Let’s be real for a spell – is there anything as pure and good as a freshly baked loaf of bread? We think not. If we are being completely honest with ourselves, a simple artisan-baked sourdough or baguette is enough to put a smile on our face, but place us in front of a cabinet filled with flaky croissants, picture-perfect pastries, covetable cakes, tantalising tarts and dreamy doughnuts, and we’re liable to cry with unadulterated joy. Brisbane boasts a bevy of fantastic bakeries, from the French-inspired patisseries and the woodfired wonders to the cake-making powerhouses and humble neighbourhood locals. Want to know who we consider to be some of the city’s best? Read on …
Riser Bread, Toowong: What started as a loaf-slinging subscription service during COVID blossomed into a bona fide bakery star in 2022. Riser’s light-filled Toowong bakery-cafe hybrid has everything you need for a carb-centric feast, from country-style sourdoughs and olive, lemon zest and rosemary loaves to walnut and sea salt scrolls and kardemummabullar (Swedish cardamom buns). Coffee Supreme is Riser Bread’s caffeine supplier of choice – the perfect pairing for a picture-perfect pastry.
Agnes Bakery, Fortitude Valley: It’s not unusual to see a line snaking its way out the front of Agnes Bakery on a weekend. The pandemic pivot turned perpetually popular James Street resident continues the woodfired traditions of its pop-up beginnings, serving exceptional loaves of bread (malted grain and molasses sourdough, plus seeded, and smoked potato bread), kouign amanns, doughnuts, Basque cheesecake and ham-and-gruyere pithiviers. The range as also blossomed to include sandwiches, roast garlic and herb knots, and croissants.
Christian Jacques Artisan Boulanger, Kangaroo Point: If you take your pastry seriously (we respect you), a visit to Christian Jacques’ Kangaroo Point boulangerie is a must. The man himself grew up in the south of France and cultivated a love of baking from his childhood, and this passion shines through in the mouth-watering range available at his store. Feast upon the flakiest croissants, softest sourdough and perfectly balanced pastries this side of the southern hemisphere. Hot tip: arrive early and snatch up a raspberry tart before they sell out!
Sprout Artisan Bakery, Fortitude Valley: This beloved wholesaler-turned-bakery-superstar made our hearts skip a beat when it opened a pop-up outlet on James Street in 2020, but it made us fall head over heels when it secured a permanent space in 2021. Now a local fave, Sprout sells a mix of sweet and savoury delicacies, including custard tarts, flaky croissants, bostocks, cardamom scrolls, savoury breakfast danishes and cinnamon buns, as well as a scrumptious-sounding croissant toastie. Oh, and don’t forget the rustic loaves – we reckon they’re an essential item.
Lune Croissanterie, South Brisbane and Brisbane City: One of the biggest names in the croissant game made its anticipated Brisbane debut in 2021, with the Melbourne-born (and world-renowned pastry maker) unveiling a jaw-dropping retail space and bakery at the end of Fish Lane. Anyone that has made the pilgrimage to Lune’s Melbourne locations will be familiar with Lune’s signature zonts – from the traditional kind to almond croissants and a ham-and-gruyere-filled variety. Fleshing out the classic range are pain au chocolat, caramelised kouign amanns, fruit-and-cream-loaded danishes, coconut rough (twice-baked pain au chocolat), cheese-and-Vegemite escargot, and lemon-curd cruffins. Inner-city denizens were blessed with a Lune locale of their own when the croissanterie opened an outpost on Burnett Lane in 2022. Here you can pop in for Lune’s classic range as well as cups of Coffee Supreme coffee.
Doughcraft, Albion and Brisbane City: Nestled in the heart of Craft’d Grounds is a multi-faceted bakery and deli that takes things up a notch when it comes to crave-worthy carbs. Doughcraft (the brainchild of a group of chefs and bakers) dispenses a jaw-dropping array of European-style baked goods, cheese and charcuterie. The range includes (but isn’t limited to) doughnuts, breads, focaccia buns, sandwiches, lasagna and pasta. Stand-out selections include bomboloni crowned in a peak of silky Italian-style meringue, panino casa with Le Conquérant camembert, Sardinian-style sausage, local honey and butter, nduja-infused focaccia buns, and smoked Tasmanian salmon, creme fraiche, spinach and crispy capers smushed between squid-ink buns.
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Rise Bakery, Hamilton: Born on the Gold Coast in 2022 before expanding to Portside Wharf in 2023, Rise Bakery is part baked-goods dispensary and part salon de thé. This means that in addition to its range of viennoiseries (including croissants, apple turnovers and lunettes), patisserie goodies (lemon-meringue tarts, Paris brest and mille feuille), and artisanal sourdough loaves, customers can also come in and sip tip-top tea and exquisite French champagne. Rise Bakery will soon launch a patisserie and champagne tasting menu, which is a must for anyone that fancies the finer things in life.
Danny’s Bread, Teneriffe: If you consider yourself well-versed in Brisbane’s cafe scene, then you’d have noticed many of the city’s top-flight nosheries repping Danny’s Bread. Daniel Mikus is a guru when it comes to baked goods, honing his skills at some of the country’s best bakeries before striking out on his own. Danny’s Bread takes an near-scientific approach to baking, mixing organic flour from Gunnedah, salt from the Murray River basin and high-quality water before playing with fermentation and natural bacteria to create its signature sourdough.
Beurre Pastries, Milton: The newest name to hit the scene is Beurre Pastries, a fresh concept from the crew behind popular Christchurch bakery and cafe LeBakermen. Owner Will Leung, an accomplished patissier who has travelled across Japan, Australia, Europe and New Zealand, is indulging his wilder creative notions here – think black sesame and yuzu morning buns, hazelnut and Belgian-chocolate gianduja with sea salt, and vanilla-bean marshmallow fluff croissants.
Darvella Patisserie, Bulimba: Born as a savvy lockdown pivot, Darvella Patisserie evolved into a fully fledged concept (and one of Brisbane’s best bakeries) in 2021. The Bulimba-based bakery boasts chic Swiss influences and an upmarket feel, with an offering that includes traditional croissants, doughnuts, breads, savoury items, an assortment of signature baby cakes and Swiss-chocolate-infused treats.
Superthing, West End: In early 2020, NYC Bagel Deli’s Eddy Tice and Ania Kutek opened their own pink-hued croissanterie Superthing on Montague Road in West End, setting the standard for visually arresting interiors and well as mouth-watering treats. This isn’t your typical bakery, here all of the pastries based on croissant dough, from the plain, almond and ham, cheese and bechamel croissants to the cruffins, savoury monkey-bread muffins and the cinnamon and orange sugar morning buns with vanilla custard.
Cordelia Sourdough Bakehouse, South Brisbane: The Superthing team made more moves in 2022 with Cordelia Sourdough Bakehouse. This striking bakery-cafe hybrid is all about showcasing the wonderful complexity of sourdough. It’s doing this by using a variety of starters to make European-style rye loaves, caramelised onion sourdough and kakadu-plum-infused breads. The offering also features elevated toasties, burgers boasting cultured milk buns, hand-rolled bagels and flaky croissants.
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Oh My Bread, Grange: Sebastien Pisasale and Trifide Belkacemi are Brisbane baking legends. The brains behind Crust & Co burst back onto the scene after the 2022 floods inundated their redbrick Windsor bakehouse. Now based in Grange and operating as Oh My Bread, the duo is once again using French baking techniques to create a tight range of breads, sweets and viennoiseries – yes, including Crust & Co.’s beloved pistachio croissant!
The Whisk Fine Patisserie, Brisbane City and Mount Gravatt: What do you get when one of Australia’s best competitive pastry chefs opens his own patisserie? You get The Whisk – the brainchild of acclaimed baking maestro Justin Yu. Justin and his team pump out hundreds of pastries every week – think Fresh danishes and croissants made with high-quality Belgian butter and French flour, blueberry, strawberry and passionfruit almond tarts, macadamia brownies, and macarons. In 2022 the team opened a pastry kitchen at Inter/Section in The City, slinging Nutella croissants and hot-dog danishes.
Jocelyn’s Provisions, Fortitude Valley, Camp Hill, Albion, Brisbane City: A name synonymous with decadent cakes and perfect pastries, Jocelyn’s Provisions is one of Brisbane’s most iconic purveyors of breads and baked goods, using top-notch ingredients and traditional recipes to create its esteemed (and extremely popular) array of treats. From the signature bar cakes and flourless chocolate cakes to its chewy brownies, heavenly roulades and buttery tarts, there’s something here to tantalise everyone’s tastebuds.
Flour & Chocolate, Morningside and Northgate: It’s not uncommon to see a line of pastry hunters snaking out of Flour & Chocolate’s Morningside patisserie, which is why all die-hard bakery fiends celebrated when Flour & Chocolate opened a second (much larger) locale in Northgate. Now, folks can get their fix of this acclaimed outfit’s artisan breads, cakes, tarts, slices, brownies, sausage rolls and more.
Brooki Bakehouse, Fortitude Valley: A change of pace from the croissant-centric options on this list, Brooki Bakehouse is a must-try option for anyone with a serious sweet tooth. Boasting a Paris-meets-New York aesthetic, this gem makes exquisitely decorated cakes, colourful cupcakes, chewy cookies and a mouth-watering array of macarons.
Croix Croissant, Hillcrest: If you creativity is what you seek in your pastries, the cross-cultural-inspired flavours at Croix Croissant will certainly pique your interest. The range here is ever-changing, with popular options including mie goreng croissant (filled with bechamel and mozzarella), lemon cheesecake cruffins, pina colada-inspired croll (croissant rolls), croissant burgers, vegan-friendly Victoria sponge croissants and creme brulee danishes.
Lisboa Caffe, South Brisbane: While you won’t find any croissants or danishes here, this little bakery and cafe has a specialty you absolutely must try. Lisboa Caffe – one of Brisbane’s preeminent proponents of Portuguese pastéis de nata – is renowned across Brisbane for its custard-filled tarts. Here, you can get boxes of traditional, Nutella custard, goats cheese with walnut and honey, and chicken-and-herb tarts, as well as mini tarts, almond tarts and sausage rolls.
Chouquette, New Farm: This long-running French boulangerie and patisserie is a popular spot for Brisbane folk, some travelling from the other side of town to nab everything from buttery croissants and freshly baked baguettes to delightful coffee. If you seek Parisian-style treats, you’ll assuredly fall head over heels for Chouquette’s macarons, almond croissants, mille-feuille, eclairs and pain Suisse.
I Heart Brownies, online: Sometimes, it’s better to have a specialty than to be a jack of all trades. This is the mantra of the I Heart Brownies crew, who has dedicated countless hours towards the pursuit of the perfect brownie. For purely research purposes, we’ve chomped on dozens of I Heart Brownies treats (which come in flavours such as peanut butter, salted caramel, raspberry, Turkish delight and double choc) and we can verify that these might very well be the best brownies in town. We might need to eat a few more, you know, to be completely certain.
Banneton Bakery, Woolloongabba, Camp Hill and Ashgrove: Another outfit using old-school techniques and baking methods, Banneton’s age-old principles help it produce some of the most uncompromisingly authentic goods. Wholesome ingredients are transformed into breads, viennoiseries, savouries and patisseries without the use of artificial improvers or additives, so if you’re after a no-fuss croissant or guilt-free galettes, seek out one of Banneton’s three bricks-and-mortar locations or two market pop-ups.
Miettes Boulangerie Patisserie, Graceville: Over the river in Graceville sits a charming bakery that is renowned for its incredible selection of sweet and savoury goods. The Miettes team whips up loaves upon loaves of artisanal breads, from your regular white sourdough and ciabatta loaf to haloumi and mint sourdough, triple-seeded rye and cornbread. What’s more, the shelves also boast batches of fresh doughnuts, croissants, breakfast brioche and limited-edition themed goodies.
Honourable mentions: Brisbane’s bakery scene is flush with scores of sensational venues – it’s incredibly hard to whittle down the list to a select few! We’re cheating by also including some of our other favourites in this category. Other bakeries worth checking out include Alphabet Cafe in West End, Gerbino’s in Ashgrove, Reno Fine Patisserie in Eight Mile Plains, Le Caprice Patisserie in Bulimba, The Baker’s Arms in Woolloongabba, Kürtősh in West End, La Vosh Patisserie in Red Hill, Banette in Rosalie and West End, Hey Crois in Fortitude Valley, and Le Boulangerie Amour Fou in Salisbury.
Is there a bakery that you think deserves a spot on this list? Drop us a line at [email protected].