Butter & Crumble — Restaurant in San Francisco

I’ve tried many top bakeries in San Francisco, but Butter & Crumble was one I hadn’t gotten around to—until now. I finally passed by with a shorter line (waited 30 minutes) and picked up five pastries. Here’s my honest take:

🍋 Lemon Mascarpone Cruffin The lemon curd flavor was strong😬. I couldn’t really taste the mascarpone. They were very generous with the cream—maybe tooooo generous🫠—because after two bites, the cruffin fell apart.

🫐Twice Baked Blackberry Oat Croissant This one had a lot going on: brown butter oat frangipane, blackberry jam, oat crumble, and salty mascarpone cream on top. Personally, I felt there were too many competing flavors and textures. It felt like a mashup of ingredients without a clear direction—nothing really stood out in the end. (It reminded me of a pistachio blackberry croissant from another bakery, but that one had a better balance; the ingredients didn’t overpower each other.)

🍑Peach Cobbler Swirl This tasted more like a cinnamon roll. Nothing wrong with that, just not memorable.

☕️Coffee Caramel Pain au Chocolat As a coffee lover, I was really looking forward to this one, especially because they use TCHO chocolate (I love their mocha chocolate). Unfortunately, the caramel cream was overpowering—too sweet and too much of it—and I could barely taste the coffee or enjoy the pastry shell. It just felt like eating spoonfuls of caramel sauce.

🥐Pistachio Cardamom Sugar Croissant This was my favorite of the five. Buttery, flaky, and light—finally a pastry where the croissant itself shines. The cream was well-balanced and didn’t overwhelm. I do wish the pistachio flavor was stronger, but at this point, I was just happy to enjoy a pastry that felt right😢. (P.S. it tasted like Beard Papa’s……)

Overall, I admire the creativity and presentation of their pastries—they’re beautiful and very instagrammable. But I wouldn’t wait in line for hours. This is just my personal take—taste is subjective! I’m not trying to troll or be harsh. I love pastries and genuinely wanted to enjoy these. Wishing them...

Man, this was exceptional. I’ve only been trying to go since February. Queued on a Friday at 8:40, secured by 10:20. Staff was very kind amidst the chaos and the interior was beautiful!!

Morty P was the best pastry I’ve ever had. We know how passionately I feel about ham & cheese croissants and how they serve as a baseline for a bakery’s rating. This was a fantastic ham & cheese croissant but better (if you can even imagine that!). The addition of pistachio pesto was genius, and the nuttiness of the Gruyère was just perfect against the pesto. Pork instead of ham also elevated the textures and flavors. Great choices all around, b&c. 10/10

Coffee caramel pain au chocolat was very flaky and rich. We couldn’t taste the chocolate but it just tasted like a dark chocolate croissant — who am I to complain about that! 9.2/10

Lemon mascarpone cruffin was a crowd favorite. I thought the lemon curd was delicious, but I prefer flaky pastries and this was more donut-like. 7.5/10

I had similar thoughts about the peach cobbler swirl in terms of texture. It was like a cinnamon roll, which I don’t normally like, topped with peach. Very sweet. 6/10

Raspberry pain suisse was superb, they mastered the art of layers and I absolutely loved the tanginess of the raspberry against the cream. 9/10

Honestly, too much hype around the pistachio cardamom sugar croissant. Again, kind of tasted like a donut but maintained a bit of croissant integrity which I greatly appreciated. Couldn’t taste the cardamom. However I really enjoyed the pistachio cream — it was super light which is definitely needed for a pastry like this. 8.5/10

Twice baked blackberry oat croissant was way too heavy, both in terms of how sweet and jammy it was and also literally weight-wise. Felt like a crumbl cookie (bad). 3/10

Elote corn croquiche was a good surprise, I didn’t know that I liked quiches. Very flavorful with spices and the croissant shell...

We ordered from their May menu - blackberry ricotta, spinach feta bear claw, lemon almond tea bun and pistachio cardamom croissant. Wait: showed up at 9am on a Friday with line around the block, 1.5h wait and snagged the last blackberry ricotta

Pros: Don't pass on the savory options! The feta bear claw was my favorite one. The do not skimp on flavor - the pistachio cream truly stands out in the pistachio croissant and the lemon tea bun had the earl grey stand out front and center Stacks up among Arsicault and Juniper as one of the top bakeries in SF and definitely worth standing in line for at least once Unique flavors - You can tell how much love and experimentation they put into their monthly menu, and there's always something new to look forward to. We love to support a strong woman-owned bakery

Cons: Their sweet croissant flavors erred on the "too sweet" side - the sugary coatings felt unnecessary and they would have been perfect without it! Expensive at ~$8 per item. That being said, I do not think this is overpriced considering the labor and variety of ingredients they put into each pastry Like everything advertised on social media, they are a small business trying to keep up with over-demand. The online preorders sell out instantly, there's a high chance that they are sold out of some options by the time you get to the front of the line, and I wouldn't wait another 1.5 hours for it Tldr; if you live in the city, it is worth trying. But if you're visiting SF for a day, I would hit up the other great bakeries in the city for an equally delicious pastry unless you have the time to wait for...