Jean-Marc Chatellier's French Bakery — Restaurant in Millvale

This bakery first opened in 1992, and I consider it to be the very best bakery in the entire Pittsburgh area. Baked goods include croissants, danishes, strudels, nut rolls, palmiers, macarons, cakes, and others. You may pre-order the baked goods, or you can simply stop in to see what is on display.

I sent my husband to this bakery weeks ago, and he loved it so much that he requested that we return again today. I had expected parking to be challenging in the neighborhood, but we found parking spots on the street. The employees were courteous, and the prices were reasonable for the quality.

We tried several of their pastries and desserts. The lemon tart had a crispy crust and delightfully lemony custard filling. The lemon raspberry cake had several flavorful layers of moist cake, lemon custard, raspberry filling, and icing. The palmier was a huge size and was perfectly crispy and sweet. My husband said that the croissants are the best that he has ever eaten in his life. I do not usually enjoy key lime pie, but I rate this bakery’s key lime pie as the best ever. And so on… My only suggestion for improvement is to not use containers that are made from type-6 plastic.

Please note that this bakery is not open everyday of the week. Furthermore, I read that the owner is trying to sell...

My family has known Jean-Marc since before I was born, and I grew up with his lemon-raspberry-white-chocolate birthday cakes gracing my childhood parties. Extraordinary quality tucked away in a tiny, unassuming shop. At the moment due to Covid, the hours of the bakery are extremely limited (Friday and Saturday, I believe) so if you have a chance and want the BEST croissants, macarons, and Breton Shortbread in Pittsburgh, schedule a visit in the morning to grab something before everyone else does. (Yes, it's a well-loved bakery with a loyal customer base, and if you get there after 1PM, the pickings are lean).

By the way, he uses real buttercream. Like, the real stuff. It's like eating a soft, meltable, cloud. Nothing is ever over-sweetened, and the flavors of everything are immaculately balanced. A good, professional, old-fashioned, true French bakery.

(Also the macarons are better than anywhere I've ever tasted, and my parents wrote a cookie cookbook, so I've tried quite a few. It's hard to get that much bright, distinct flavor in a macaron. Salted caramel, coffee, and passionfruit are...

I'm French and know a thing or two about French bakeries. You have the 'fancy' ones that you find in big cities like Paris, those that are all about the decor and bright flashy lights and colors all around. And then you have the small town bakery, every single small town in France has a bakery. People say that when the bakery closes, the town dies. I come from a small town of 1,300 inhabitants in the west part of France (actually not too far from where Jean-Marc Chatellier used to live) and when I step into his bakery, the smell, the set-up, the pastries... Everything reminds me of my small town bakery. It's an authentic French bakery and I was so happy to find it when I moved to Pittsburgh a few years ago. I love every single of his pastries and bread...with the exception of cinnamon croissant, because that is NOT a French pastry, he makes it because people on this side of the atlantic like them 😉 I can't say anything but good things...