Where to Find the Best French Baguettes and Pastries in Atlanta
Photo credits: Kevin Scott/ Joelle Gracia
Whether it’s a French expat or serious francophile, one of the frequently asked questions by Atlanta locals is where to find good, authentic French baguettes and pastries. To help answer this question, our team of experts (really just a group of friends:) visited fifteen different places around town in search of what you would typically find in France. Some were absolutely delicious, while others as one rater commented, were “epic fails”.
One thing we learned was that just because a place says that it’s French, doesn’t mean that their products are authentic or even any good. In fact, some of the best baguettes and pastries were from non-French bakeries. Rather the pastry chefs have perfected the craft so well that they create baked goods that are typical of France. Head pastry chefs Jen Yee of the Buttery ATL and Sarah O’Brien of Little Tart Bakeshop are examples of that. Here were our top faves listed in alphabetical order.
The Buttery ATL
Address: 2137 Manchester St NE, Atlanta, GA 30324
The baguettes here are the real deal and are absolutely amazing! The Buttery ATL is a little market that was the product of a pandemic project. When Covid-19 temporarily closed Holeman & Finch, H&F Burger and Hop’s Chicken restaurants, owners Linton and Gina Hopkins had the idea of consolidating the food inventory to sell prepared meals online to healthcare workers and those in need. Today this online business has evolved to a small Buckhead eatery and market selling a variety of foods including traditional French baguettes and pastries. They even have Kouign-amann, a buttery mini cake from Brittany, France that is caramelized on the top and is a rare find, even in France. This is all thanks to chefs Jen Yee and David Garcia who are both classically trained in French baking and serve delicious breads and pastries to the Atlanta community.
Café Vendôme
Address: 4969 Roswell Rd, Atlanta, GA 30342 (at Belle Isle Square); 6400 Blue Stone Rd, Sandy Springs, GA 30328 (at City Springs)
Owner Hamid Rouchdi who’s originally from Morocco and has lived in France, was missing traditional French pastries and baguettes. He solved this problem by opening Café Vendôme where he imported ovens and talent from France in order to create the real experience at this bakery. Besides traditional baguettes, here you’ll find a nice variety of croissants (butter, chocolate and almond flavors), canelé which is a caramelized pastry from the Bordeaux region, and one thing that we did not find any place else which was the pain-au-raisin (raisin pastry). One of our favorite items was the Pepito, a flat brioche filled with pastry creme and chocolate chips. That was divine!
Evergreen Butcher + Baker
Address: 2011 Hosea L Williams Dr NE, Atlanta, GA 30317
When not one, or two but several people mention the place, and there is a line out the door before it even opens (in the cold I might add), then you know it has to be good. As soon as we walked in, we saw the reason for the hype. Her name is Emma Schacke. She’s the baker, pâtissière and co-owner at Evergreen Butcher + Baker. Her training was at the French pastry school in Chicago and she has since worked as a chocolate maker and pastry chef in Amsterdam, Nashville and Atlanta. Her croissants are authentic and delectable. The sourdough baguette is tasty with a nice texture. There’s an olive baguette as well that looked really good. If you like a rich, chocolaty pastry, then the chocolate Kouign-amann is a must-try. Thank you to the friends for this excellent recommendation!
Little Tart Bakeshop
Address: 99 Krog Street, Atlanta GA 30307 (inside Krog Street Market); 68 Georgia Avenue SE, Atlanta GA 30312; also at Peachtree Road, Grant Park, and Freedom Farmers markets (you’ll see the lines at her table!)
“THIS is France” was the comment made when one of our taste-testers took a bite of a croissant. Sarah O’Brien, head baker and owner of Little Tart Bakeshop grew up in the south baking apple pies alongside her grandmother. She has since mastered the art of baking and today, offers some of the best croissants in all of Atlanta, including pain-au-chocolat, classic butter croissants and almond croissants. We recommend you to try the chocolate pistachio croissant and the praline escargot. You’ll thank us later!
Saint Germain French Café & Bakery
Address: Buckhead Village-3014 Bolling Way NE Atlanta, GA 30305, The Interlock-1115 Howell Mill Rd Atlanta, GA 30318, Ponce City Market- 675 Ponce De Leon Ave NE Atlanta, GA 30308
In France, there is a distinction between a boulangerie which is a bakery for breads and a patisserie which is a pastry shop. What we learned on our bakery tour was that Saint Germain is a patisserie and not a boulangerie, which is why they don’t sell baguettes. Here you’ll find the classic croissant varieties and also the canelé of Bordeaux. They also make some of the best galette des rois (king’s cake) in the city! Our favorite item here was the almond croissant that has just the right amount of filling where you can really savor the essence of almond.
Insider tip: Saint Germain pastries are also available at Bread & Butterfly and Roswell Provisions
Photo credit: Saint Germain Bakery
Star Provisions
Address: 1460 Ellsworth Industrial Blvd NW, Atlanta, GA 30318
For those in the know, Star Provisions is a go-to destination for good French baguettes. They are made from wheat flour and at this bakery they also make a special version of the baguette called pain d’Epi. This is essentially the same thing as the classic baguette, but is made in the shape of a wheat shaft, a French tradition dating back centuries. They also have butter and chocolate croissants, as well as unusual flavors such as the strawberry and everything croissants.
The full and complete list…
Below is the complete list of all the stops that were on our itinerary. With the exception of a few bakeries (Henri’s, Buckhead Bread Co, and unfortunately Douceur de France- these guys really need to step up their game), the places below were good when compared to places like Costco, Publix or Kroger. We liked Alon’s for example, especially their twice-baked almond croissant which was to die for! But when compared side-by-side to places like the Buttery, Café Vendôme, Evergreen, Little Tart, St. Germain or Star Provisions, they just did not compare, either the texture just wasn’t right (croissant wasn’t flaky enough or the baguette was too soft) or the product wasn’t authentic, and our focus was on finding pastries and baguettes that one would have in France.
Please note that while we didn’t find what we were looking for at these places, their other items sold such as sandwiches, salads, etc. may be great. Henri’s for instance has a New Orlean’s king’s cake that they sell during mardi gras each year and it is really good.
The ones below are mentioned separately because they do not have facilities to bake onsite. However, they do sell baguettes and French pastries in their shops that they bring in from local bakers.
Bread & Butterfly uses Saint Germain.
The James Room (Belt Line location) is a cocktail bar in the evening. But during the day, the café in the front sells pastries from Alon’s (you can also find Alon’s baguettes at Whole Foods and Lucy’s Market).
Roswell Provisions uses Saint Germain.
Chattahoochee Coffee Co. the guy didn’t know where the products were from, which tells you something right there.
Do you agree or disagree with this list? What are some of your favorites? If you have other suggestions of places in the Metro Atlanta area, please let us know!
