Croissant Taste Test: The Best Croissants in LA

It'a not an easy thing to find a croissant that is truly like the ones from France. There are four bakeries in LA at the moment who make top notch, French croissants. My family wanted to determine which was actually the best. So we drove all over the place one morning, retrieving croissants and pain au chocolats from those four bakeries. It was so interesting tasting them all at once. There were very distinct differences that I don't know that I would have ever noticed had I not been comparing them side by side.

1. Proof Bakery 3156 Glendale Boulevard, Los Angeles (Atwater Village)

This croissant wins the prize for flakiest and crispiest. But it was not as flavorful as the others. $2.75

2. Bouchon Bakery 235 N Canon Dr, Beverly Hills

This was the most flavorful croissant. It was also the least flaky, but the flavor makes up for it. $3.25

3. Huckleberry Cafe 1014 Wilshire Blvd

This croissant was more bready. I liked it, but I think in the realm of French croissants, this was the worst of the four. Still, sometimes you're in the mood for bready. $2.00

4. Short Cake 6333 3rd St, Stall 316 (in the Farmers market), Los Angeles

Overall, I'd say this was the best croissant. It was crispy, had nice flavor, and was a good size. As you might be able to tell above, that day it was a little burnt, so I returned later that week and can confirm that indeed, it is the best overall. $2.50

OVERALL WINNER: Short Cake

The Short Cake croissant was excellent on every level, even though it may not have reached the same amount of crispiness or flavor as others. (But they do need to stop burning them.) Each croissant has its strength, so it just depends on what you like, or what you're in the mood for (sometimes a bready croissant sounds like just what I want).

The pains au chocolat/chocolate croissants are much like the plain croissants. Huckleberry's ($3.50) is bready and is filled with lots of chocolate chips instead of traditional bars. Bouchon's ($3.50) again has that flavorful, but less flaky quality, and Proof's ($3.50) is flaky, crispy and good. Short Cake does not make a pain au chocolat. Instead they have a bear claw, which I find far inferior and barely comparable. Of the pains au chocolat, I'd say Proof is my favorite. (Because chocolate is such a strong flavor, the differences in the flavor of the croissants doesn't matter quite as much to me. Rather, I go for textural superiority.)

Proof, Bouchon, Huckleberry