Baking is a higher purpose. Ask any bleary-eyed baker who wakes up at 3 a.m. to tend to proofed loaves, laminated dough and tender sponges. Such passion and dedication is evident in dozens of bakeries around Orange County. With the holidays fast approaching, this guide details some of the best-of-the-best to help you plan your Thanksgiving and Christmas feasts accordingly. This list features a range of specialties, from European-style boulangerie (breads), viennoiserie (croissants/pastries) to authentic panaderías (pan dulce) and cake shops.
Please keep in mind that Orange County offers a myriad of choice bakeries; consider this your jumping-off point to finding the finest bakes available.
61 Hundred Bread
728 Poinsettia St., Unit A, Santa Ana; www.61hundredbread.com
Karlo Evaristo’s 61 Hundred Bread finally opened its first brick-and-mortar location in Santa Ana, satisfying the intense demand since his 2019 cottage venture. The bakery is now Orange County’s essential stop for perfectly fermented and flakey bakes, most notably for the sourdough batards, in regular and heirloom blue masa flavors (the latter bread’s violet hue becoming Evaristo’s signature color).
Alongside the sourdough, be sure to cozy up to the croissants using dough laminated in-house with high-fat French butter, ube cruffians, rosemary focaccia or whatever dreams the chef-founder bakes into a reality. And don’t miss out on the upcoming batches of seasonal panettone. 61 Hundred Bread’s chef-founder made a sojourn to Italy specifically so he could hone his skills with the holiday bread. But whatever you do, get here early: these goods sometimes disappear before the lunch hour ends.
Bread Artisan Bakery
1920 E. Edinger Ave, Santa Ana; www.breadab.com
Bread Artisan Bakery (or simply Bread) is the secret ingredient behind many of Orange County’s top kitchens. Founders Jonnie LoFranco and Yannick Guegan have quietly supplied chefs and restaurants like Marché Moderne and Mario’s Butcher Shop since 2010.
Fortunately, the public can access their goods at the Butchery (Costa Mesa, Newport Coast and Brea), Irvine Ranch Market, Cortina’s Italian Market and even Trader Joe’s’ locations in Orange County and Long Beach. Their massive campagne miche is arguably “one of the greatest sourdough loaves available in California,” according to food critic Brad A. Johnson. Also essential? The plush brioche, berry tartlets, ham and cheese croissants and burger buns.
ALSO SEE: These are 10 must-try bakeries in the Los Angeles area
Cream Pan
15945 Harbor Blvd., Fountain Valley; 602 El Camino Real, Tustin; creampan.com
A Japanese-American bakery with locations in Fountain Valley, Old Town Tustin and Lomita, Cream Pan has been whipping up French-influenced breads and pastries since 1988. Since then, people are still lining up for Yoshinori Inada’s signature strawberry croissant, a flaky, buttery pastry filled with fresh fruit and, of course, cream pans (sweet buns with light custard inside).
Beyond these iconic staples, the founder-baker also provides high-quality breads like fresh butter rolls, multigrain cheese boules, fluffy raisin loaves, sticky buns, baguettes and more. Added bonus: You can peep the bakers in action at the Fountain Valley location with a window that lets you (respectfully) gaze at the baking in action.
Crema Artisan Bakers
The Crema Cafe: 322 Main St., Seal Beach; Orange Home Grown Farmers Market: 303 West Palm Ave., Orange; www.cremaartisan.com
Tarit Tanjasiri’s brand started with the beloved Crema Cafe in Seal Beach in 2006, but it’s the evolution to Crema Artisan Bakers in Irvine that, in part, landed it on the list.
Operating out of a commercial space, Crema maintains the consistency and quality needed to supply markets and coffee shops across Orange County. While the Irvine space is wholesale-only, the public can still access their goods by pre-ordering with 48 hours notice for pick-up or grab items at the Crema Cafe in Seal Beach (which sells breads, pastries and bagels) and at the Orange Home Grown Farmers Market on Saturdays. The effort is worth it for the superb fruit danish, cinnamon pull-aparts and truly exceptional brioche loaves.
Diotima Bakehouse
25542 Jeronimo Road, Mission Viejo; www.diotimabakehouse.com
Kian Moltaji, a classically trained baker in the French manner with a philosophical bent, is giving Mission Viejo the expertly executed pastries you usually have to fly to Paris for. After honing his skills at esteemed Parisian cooking school École Ferrandi, as well as time as a personal chef, Moltaji, who has amassed an impressive online following, finally realized his childhood dream in this intimate space. But the true star is his baking. Forget the fads: his cozy shop focuses on technique and flavor. Look no further for shatteringly crisp croissants, kouign-amanns with crackly caramelized crust and tarts filled with exquisite crème pâtissière.
Beyond the daily staples, look for his rotating selection of cakes and pies (like the light lemon poppyseed or basque cheesecake) or technically challenging dazzlers (I still think about his paris-brest) that keep the faithful queuing out the door. His loyal fan base, including 147,000 followers on Instagram, proves he and his sublime bakes are here to stay.
Giana Bakery and Provisions
34146 Pacific Coast Highway, Dana Point; gianadanapoint.com
Danielle Kuhn, who helped define dining in Dana Point with Maison Cafe and Doheny Cafe, is now consolidating her culinary ventures to focus solely on Giana Bakery & Provisions.
The bakery/restaurant, which she opened in 2022, offers such house-baked goods as a phenomenal rustic sourdough, berry danishes, croissants, vanilla-iced morning buns, kouign-amanns and cookies galore. Also of grave importance are her cakes, which she makes from scratch, with her toasted coconut and cream cake being worthy of at least two slices per person.
ALSO SEE: Here’s what’s hot at Inland Empire bakeries
Moses-Bread
2405 N. Tustin Ave., Santa Ana; moses-bread.com
Moses Kwon’s brick-and-mortar bakery in Santa Ana, a tiny shop that delivers maximum taste, operates by offering quality over quantity. The small storefront often features a limited selection, with many of his beautiful artisan braids being reserved for days in advance. (Expect faithful customers to be lined up outside).
Kwon’s dedication to natural, pure baking means his bread is “made of only four ingredients just as the Ancient Egyptians baked 6,000 years ago.” The process involves a three-day fermentation period that develops the complex flavor, resulting in choice sourdough, boules, rustic loaves, baguettes and bagels.
OC Baking Company
1960 N. Glassell St, Orange; Orange Home Grown Farmers Market: 303 West Palm Ave., Orange; www.ocbakingco.com
The silent titan of Orange County bread for nearly 20 years, Dean Kim’s OC Baking Company has built its reputation selling primarily to high-end restaurants and hotels. And while this remains a wholesale baking operation at heart, you can get your paws on pretzel loaves, raisin bread, parker house rolls and more every Saturday at the Orange Home Grown Farmers Market or during an all-too-brief window of time during holiday pop-ups at the bakery itself.
Origin Baking
11901 Westminster Ave., Suite C, Garden Grove; www.instagram.com/origin_baking_co/
Equipped with food science training from the San Francisco Baking Institute, Brendan Wong launched Origin Baking in 2021, building a following that consistently cleaned out his bakes at the display inside Costa Mesa’s Toast restaurant or at his pop-ups.
Now with a new brick-and-mortar that just opened in Garden Grove, Origin Baking’s top-tier breads (like a gorgeous sourdough and oat porridge loaves) and viennoiserie (kouign-amanns, morning buns, savory monkey bread and black sesame almond croissants) can be found at the ready. “I’ll be doing a weekly bake sale on Saturday mornings,” wrote Wong in a recent Instagram post about the new space. Wong honed his skills at the San Francisco Baking Institute, followed by stints throughout Northern California, Los Angeles and Tokyo.
Rye Goods
234 E 17th St., Costa Mesa; 384 Forest Ave., Laguna Beach; 15771 Red Hill Ave., Suite 110, Tustin; www.ryegoods.com
Sara Lezama’s Rye Goods is a masterclass in committed baking, transforming heritage gains and wild yeast into a passion. Since starting in her home kitchen in 2016, Lezama quickly defined herself as one of the county’s elite bakers. Her philosophy is driven by naturally-leavened flavor and she mills her own flour while nurturing her own sourdough starts, “Winnona Ryeder.”
The cult following she developed in Newport Beach, Laguna Beach and Tustin fueled a major expansion to Costa Mesa. The new, larger space offers more of her rye hearth loaves, housemade pretzels and an expanded deli menu. Technical bread prowess notwithstanding, be on the lookout for her doughnuts, chicken pot pies, s’more cream pies, morning buns and freshly iced lemon loaves.
Tlaxcala Bakery Panadería
3174 W. Lincoln Ave., Anaheim; 1208 S Standard Ave., Santa Ana; www.tlaxcalabakery.com
This bakery has been the go-to spot for authentic Mexican bread since 1994. Famous for its tasty pan dulce, the panadería’s other popular items include large and mini conchas, exceedingly moist tres leches cake, empanada de calabaza, and crispy yet soft churros. Other tempting items include cono de crema, pan para capirotada and the seasonal rosca de reyes. Don’t miss out on the milhojas con frutas (a thousand layer cake), a fresh fruit-studden cake with Bavarian cream, whipped cream and flakey pastry. You can find a full selection, including custom cakes, at the larger Santa Ana location, with the Anaheim spot offering a nearly identical menu save for cakes.