… for 20 minutes. With the meter running. I eventually did get a cake, although it wasn’t the one I had ordered. It looks nothing like the advertised product, it came in the sort of box people store files in, and it was for some reason glued to the bottom of the box (to keep if from sliding maybe? but it took a pair of scissors and some teamwork just to get the cake out of the box)
Even when I called to demand a refund I was given the runaround, and told that it looked different because they use local organic produce (that for some reason was supposed to explain the radically different look). Having tasty food is not good enough when every other part of your business is a disastrous mess.

I can’t even tell you how the food tastes because the SERVICE left an AWFUL taste in my mouth.
I came in today after I got off work and I actually thought this was a different bakery and realized it after walking in. The pastries looked good enough for me to try it out.
I saw they had Madeline’s and was really excited and asked the guy for some and when I paid, I opened up my wallet to pull out some cash.
I am a twenty something year old teacher, I know I don’t make much and my wallet is broken and messy. But as I pulled out the four dollars to hand to him, he looked at me and my wallet as if I was pulling the money out of my butt. I was shocked to see HIS FACE OF PURE DISGUST. I don’t even know why I still handed him the money.
Treat your customers with respect. No matter what their wallets look like. This is the worst service I’ve ever received and this is after a day where a five year old called me dumb.

This place is good but it’s not amazing. Pricey as well but a nice place to pick up a baked snack or have lunch if other more popular lunch spots in the area are packed.
Got the avocado toast, although it was over a broiche bun which I thought was a bit weird and hard to eat.
Also the mushroom sandwich which was all cheese and not enough mushroom. Sadness.
The coffee comes in large French cups but not that strong at all.

I visited this place very frequently. I must say the service completely falls apart when there are busy. But I would choose to go as it was convenient, since I live nearby… Now they fully lost me as a customer when…
I was served very undercooked pancakes. I pointed it out to the waiter, it was very obvious just by peeling the top layer… he apologized and took it away. In the meantime I got offered a croissant and two macaroons… And then came the new set of pancakes…
See for yourself (
). If this wasn’t meant to be an insult, I’m not sure what is…

So, I’ll start by agreeing with everyone else’s reviews that the service could use some work. It does always feel like they are understaffed and running around like a bunch of chickens with their heads cut off.
However, the croissants and baguettes make up for any of the short comings as they are arguably the best in all of San Francisco. I challenge anyone to find better ones…
I’ve only eaten off the menu a couple times and found the «frenchness» to be pretty authentic. A small salad to accompany any meal at breakfast time screams European to me and bring me back to my travels abroad. Funny how a salad for breakfast can do that.
The coffee is done proper. They use stumptown beans from Oregon and I’m a fan. The espresso is my go to.
So, moral of the story. If you can handle slow service or just order to go you will be nothing short of impressed. Santé!

They sell Stumpton coffee, which is alright. SF has so many good local places they can use for coffee, but they opt out for Stumpton.
We got 2 cakes to share. None of their cakes were labeled so we had to ask for all the flavors. I’d suggest that they make little signs so they don’t have people asking all day long, but that’s just me.
Matcha cake: I was so excited to try this because I love tea infused desserts. However, I was disappointed. The matcha taste did not come through at all. The best part was probably the vanilla bean whipped topping.
Hazelnut crunch: Definitely the winner of the two. Hazelnut and chocolate, how can you go wrong? This cake had a crunch bottom layer which went well with the soft and cream layers on top.
Cute interior.

What a disappointing experience. Came here with a friend for brunch and wish we went elsewhere. I got the eggs benedict with pork belly and kale and my friend got the lemon ricotta pancakes. First of all, the service here is extremely slow. They didn’t come with our menu for 10 minutes, despite it not being that crowded. Our food didn’t come out for another 30 minutes. Our server was cold and disengaged. We didn’t have any silverware on our table and when we asked if we could get any, she said sure and never came back. We had to flag down another waiter to get our silverware for us because our food was getting cold. We waited to see if our main server would notice about the silverware situation but she didn’t. She kept passing by us and not checking in with us.
The lemon ricotta pancakes my friend got was good but my eggs benedict and pork belly was not. The pork belly was extremely dry yet oily at the same time. There was no seasoning on it whatsoever. I had to ask for table salt so that it was edible. I was extremely disappointed with my dish.
I haven’t tried the baked goods here. It seems like that’s what they excel at. But never coming here for brunch again.

I wish I could write a good review for this place, because it has great coffee and delicious pastries, but I’ve gone three times and I’ve left annoyed all three times. Visit #1 involved me getting a menu, then watching the server literally walk down the street away from the restaurant, and after 20 minutes, I left without ordering. Visit #2 involved getting an iced coffee to go, and subsequently learning I was charged $ 7 tip on my $ 3 order (I’m generous, but like, no). Visit #3 also involved getting an iced coffee to go, but the restaurant was out of straws — small thing, sure, but it’s literally the straw that broke this camel’s back.
Food: ⁴⁄₅
Value: ⁴⁄₅
Service: ¹⁄₅
Atmosphere: ⁴⁄₅

Dinner was 3.5 stars and lunch was 3 stars.
Food– dinner food is good, but not amazzzing as I don’t remember what my favorite items were except for their bread. Bread was good, and best part was that we were given a total of six loaves of bread when we left because they were closing and wanted to get rid of their bread. Hmmmm had a week of yummy bread to eat! Lunch food is average. Croissant was pretty good, crispy on the outside and light/​chewy inside, but kouign amann was disappointing, fruit flan tart sounds better than it tasted, stumptown coffee was good but the cups were so dusty. Pastries nowhere as good as b. Patisserie, but then the typical chain café. Avocado toast was nicely presented, egg was cooked perfectly, but small portion and missing some freshly cracked black pepper which would have made a big difference I think.
Ambiance/​décor– nice open space that would pass for a bakery in Paris. Plenty of seating inside and outside. Tables have crumbs all over so be prepared to wipe down tables and chairs.
Service/​staff– dinner staff was very friendly and attentive, got our orders correctly and gave some good wine recommendations. Lunch staff was a hit or miss, one girl was friendly and another was okay, forgot our coffee and so we had to ask for it again after having pastries sitting on our table for five minutes.
Not worth the trip if you have to drive and find parking. However, an good spot to hang out and not having to worry about waiting for seats.

— — -Update: BRUNCH REVIEW = 3.5 STARS — — -
I was so enamored by their chocolate croissants that I came for brunch.
* Coffee — 3.5 stars: Delicious Sightglass, and they offer almond milk. Wish it didn’t take 20 minutes to get a latte.
* Almond croissant — 3 stars: Too dense and intense for me.
* Chocolate — 5 stars: The ultimate chocolate croissant — it’s loaded with decadent chocolate and über flaky.
* Plain — 3 stars: Too airy and not enough butter for my taste.
* Avocado egg croissant — Pretty good but kind of bland, would not order this simple dish again. $ 7 for half a croissant topped with avocado and an egg. $ 14 for double. Pricey!
* Croque madame — 3.5 stars: Really dense, generously filled with ham.
* Bacon frisee salad — 3.5 stars: Tons of bacon, and my egg was overcooked but it was good and I would order it again.

My wife and I joined our friends here for an Easter brunch after making reservations just the night prior. I hadn’t heard about Le Marais before, but my wife had. She informed me that it had previously been a bakery that underwent an expansion to become a café/​restaurant of sorts.
To cut to the chase, our brunch was bomb. We ordered the Avocado Toast and the French Toast, which are two the best toasts in the game. Le Marais manages to take it one-​step further by making both of these dishes croissant-​based! The croissant is tied for my favorite bread or bread like substance in the world with Malabar Parota, which shares some similarities as they are both made of flaky buttery goodness.
The Avocado Toast also came with egg and the French toast came with strawberries and ham — all of which were welcome additions.
I had the Jus du Jour, an orange /​grapefruit fusion, which incidentally, was used as the mimosa mixer that my wife and our friends enjoyed.
Overall, we were thrilled to have tried Le Marais and look forward to coming back. We also need to try some of the baked goods.

I really, really, really wanted to like this place so much more. The Marais neighborhood of Paris is my favorite and I thought that this place might (come close?) match some of the quality of the bakeries there (like 134 RdT or Poilane). Sadly… they do not. My family ordered a few things and everything had mixed reviews, mostly:
Croissant — too chewy, not flaky, not buttery enough
Kouign amann — my mom liked it, but it doesn’t come close to Mr. Holmes or b patisserie’s. I took one bite and that was it.
Coffee éclair — I loved it, the parents didn’t.
Chocolate chip cookie — everyone enjoyed it
So, some decent stuff, for sure, but nothing worth making the trek for. Especially since a French bakery shouldn’t have their best item (in our opinion) be the (very American) chocolate chip cookie.