San Francisco: Jane the Bakery

T, AG, and I spent the last day of 2020 on a mini bakery tour of SF.  The bakery tour was so mini that it only consisted of Arsicault and Jane The Bakery.  

It being New Year's Eve, we were worried that the bakeries might not be open.  But not only were they open, there were also long lines outside of both.  We hit up Arsicault first and by the time we finally made it to Jane The Bakery, it was already nearing noon:

The line was still long, but the baked goods were dwindling fast:

This might have been my first time standing inside Jane The Bakery, but it certainly wasn't my first time tasting their products.  My co-worker had previously brought to the office some pastries that were so delicious and had such interesting flavor combos that they knocked my socks off.  When she told me they were from Jane The Bakery, I immediately added it to my list of places to check out.  

I met up with that same co-worker during the pandemic for a socially-distant hike and she brought me a box of more pastries from Jane The Bakery.  I sampled each and every goody in that box and could not find fault with a single one of them.

So when I finally made it through the doors of Jane The Bakery, I had an idea of what I wanted to buy.  Alas, everything I wanted was already sold out.  Instead, T and I looked through the leftovers and basically bought one of almost everything:

We got the pain au chocolat ($5):

We got a vanilla raspberry brioche ($4.50):

A monkey bread ($5):

A Nutella brioche ($4.50):

A Mexican hot chocolate brioche ($4.50):

Which came filled with this creamy spiced chocolate filling:

And lastly, we got a selection of scones ($4 each):

To be absolutely honest, there's no better place to get croissants in the city than at Arsicault.  So don't waste your time getting pain au chocolat at Jane The Bakery.  Focus instead on the plethora of other options.  

Just don't make the same mistake we did and get there too late.  Make sure to arrive early in the morning so that you can take your pick from the full selection.  What we ended up taking home was certainly good, but I'd wanted to try the Vietnamese coffee twist, the cardamom lattice bun, and a bunch of other baked offerings that were sold out long before I got in line.

The prices are pretty steep, but is anybody surprised?  It's San Francisco after all, where a $5 croissant is not only expected, but lined up for.  Since I rarely go into the city, I see going to Jane The Bakery as a special occasion where I don't mind dropping some dough (pun intended) to treat myself to some baked deliciousness.  There's no way I could afford doing that every day though.  Oh, no.

My co-worker mentioned that Jane The Bakery has crazy good sandwiches, so I'll have to look into that as well the next time I go.  

Given that I live in the South Bay, I suppose I should be prepared to wake up at the crack of dawn to be able to get into the city in time for the good stuff.  Sigh.  Jane The Bakery is definitely worth the early morning wake up call, but that doesn't mean it won't be a struggle.

No pain, no gain?

Jane the Bakery

1881 Geary Blvd

San Francisco, CA 94115

(415) 658-7971

https://www.itsjane.com/location/jane-the-bakery/