Jane The Bakery

Several dozen breads come out of this San Francisco bakery every day, which is the fastest way to understand a counter where the loaf list is longer than the menu.

A bread list that runs long

Jane The Bakery opened in late 2016 as the bread-forward arm of the Jane group, out in the Lower Fillmore, and the identity is daily production rather than table service. Dozens of loaves are baked in house each day alongside a full laminated pastry programme. The range is unusually broad: classic sourdough and a sourdough sandwich loaf, miche and spelt miche, Danish rye and dark rye, fig walnut levain, olive polenta, multigrain, whole wheat sandwich, brioche pullman, challah, ciabatta, sesame demi baguette, ancient grains baguette, and chocolate hazelnut in both babka and sourdough form. Grain is locally sourced, and the list takes seasonal additions, so it reads as a rotating roster rather than a fixed set.

A counter, not a dining room

The format is a bakery counter with a little seating inside and benches outside. The space is a converted commercial building, bright and expansive, with a long glass-and-wood pastry case and only about a dozen stools, which is the clearest sign that demand outruns the seating. By late morning there is usually a line, and the rhythm is closer to a neighbourhood queue than a room to linger in. The surrounding blocks bring in a mixed crowd for bread, sandwiches, pastries, packed salads, coffee and tea, with nearby parks and playing fields part of the casual eating context. Baking is fresh daily and sold through: when something is gone, it is gone.

Start with a croissant, then buy bread

Begin with the lamination. The croissant programme runs from traditional and almond through chocolate to savoury versions with ham and swiss or with sausage, and the case branches out into coffee twists, olive twists, pain au raisin, kouign amann, morning buns, a cardamom bun, raspberry brioche, cinnamon rolls, scones and turnovers in sweet and savoury forms, a mushroom gruyère tart, polenta cake, lemon bread and banana bread, with gluten-free options among them. For the second purchase, move to bread: sourdough, rye, miche, a baguette or the fig walnut levain all show the daily loaf work. Opinionated About Dining named it a recommended Cheap Eats venue in North America for 2026.