Brioche Bakery in San Francisco, California: Restaurant Review

Brioche is a very rich French bread made with a whole lot of butter and egg. I'm sure you can find it elsewhere in San Francisco, but Brioche Bakery is likely the easiest place, due to both the name and the location near the busy border of North Beach and the Financial District on the famous Columbus Street. I've never had brioche anywhere else so I don't really have a point of comparison, but as the man once said, "I may not know art, but I know what I like!"

Brioche actually looks kind of like a big, doughy bland dinner roll at first blush. Once you actually om nom nom on it, however, you'll find that it has an extremely soft texture, very buttery and fairly sweet. It's really pretty excellent with coffee, which is also pretty good here - they serve an organic roast from the San Francisco Coffee Co. that is adequately strong and dark. You can also get your more complex coffee drinks here such as the lattes, cappucinos, espressos, so on and such forth. North Beach has plenty of other coffee options around within walking distance, certainly, but this stuff is more than good enough to get the job done.

In terms of pastry sweets for a morning snack, you'll also find muffins, danishes, tarts, bread pudding, croissants, fougasse, brownies and cookies. Everything I've ever tried here is good, but the rub on all these tasty pastries is that they charge you for them. Brioche is only about $2.50, which I guess is okay given how good it is, but certain other pastries shoot upwards of $4.50 to five bucks.

They've also got a limited selection of French goodies for lunch. Worth trying is the croque-monsieur, which is a grilled ham and cheese sandwich made with plain brioche as the bread. At about six bucks it is also a touch on the pricey side, but really not bad for the area, and the taste is worth experiencing at least once. Also on the menu is quiche, garlic bread with cheese, grilled cheese sandwiches, and various other basic sandwiches on panini and ciabatta breads.

The place is certainly a little on the pricey side, but for being in North Beach and right next to the weekday deep-pocketed lunch flood of the Financial District, I guess it isn't nearly as bad as it could be. And the quality certainly does match up well enough to make the $2.50 items like the brioche and danishes well worth it. If you've never tried brioche or are looking for a good source of it in San Francisco, definitely make some time to stop by this place in the morning. It's worth experiencing at least once.

Brioche Bakery & Cafe
210 Columbus Ave.
San Francisco, CA 94133
# 415-765-0412