The Bread Bar

I didn’t take a photo of the whole cannelle cause I was dying to eat into it and it certainly did not disappoint! It was a stupendously delicious French pastry. A nice caramelized exterior and a moist chew interior with a perfect degree of sweetness.

We «sniffed in» on this vendor at the Laguna Niguel Farmer’s Market on a Sunday.
We’ve recently tried and fallen head over heels for the CANELE pastry (Frenchie). It is a phenomenal dessert if you’ve never tried it. This one has some char via the torch, a firm exterior, a slight crispness (also via the torch) yet is moist inside. The interior features a soft delicate custard with an outer caramelized crust. «Addicting» may be the understatement of the decade for Frenchie pastry lovers. This is the best canele we’ve had so far.
Their ALMOND CROISSANT is a big beast and accompanied my home Euro-​brew (bold dark yet smoother java) very well. This is moderately sweet with more of a light, flaky and airy consistency. There is a medium amount of almond paste inside which makes it less dense than others I’ve had. It isn’t overly moist given this lesser amount of paste but it is quite tasty. There is a lightER to medium almond flavor with a light dusting of powdered sugar on the exterior. A surplus of toasted almonds are on the exterior and help make this pastry.
The pricing is pretty high but the quality is very good here.

The only place I have found canele locally, but be sure to come in on a Saturday morning, as they are not sold during the week. These are perfect with fresh espresso, and make a delicious and decadent Saturday morning breakfast.
Parking is easy getting into the tiny lot, but difficult getting out. Parking on the side street is much easier.

So with all the great reviews I was pretty excited to try this place. But wow was I sorely disappointed.
The place itself is tiny, barely room for 3 people to stand. It’s clean though, and the lady behind the counter was polite. Now on to the disappointment.
I don’t mind day old pastry but the price needs to match what it is. I just picked up 3 little croissants and one loaf of sourdough and the total was $ 12.50. That’s pretty close to what you’d pay at a fresh bakery. The croissants tasted a day old, and the sourdough was a dense brick. Now, if I’d gotten out of there for about $ 5, I would think it was decent, but at $ 12.50, it was a total ripoff. Price has got to match quality.
What a bummer since this place is walking distance for me. If I want croissants in the morning it’s going to be Starbucks or The Donut. We won’t be back to this place.

This place is a POS! (Piece-​of-​Shi-​)
Came here this morning at 7:45am to find a locked door and closed business. Their website says they open at 7:30am. yeah right… wake your butt out of bed then. I will never return to this place. They don’t care to open when they say they will be open. Hey if you don’t want regular business hours for the public then don’t post your fake hours.
Please update your website to say that you only cater and don’t serve the public. Because that is what you are.
Thanks for wasting my time!

Went after 730 on a Friday morning and they were closed. also, the last time I was there the cashier charged me for a pastry she «gave» me to try… lol thanks?! It was very tasty though!!! So great food, but as a customer I’d appreciate a receipt next time and some posted hours.

Cons: The area is a little desolate, parking is a little difficult to get. Wish the place was an actual restaurant. Also, they only accept cash.
Pros: the carrot coconut muffin was delicious and so were the other pastries that I got, which I think were a blueberry and raspberry danish and the french loaf I got was one of the best i’ve had.

Amazing pastries at wholesale prices! I tried the blueberry muffins, which were amazing, and onion rolls — perfect for a burger! It’s a small little place that mostly does catering, but they have a small display case as soon as you walk in the door. There is a little bell to ring and someone will promptly come and find you.
If you’re trying to find this place, it is RIGHT on the intersection of Sierra and El Segundo Blvd. There is sometimes a tiny A-​frame sign placed in their parking lot that says «The Bread Bar», but I haven’t always seen it. There is a small parking lot in front, but it’s easier to just park on Sierra.
The front door is slightly reflective and has «701» on it, but nothing written about what business it is. Just trust me and walk in :)
Friendly staff and amazing pastries. I will definitely be back and recommending to others!

Amazing breads, croissants, etc.!! And you can buy it at wholesale prices!

Stopped in here at 2pm, so it was late in the day. They had an ok supply left — a couple olive loaves, 1 sourdough, 1 cheese, and some rolls. I bought an olive loaf, and it was decent. I’ve definitely had better. It was flat like ciabatta and dense. Not many air bubbles inside or the shiny chewiness that I like in a good loaf of crusty bread. The flavor was fine. Service wasn’t friendly but wasn’t rude either. It’s a bit hard to find. When you walk in, there’s a small counter case with bread and then offices. Feels like you’re walking into someone’s office — really quiet and awkward. Def. not good enough for a return stop, but it was ok to try once. Maybe first dibs on the fresh bread earlier in the day would yield a better experience. I just wasn’t impressed with the interior of the olive loaf.

Although I’m a fan of the BreadBar in Century City, this location «a bake studio» distribution center is not the same…
I got raisin croissants and an assortment of small sized muffins (banana, coconut carrot, apple bran, blueberry, chocolate chip).
They really have a very small, limited selection. The baked goods were inexpensive (75cents a muffin) but it’s because they’re not fresh. I guess it would be okay to pick up the artisan loafs for making stuffing: P
* They no longer serve sandwiches and lunches here because they don’t have a permit to do so and this place is very difficult to find even with a navigator unless their sign is out…

You will pass this place up if you aren’t looking hard. The only thing to identify it is a small «A» frame sign they put out front when they are open. When you walk in you will feel like you walked into an office. There is a display case but also people working at desks. Don’t let that scare you off.
I’m guessing they sell wholesale to restaurants that want higher end baked goods. They have some damn good bread. I made a burger at home using their brioche and sandwiches with ciabatta. The bread made them so much better.
The sweets are awesome too. I want to shovel the chocolate croissants into my face until I die fat and happy. One of the very nice ladies that works there tossed in a chocolate baguette into my large pile of baked goods I was buying. Wasn’t too sure how that would taste. The baguette was soft with tons of chocolate chips and it was made softer by my tears of joy. I wanted to go back and slap her for showing me how awful the rest of the food in the world is.
They don’t always have all the items available right then. I have gone on a limb and tried things I normally wouldn’t care for, like fig bread, and I haven’t regretted it.
If you are in El Segundo and want to get premium baked goods for a lower price then the corner coffee shops sells them for then you got to try this place. out.

Mistake about the info above: 1. They don’t accept credit card & 2. they’re closed on Sundays. Also, they only sell bread (no salads, soups, or lunch plates) despite what I saw in the Unilocal pictures. They told me it’s because of a license they need to obtain. Maybe sometime in the future :)

The bread is very good here. They are open until 3:00 (I thinK). It is the physical location where they make the bread, so it is always fresh. The lot is small, so you have to park on the street. The fig bread is my favorite.

Just to warn you, this is not a restaurant like their other locations. They call this location their «bake studio» because this is the wholesale location that distributes to the restaurants. They recently opened to the public and sell sandwiches, salads, and fresh baked bread.
The salad and sandwiches are ready made and have a decent selection for the small little area that they had. They had roast beef, corned beef, turkey, and a club sandwich. For salads, I was expecting green salads but what they had was quinoa, lentil, potato, and white bean salads.
I ordered a turkey sandwich and a dark chocolate baguette. We also got a complimentary mini cupcake. Of course I picked the red velvet one, and it was pretty good. They used beets for the coloring and even had small chunks in it. It was moist and tasty. The turkey sandwich was also delicious. It had arugula, spicy mustard, and some type of berry jam on ciabatta bread. The mixture of sweet and spicy was a nice change for a turkey sandwich. The dark chocolate baguette and tons of chocolate chips in it. The bread itself seemed like a mix of baguette and croissant.
I’ll definitely be back to avoid the lunch crowds from all the other sandwich places in the area.