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Los Angeles has plenty of sweet shops, cake spots, and bakeries around the city, many adopting styles and flavors from around the world. It's perhaps the best trademark of LA's approach to baking because it's not tied to any particular style. Instead, find a wonderful amalgam of Asian influence in pastries, which is welcome, because they tend not to be as sweet, and glorious Mexican panaderias, which offer the ideal starters to every morning. Of course there are more typical American-influenced bakeries as well as solid renditions of French or other European styles. Either way, from plant-based or gluten-free to fully organic, there’s something for every appetite in Los Angeles. Here now, the best places to find breads, cakes, and pastries, listed from west to east.
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20 Incredible Pastry Destinations and Bakeries in Los Angeles
Where to get sweet breads, pastries, cakes, and more across LA
Claudine Artisan Kitchen & Bakeshop
This expansive bakery in Encino brings a colorful array of American-style pastries and sweets, from cakes to cookies. There’s also a full menu of breakfast and lunch things like avocado toast and fried chicken sandwiches for a full cafe experience.
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Gjusta
There’s so much to take in at this perennial Venice hotspot — but pause to look in the very first glass case of the bakery, where all of beautifully executed pastries, cakes, pies, galettes, and more reside. At breakfast, try a flaky tahini or ham and cheese croissant, and if the carrot cake is available, don’t miss out on a slice slathered in cream-cheese frosting.
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Röckenwagner Bakery, Café + Market
Classic German-influenced bakery Röckenwagner continues to make some of the city’s top European-style pastries and desserts at their Culver City location, as well as at farmers markets around town.
Copenhagen Pastry
This Danish bakery has some of the best sweet treats in the city, with items like almondy kringles, raspberry Danishes, nougat crowns, braided cinnamon lines, and more, all for very fair prices.
Little French Bakery
This charming little French patisserie and bakery in Redondo Beach comes from Guillaume and Deborah, who had previously served their specialties in farmers markets across LA. With everything from croissants to gorgeous fruit tarts, the South Bay spot is destined to become a neighborhood favorite.
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Diamond Bakery
Classic Jewish bakery Diamond has been serving the Fairfax District neighborhood for something like 75 years. Making everything from honey cake and babka to colorful rugelach, it’s a fantastic place to load up on affordable baked goods for the family.
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Sweet Red Peach
Popular Inglewood bakery Sweet Red Peach turns out some of the finest homestyle cakes and sweets in Los Angeles. There are classics like red velvet cake and carrot cake, but also glorious banana custard cups and birthday cake-style slices. Be prepared to wait for these excellent confections.
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Republique
Margarita Manzke oversees this complete baking and pastry operation at the former La Brea Bakery (and Campanile) space, resulting in fantastic renditions of French and American staples, from croissants and cookies to house-baked baguettes. It’s hard to go wrong with anything here.
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The Pie Room by Curtis Stone at Gwen
This pandemic bakery first opened at celebrity chef Curtis Stone’s Beverly Hills restaurant Maude in lieu of the Michelin-star restaurant’s tasting menu. Now Stone has brought his Australian-style pastry and pie shop to the butcher counter at Gwen, serving heaping oxtail pies, seasonal savory vegetable pies, and stellar laminated pastries worthy of a Michelin star restaurant (Gwen was also awarded a star last year). Stone is also opening Pie Room at the buzzy Topanga Social at Westfield Topanga in Canoga Park.
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La Monarca Bakery
Homegrown bakery chain La Monarca serves up a wide variety of Mexican pastries and coffee at prices that make it an affordable stop for a sweet treat. Pair the pan dulce with a cold-brewed café de olla, prepared with cinnamon and panela, for an unbeatable pick-me-up on a hot summer day.
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Artelice Patisserie
Stunning patisserie Artelice has some of the most beautiful, and technically sound, pastries and desserts in Los Angeles. With a full time patisserie in Burbank, as well as a weekend-focused outlet in Sawtelle Japantown, these are grand sweets that would elevate any afternoon tea or evening gathering. The pastries and croissants are excellent as well.
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Friends & Family
Daniel Mattern and pastry chef/baker Roxana Jullapat’s Thai Town restaurant Friends & Family is the perfect place to load up on some exceptional morning baked goods with a full roster of espresso drinks. Expanding wholesale operations means the sweet treats are easier to find at coffee shops around town.
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Proof Bakery
Now one of LA’s few employee-owned collective bakeries, this Atwater Village institution is an ideal meld between the best of classic European and American baking sensibilities. The croissants are as good as they get, but the seasonal, daily offerings aren’t worth missing either.
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Clark Street Bread
Once a mostly bread bakery turned daytime cafe, this thriving LA brand has everything for carb lovers, from cookies and viennoiserie to country loaves and more. One of the most reliable, best-quality artisan bakeries in the city.
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Baker's Bench
Baker Jennifer Yee believed it was possible to make top-notch baked goods without butter. She’s succeeded with this weekend-only kiosk in Chinatown serving plant-based croissants and other baked specialities that are as gorgeous as they are delicious.
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Bub and Grandma's Restaurant
Popular Eastside bakery Bub & Grandma’s has a tight menu of croissants, donuts, and American-style diner sweets like chocolate cream pie at its Glassell Park restaurant. Expect flavors to hew toward classic and balanced versus overly sweet.
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La Mascota Bakery
Boyle Heights legend La Mascota continues to push the envelope after all these years, innovating their coffee program and updating their pastries for a rapidly changing neighborhood. Luckily the backbone of the place, from their conch shell cookies to their holiday tamales, remains as intact as ever.
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Pan Estilo Copala
Hidden in the back of a Compton home, this Copala-style panaderïa from talented bakers Aniceto and Nolberta Polanco might just be the best place for Guerrero-style pan dulces in the entire city of Los Angeles, thanks to six different kind of slow-rise doughs and a careful balance of sugary toppings and careful recipes that reflect their hometown tradition.
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Gusto Bread
From home baker to one of LA’s most popular Mexican-influenced bakeries, this Long Beach bakery from Arturo Enciso has become an LA institution in a matter of a few short years, making everything from crafted conchas and masa sweet bread to thoughtful baked loaves using organic flour.
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CAR Artisan Chocolate - Manufactory & Cafe
The name may be deceiving, but Pasadena-based chocolatier Haris Car makes what might be the best chocolate croissant in the city. Car took close to a year to meticulously develop the pastry, which is served warm, with a glossy, shatteringly crisp exterior. Inside each baked wonder is a trio of chocolate batons, sourced thoughtfully and ethically by Car himself.
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