La Farine Boulangerie Patisserie

They're known for their fruit tarts and they absolutely live up to the hype - light, creamt custard and fresh, juicy fruits. The red velvet cupcake is a ljttle disappointing: too dry and too bright artificial red. I also got the sour batard when I came back and it was great, nice tangy flavor and chewy crust. They do use white flour so the interior is more soft and less chewy, so that comes down to personal preference.

We were walking on College Avenue near Alcatraz Avenue when the aroma coming from La Farine Boulangerie Patisserie carried u inside their bakery. We were immediately impressed by their delicious looking eclairs which were also very reasonably priced and after eating one, we became huge fans. They also have beautiful breads with delicious crusts! While we are based in Manhattan, we are always exploring new bakeries! And we live our latest discovery!

Delicious fresh bakery items. Come early, some items sell out fast. Friendly attentive service. Cozy neighborhood bakery. No seats, just togo.

Good service, everyone was friendly. Croissants similar to safeway. Found a fair in my cheese roll. Would not return again.

Bread is great, pastries are bad. Usually stale, not flaky at all, flavors are all understated. I know it's an institution, and the bread HITS, but no matter how pretty the pastries are they taste like something you could get at a grocery store bakery.

Almond/Frangipane croissant success! It was a different style than I’m used to. The almond filling was rolled in to the lamination, the edges were slightly caramelized, and the dough moist. What I tried and would buy again: Frangipane croissant Raspberry croissant Orange current scone Almond caramel tart Lemon shortbread Service was excellent and friendly. Free 60 min parking in the Safeway parking lot across the street, or paid street parking.

It was very disappointing given the great reviews. I got frangipane but there was no almond paste anywhere, and it was a bit chewy. Cost: $3.75 I also got a morningbun which was crumbly and dry and which left a slight hydrogenated fat feel in my mouth. It kind of felt like these were day old desserts.

Warning: Bread is addictive. The Fangipane is perfect. It is crunchy and soft at the same time. The flavor is so pleasing. The amount of sweet is just right. Can’t wait to try something else!

Service was very kind and fast ! Ambiance is not for seating people but for pick and go for home or picnic ! Food "pastries" catch you man !!!! They have a Santa in white swag on the Pantry doing Parkour and I feel that got to be Drake in White Santa OUTFIT !

Pretty good, it's better than some other bakeries, but it's not Porto's! I didn't really find anything extraordinary here but everything was good enough at least, definitely not bad. I'd rate it around 3.5-3.9 overall, better than 3 stars so I rounded up to 4 They are friendly and quick. Place is cute, stuff is very nicely presented, I love how it looks, just the place is kinda small. It feels a bit crowded and I got confused on where I should stand after 2 more people came in after me. Then 2 more people showed up and it felt really crowded. I think the lining up and ordering system could be more efficient but I'm not sure how exactly to go about making it better lol. I don't know how they could have more than like 5 customers in here at the same time. I think they can comfortably serve up to 2-3 people at the same time at most. Definitely not good for groups. Ideally just come in alone and spend no more than 2-3 minutes inside. Good thing everything is made and ready to go and there's no seating or it would be a nightmare!

The fruit tart is superior to many, probably the best in the Bay. The pear and ginger tart is very strong in ginger flavor, so if you don't like ginger then you won't like this at all. They also sell bread, cookies and other pastries. I've tried things here and there but nothing stood out like the fruit tart. It's a crowd favorite at parties.

For Christmas my friend bought my family and I this fruit tart. Yes, it looks like any other fruit tart, but wow, it didn't even last 24 hours. We demolished it. Did I mention I'm super picky about crust and custard? Well, this fruit tart knocked it out of the park! Perfect crust, amazing flavor, and once again it didn't even last 24 hours because we ate it all. The fruit was fresh too, just so you know. This should be a holiday tradition, eating a yummy fruit tart for the holidays! 5 stars delicious!

Absolutely the best Dijon mustard ham and cheese sandwich hands down . Glad we toke the drive in we parked on college the place is on college but in the area we parked it was a great 10 minute work I already paid fir parking do we walked glad we did it was very nice walking thru the neighborhood. Now the walnut raspberry scone was good but not like the walnut scone at Fournee bakery that's the best hands down and the almond croissant sorry still better at Fournee but the raisin rye bread was not bad at all . Lots of things to try I will go back s try . But 5 stars for that sandwich it definitely tasty Better

We buy whole wheat and bread flour here as well as consistently amazing bread and pastries. Years ago I was at The Saloon, a blues bar in SF that is...legendary...for being gritty. The terrifying bartender, I think his name was Aggie, learned I had moved to the Elmwood. He leaned way across the bar and said in his raspy voice, "You have to go to La Farine. They have the best MF croissants in the whole GD town!" He was right.

Beautiful bakery location. I love the exterior from the blue tiles, to the shiny windows, leading one to walk inside to find a large array of goodies! I am so glad that I walked in. I had ordered a bunch of things to bring back home with me to share with my mom. They have so many things to choose from -- I like to take my time to browse so I had a few people go ahead of me. I would say the staff is quick and attentive, but again, I needed more time to scan the place to see what they had. I wish there was more time for people to decide and enjoy the experience without feeling rushed. It also would be cute if they had little French cafe tables out on the sidewalk.

The traditional French King Cake, called "Galette des Rois", is delicious due to its combination of buttery, flaky puff pastry, a rich almond cream filling (frangipane), and the element of surprise with a hidden charm ("fève") inside, creating a luxurious and festive eating experience; essentially, the perfect balance of texture and flavor with a fun tradition added in. Approximately 30 million Galettes des Rois are sold in France each year. Why not in the USA? Why not at LA FARINE ???

Nice selection of breads, pastries, beautiful tarts and cakes! Picked up a loaf of sourdough batard, a cinnamon twist, shortbread and chocolate chip apricot cookies- all delicious.

Amazing little bakery that can build a line out the door because the pastries are worth it. The Savory Morning Bun is out of the world, filled with ham and cheese with a flaky, light pastry bun. This is definitely a must-have if you're not feeling the sweeter options. The Chocolate Croissant is super flaky with a nice amount of chocolate in the middle. And, it's less than 4 dollars which is amazing because other places are charging 6+ for their artisan chocolate croissants. The savory focaccia with goat cheese and pinenuts was alright, I wouldn't get it again as the flavor was not as impactful as say, the morning bun. I asked the staff about the more popular items and they said the Raspberry Croissant sells out early, so I got that in a second visit and although it may not be as flaky and airy as the chocolate, it's got a good sweetness and size to it while not being overwhelmingly sweet. Inside screams little bakery with the wide assortment of breads, pastries, cakes and cookies. This place is more of a takeout place with no seating inside. Parking is street parking. Overall, go check them out for some fantastic pastries that don't break the bank!

We got a few pastries from La Farine and they were outstanding. Five stars. We picked up a Raspberry Croissant ($4.50), Chocolate Eclair ($2.95), and Mini Cupcake ($2.25). To give you an idea of how good these were, I was completely stuffed from lunch and still inhaled these. I wasn't expecting to eat anything. The Raspberry Croissant came in the shape of a rectangle. It was wonderfully flaky with a delicious icing on top and a luscious raspberry filling inside. It was perfect. The Chocolate Eclair was fluffy and light with a generous portion of cream inside. It was superb. The Mini Cupcake was pumpkin spice flavor. It was dense and moist, and the frosting was on the sweeter side. Overall, these were all high-quality, well-made, delectable baked treats. My wife and I would definitely be regulars here if we lived in the area. She noticed this place after we had just eaten lunch at nearby Southie (excellent restaurant, by the way: https://www.yelp.com/biz/southie-oakland ). We took our pastries and ate them on the sidewalk patio with coffee from/at nearby Cole Coffee (cafe, also excellent: https://www.yelp.com/biz/cole-coffee-oakland-2 ). So, we had a true, local Rockridge experience on this particular afternoon. La Farine doesn't have any seating. This is strictly a to-go/takeout bakery and patisserie. It's small and it smelled really good inside. There were shelves and two display cases stocked with a nice, wide variety of fresh-baked breads, cakes, cookies, and more. A couple of the more unique items I saw were Persimmon Pudding ($20.00) and slices of Plum Frangipane tart ($4.25 each). They also offered a very limited selection of coffee and tea. La Farine partnered with McLaughlin Coffee of Emeryville to create their own private label coffee. The bakery is traditional, not trendy. Our La Farine bag said, "Est. 1977." I believe this location on College Avenue is the original. At the time of writing this review, there are three locations in Oakland. I noticed the Fruitvale location shares the same distinct blue tiles on its storefront as this location in Rockridge. Service was great. I recommend this place.

I was craving an almond croissant and found this place on Yelp. The almond croissant only has a sprinkling of almonds on the top! Nothing inside!!! Just tastes like a saltier version of a Costco croissant. Also misshapen as you can see in the photo. Took it home and ate it with cheese as it was salty. Also got a chocolate croissant. This was also high in salt. It took several bites to get to any chocolate. Only reason I'm giving 2 stars instead of 1 is that when I finally got to the chocolate, it was nice and creamy not hard chocolate like some. I'm a self admitted croissant snob as it's one of my favorite breads/ pastries. This place was a 'no' for croissants

Too many yummy items to pick from! The rye raisin roll was outstanding! Texture and flavor so amazing. We also got the whole wheat sourdough walnut bread which was also very tasty!

Bakery located along Piedmont in Oakland. La Farine is a solid bakery. There is a reason why people walk up and down the streets with bags of baked goods. I enjoy my chocolate croissants and they have some good ones in addition to some good bread. I will say their coffee is not on the same level. There are other places nearby that I would go for a drip coffee or a latte instead (to pair with my baked good). I've also purchased beans from here and they aren't my personal style given that I prefer less of a dark roast and more fruity flavor. Overall, a place to try if you are in the area for baked goods.

My husband picked up a chocolate cake for my birthday here and it was a little dense but the chocolate was delicious. Somewhat pricey for the size of the cake but it was beautifully crafted. I highly recommend getting the large fruit tarts as it is my husband's favorite.

Love this neighborhood gem so very much! I stop here frequently to bring boxes of (delicious) sweet treats to clients and the team here is always so accommodating!

Good morning buns and baguettes, there is sometimes a line but the staff are hustling to move the line. Another good thing is that the cakes are on display.

I was able to pick up a cake and 20 pastries to-go without ordering ahead. My group loved the raspberry chocolate cake (5/5 stars) and the pastries were great, too! Staff were very accommodating and helpful. There's no seating inside, but otherwise the ambiance is nice, and they even have a table where you can set down your bag while you order.

The staff members were helpful and nice. My sandwich had too much horseradish, but was otherwise good. The cinnamon twist was more twist than cinnamon.

Really like the loaves of bread/baguettes they sell here. They have a really good density; not too airy or dense but a nice in between. Pro tip is to always reheat the bread before serving (minute or two in an air fryer).

Hands down my favorite bakery in the Bay Area. Full disclosure, I grew up coming here and have loved it for ages. But now, I live farther and only come for treats once in a while. So to say that I bought an unearthly amount of pastries and bread and ate them all in 24 hours is not an exaggeration. I would post photos, but I ate them all too quickly. lol.

Everything is fantastic! Foods, pastry and services are all great. Location is good with plenty street parkings.

Great artisan bread all around. Good place to stop by to get dat bread for the day. Staff is friendly and super helpful. They answer all your questions if you have any. They also have tarts and pies that are pretty good as well. Would recommend those if you feeling like a sweet dessert. Parking isnt the best but if you go down the neighborhoods there are parkable spots if you are willing to walk one block

Honestly, I feel like this bakery is a joke and way overrated. I have been to their Piedmont location and I didn't like it. Came to their College location on a recommendation and my thoughts are the same. If not worse because I got more items to see if there was a hitter and they struck out big time. I tried their apricot walnut rugelach, chocolate espresso cookie, Jezebel cookie, currant scone and the apple croissant. All were pretty bland besides the Jezeel which I enjoyed. The scone was beyond dry and turned into paste in my mouth. Nothing tastes like the fruit or flavoring. Which leads me to believe they get all their cookies manufactured and brought to them. Because I think it too extravagent to have giant jars filled with cookies, dozens of already prepared cakes and made bread to have done it in house the night before. Sure they have workers in the back glazing the tarts, but it definitely does not smell like a bakery in there. Located on a strip of a bunch of businesses. Street parking or can park in the Safeway parking lot. Way overpriced for baked goods you can make at home and it'll taste 10 times better.

I had the opportunity to try one of La Farine's fruit tarts recently thanks to a friend's birthday celebration. It came neatly packaged inside of a La Farine box, which stayed together pretty well even though I had to walk and carry it for about 25 minutes to my friend's place. The tart itself was delicious, the fruit was fresh and the part underneath it was nice and sweet for anyone who has a sweet tooth. The crust itself is a bit hard though and takes some force with a utensil to break through, which can cause flaking or pieces to fly off (though this isn't necessarily unusual compared to other fruit tarts I've had from other bakeries). But overall the tart was yummy and nicely decorated.

I bought the Raspberry Royale cake for my neighbor's birthday. At first glance, it seemed a little like your everyday cake, but with almonds on the sides. $43 for an 8-inch cake seemed a bit pricey. However, from the first bite, this French-style cake was succulent and flavorful. It had a very sweet raspberry taste that blended well with the crunchy almonds. The morning pastries are amazing and the coffee is pretty good too. The only bummer is the line in the morning.

I've been back twice since my first review. Same story. Soggy day old consistency. Part of the problem is it seems to be lacking in butter as well as yesterdays or many, many hours old goods. I think these are baked at a central kitchen, sit around and then are transported to sit around more. Too bad this used to be my go to bakery for pastries. Their website has changed and I read they have had many new owners so that may be the problem too.

So many baked goods offered here; we spent forever deciding what to buy! I ended up going with the almond tea cake and a sour petit pain, and my friends picked up some other items as well. The almond tea cake was soft, not too sweet, and had a nice nutty flavor. The petit pain was like a mini sourdough and had just the right amount of sourness and a chewy inside. Excellent bakery overall; would recommend checking out if you're in the area!

A former coworker raved about the fruit tarts that are made here - pricing's fair, fruit tart was on the good side, better than safeway's but nothing to write home about. Try some of their items if you're in the area, otherwise, I'm not sure it's worth the drive.

Best Birthday Cake Ever!!!!!! I'm so glad you guys were able to customise the script on my cake! My friend was so embarrassed calling the order in and you guys handled everything so well!

Recently became a fan of fruit tarts and I stumbled upon this bakery while walking with a friend. I have to say the fruit on the tart is not sour and the base of the tart is not too sweet. I like how the crust-to-base ratio is even. This is a very homey feeling bakery and their service is amazing. I also came here around 11:30am on a Sunday and I felt that it wasn't too crowded.

One of the next bakeries in the Bay Area. Love the Swiss twinkies.. can't find anything close anywhere else. And really among the best baguettes, cakes and sweets.

Love their fruit tarts! So delicious! Also, love their Jezbel cookie! That's one of my favorite cookies that they sell. Overall, their pastries are delicious and you can't go wrong with anything there. The staffs are always friendly and the service is superb. Make a trip to La Farine, if you're in Oakland on College Ave. around the Rockridge area!

Whenever I google best fruit tart, this place always pop up. I live in SF and was too lazy to figure out how to venture here to pick up a tart....but after all these years, I made the drive over just to pick one up. It is was one of the most affordable fruit tarts I've ever purchased (under $30). They are prepared with the right balance of fruit, crust, and custard. The fruit is thinly cut without any sugar glaze. The custard was not too heavy. Lastly, the crust was perfect....butter and flaky the way I like it. I've had Noe Valley bakery fruit tart, but bugs seem to always crawl out their tart. Mollie Stones prepares their tart with a premade non flaky tart crust. My son and I gobbled up the tart in 3 days that my poor husband missed out. I will be back to get another one for my own birthday.

Cute little shop! No outdoor or indoor seating available. It's so small inside but they had a lot of yummy items to pick from! The apple croissant was tasty as was my chocolate croissant. I asked for a 2nd chocolate croissant in a separate bag (to give to someone). I think bc it was only 1 item, the worker put it in a plain small bag w.no logo. Like how people supposed to know where it came from? Lol.

La Farine has the best fruit tart in town--always fresh, not too sweet, always comes out beautiful.

These are without a doubt the BEST fruit tarts in the East Bay. It doesn't matter which fruit you choose, it's the crust and the cream...yummmm!

La Farine is one of my favorite bakeries - flaky pastries and absolutely delicious fruit tarts. What's not to love? I was in the area and couldn't help myself to the smell of fresh pastries! I ordered the mini tartlets and a morning bun. The morning bun was flaky and had such a nice flavor of apple and cinnamon without being too sweet and overpowering. It hit the spot! My fruit tart has a smooth vanilla cream and perfect crust with blackberry, blueberry, strawberry, and mango. It was such a treat! If La Farine was closer to me, I'd be here a lot more! It's definitely worth a trip for the pastries!

Spent $30 on a variety of cookies & brownies. Everything was dry. Disappointing because I remembered this bakery from their Albany location years ago. Thought it would be nostalgic but it was not.

My 600th review goes to my favorite bakery for fruit tarts! This is the OG College Ave location at the boundary line of Berkeley/Oakland. You can pull off that "A Walk to Remember" scene of being in two places at once but with cities instead of states. Ok done being corny! Upon entering, I am met with the most delicious smell of breads, pastries baking and my mouth quickly salivates. There are freshly baked loaves of bread, morning buns, croissants, rows of beautifully decorated cakes, cupcakes, and the main reason my pockets are lighter and my cheeks are chubbier - the beloved FRUIT TART! At $25 for a large and $4.75 for a mini, they don't run cheap but that crisp buttery crust, creamy vanilla pastry cream, and vibrant meticulously cut fruit are all worth it. Guaranteed it will be the first dessert annihilated when you bring it to your next event! I recommend ordering 2 - one for the party and one for you to savor at home. ;)

4.5 incredible cakes and tarts! The pistachio chocolate le Sicilian is divvied as is the all chocolate cake. Fruit arts are great.

I had the morning bun and the cinnamon twist for breakfast and wow it was so good! My favorite was the cinnamon twist, croissant style! I also got a mini fruit tart and those are always good. Love getting baked goods from here!

I love lafarine they have really good pastries i like their fruit tarts and there bread and they are very friendly

This has been the best bakery in the Bay Area for close to 30 years. Can't go wrong with anything they sell

I was driving through this area of Oakland and I could just feel it in my soul that there would be a delicious bakery near by. I opened google maps and it directed me here. So glad it did. This little whole in the wall bakery is so quaint and smells amazing from the moment you walked in. It seemed like they specialized in delicious artisan breads and pastries. I will definitely be back to try the bread and the fruit tarts! I ordered a raspberry eclair, which I was stoked to find as someone who is allergic to strawberries! It was rich, fluffy and balanced. The lemon cheesecake was also delicious. I loved the nutty crust. The cupcake was good too, I think I liked how it looked even more than it tasted. So cute.

I just get the bread....and it's SUCH good bread. wish they had a bread slicer... the little rye raisin rolls are SO good with butter. The rustic loaf makes the worlds best garlic bread. The people who work there are kind. thanks!

Delicious! Laminated doughs (croissant style) are amazing. I also love their large selection of cookies.

I happened to pop by College Ave one day and walked by the bakery, we were totally drawn in by not just the short line that had formed, but also all the breads and cakes and pastries that lined the wall shelves and pastry case in the shop. It was very small and cute, and is take out only. They have a pretty diverse selection of breads, pastries, tarts, cookies and cakes. You will be spoiled for choice if you love pastries and baked goods as much as I do! Service is friendly and efficient and no one really rushes you through your choices which I really appreciated. We were looking for a light snack so we got the apple croissant and chocolatine - one less traditional option and one more traditional to see what the bakery could deliver up! I was expecting quite a lot from the pastries since the laminated dough looked quite impressive and the line moved quickly but there was a constant stream of people. Apple croissant: the apple filling was really delicious and not too sweet. It went really great with the croissant dough. The croissant dough itself was a little more disappointing, I was hoping for it to be both shatteringly crisp but also moist and buttery. It was pretty crisp and had nice layers but missed the very rich, buttery flavors I love in croissants from France. Overall it was a good pastry but I wouldn't classify it under a good croissant. Chocolatine: a classic choice with two batons of chocolate wrapped into the laminated dough! Similar to the apple croissant, it didn't hit the butter spot for me. I also felt that the croissant dough had puffed up so much that it wasn't quite in the right proportion with the chocolate as there was way more pastry than chocolate. It was still good, and it went well with coffee that we got next door Cole's Coffee, but I wish it was even better!

Had a few of their bakery items: cookies NOT worth the calories. Choco chip cookie was like a hard dog biscuit. The others are not even worth mentioning.