Gran Milan — Restaurant in Richmond

I’d come back to this location just to get a sfogliatella. I very rarely find a pastry that good. Crispy crackly flakey on the outside with tender and delightfully flavored (sort of an orange essence) dough on the inside. The olive bread stick is also a must-try. Great bread and great olives, you almost don’t need it to be more than the sum of it’s parts, though it is.

We also got a custard croissant. The puff pastry was not great enough for me to buy again but the custard was great and they had a lot of other custard pastries that the friendly lady at the counter was more enthusiastic about herself, so i’d go for one of those next time.

The espresso was solid and well balanced; the sour notes didn’t overwhelm the rest of the flavors as is epidemic. The drip coffee was mild, but nice; not an off note to be had.

To summarize, the sfogliatella earned the 5th star and the espresso was good enough not to drop back...

Random days are the best. I was driving outside my usual confines to do a bit of donating.

While on my drive, I noticed a white pickup mirroring my moves. Eventually, I let them draw alongside. The driver was one of you 💕 he threw out a 🤙🏻. I was overjoyed and threw out a ✌️🤙🏽.

Found myself at Cafe Gran Milan and man oh man. This place, hidden from everyone, was packed to the rafters. A long line out the door and not a single unhappy patron.

I met a man and his partner who regaled me with tales of places as good as this. The man runs a bar called Toot’s. If anyone partakes, say hi.

The owner, staff and everyone who comes through these doors seem to be the happiest people on Earth.

I left satisfied wishing I’d found this...

Hands down the best Italian cafe in the Bay area. Besides the efficient service and cute cafe set up, their food is just next level. Their foccacia is absolutely excellent: very airy and crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside, served either with delicious toppings or with their paninis. The toppings and panini fillings are simple yet very flavorful; you can tell that it's true italian craftsmanship. The whole experience leaves you craving more (aka very easy to overeat!) Their pastries are also perfectly light and sweet, and they seem to often have new items in rotation so there's always something new to try. Overall, kudos to the Chef. Always impressed every time I come and always spend way too much here (but happy...