Chef Crystal Sawyer's Bird Rock bakery — a naturally-leavened bread program, laminated pastry case that sells out daily, and a morning-only format that has made Wayfarer the SD baker's-reference bread...
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2
Con Pane Rustic Breads & Cafe
Bakery / Cafe · Point Loma / Liberty Station
Liberty Station's artisan bakery anchor — Chef Catherine Perez's long-ferment sourdough, morning buns, and a sandwich counter that generates the Liberty Station morning-and-lunch line. One of SD's ref...
87
3
Extraordinary Desserts
Dessert / Bakery / Cafe · Bankers Hill
Karen Krasne's Bankers Hill dessert room — a French-trained pastry program with the Passion Fruit Cake as the SD dessert-shorthand, and a glass case that stops people on 5th Ave. A defining SD after-d...
86
4
Pop Pie Co.
American / Australian / Pies · University Heights
University Heights' Australian savory-pie counter — chicken curry, lamb-and-rosemary, and a small-format Park Blvd kitchen that grew from a single location into an SD-born pies brand. A specific UH ev...
86
5
Mama's Bakery & Lebanese Deli
Lebanese / Bakery · North Park
North Park's Lebanese bakery-deli since 1989 — saj flatbread cooked on the dome ovens in front of you, za'atar man'oushe, and a matriarch-run dining room that reads more Beirut than North Park. A defi...
86
6
Azucar Cuban Bakery
Cuban / Bakery / Dessert · Ocean Beach
Ocean Beach's Cuban bakery — Vivian Hernandez-Jackson's Newport Ave pastry counter, guava-and-cheese pastelitos, and a Cuban coffee program that pulls OB regulars every morning. A specific, chef-drive...
85
7
Bobboi Natural Gelato
Dessert / Gelato · La Jolla
Italian-trained gelato pulled fresh into the case at a Girard Avenue window in La Jolla Village. Seasonal flavor rotation, fruit sorbetto built off whatever's coming in, and a product that holds up ag...
85
8
Lil' Frenchie
French / Cafe / Bakery · Coronado
The French café on Orange Avenue that comes closest to dropping a Parisian corner onto Coronado island. Croissants and buckwheat crepes from a from-scratch pastry program, quiche on the counter, and a...
85
9
Stella Jean's Ice Cream
Dessert / Ice Cream · University Heights
University Heights' small-batch ice cream counter — house-made flavors with a brown-butter-caramel signature, a rotating seasonal list, and a Park Blvd shop that locals line up at every warm afternoon...
85
10
Leucadia Donut Shoppe
Dessert / Donuts · Leucadia / Encinitas
Leucadia's 1971 donut shop — classic old-school yeast-and-cake donuts, apple fritters the size of a dinner plate, and a 101-corridor counter that North County surf crews have protected for five decade...