Le Paingruël

Bread that’s simple and vegan (unlike some other nearby bakeries’ breads). I bought a boule of very good mixed-grain sourdough. Good service. This will be a regular stop for me, while staying in the St-Jean-Baptiste neighbourhood.

Bought a multigrain sandwich loaf on 28/9/21. Sadly, got into it the next day, but that's where the sadness stopped, because if it tastes this good after sitting a day, I wish I'd gotten to it sooner. Incredible crust and crumb. A bakery not to be missed!

Great little bake shop, but be warned raisin bread is made on alternating days. We saw raisin bread and decided to pick up a load the next morning for breakfast. To our dismay hazelnut bread had taken it's place.

Great place for gelato and bread. The menu is average priced even though I never ate a meal there. The bread is not always fresh. I bought bread one day and it was heaven, the next day I bought more of the same and it was stale.

Worst experience in Quebec City. First the Saint-Severin bread. It did not taste like freshly baked this morning. It was as hard as a rock. Second, bad business practice. The bread cost 5.75 CAD. I was going to charge that to my visa card but owner told me cash only. I thought I saw a sign on the cashier machine that minimum charge for credit card is $5. Since I don't read French, I assumed the store only takes cash. Because I didn't carry enough Canadian dollars I offered to pay in USD. Unfortunately I only had a US$20 bill. Owner gave me 14.25 CAD in change. I knew he overcharged me because today's exchange rate was 1USD = 1.3CAD. He should have given me CAD20 in change instead of 14.25. I understand I may have inconvenienced him by paying USD but again charging me 1CAD for 1USD is not very decent. I am sure he knows USD is a stronger currency and worth 30% more. I was on holiday and didn't want to argue but this is such a bad business practice. I would rate this place zero if I could given the combination of the bad tasted bread and the over charge.

I personally do not like their breads, but their croissants are the ABSOLUTE BEST in Québec City. They are simply decadent and authentically French.

The shopkeeper always makes my day: he has a great selection of amazing bread and gives the best advice on what it goes well with. I always feel like I'm getting something special here.

Amazing little bakery. The owner is very helpful and the pastries are sinfully delicious. I really enjoyed the croissants and their bread is great

Best bread ever. The baker, Jean-Francois, is so personable. We got to chat with him and he uses local organic ingredients, he visits the farmers and everything. Fantastic place but get there in the morning because the bread gets snatched up fast!

Pretty decent bakery on St Jean. Not too many items in terms of variety, but good nonetheless. Warning: get there early before you get the leftovers.

If you want to taste their bread, DO NOT TAKE PHOTOS!! The staff who was over the counter freaked out when my husband took a photo of their bread to just send me so that I can choose what to get while I was waiting for him at a hotel. This staff told my husband that "no photos, the owner doesn't like it", then my husband explained her that he was just using it for his wife not for blogging or anything else. She told him "you can explain her about breads instead of taking pictures". This triggered my husband's anger and he left. It's understandable.

On my first trip in the late afternoon to Le Pain Gruel all that was left was a single baguette. I left sadly - I really wanted the chocolate pear pastry I read about. Thus, the following day I took nearly a mile walk and hiked the steep set of stairs from Saint-Roch to buy $9 worth of pastries. Overall they were smaller than Le Boite a Pain's (our daily pastry place in Saint-Roch) for the same price. As it turned out, the chocolate pear turned out to be my least favorite. The chocolate pear part was really good but the rest was just a basic sweet bread. On the other hand, the cranberry citrus snail was quite good. My favorite (though it was small) was the apple vanilla cardamom pastry. It was very flavorful.

Best bakery in town... great job guys... If you want to get some bread, get there early because the stock gets emptied very quickly

On a quiet portion of rue st Jean, we found paingruel after a yelp search of bakeries in the area. Staff were friendly - they had a good selection of fresh breads and some delectable looking croissants. We went with each of a chocolate banana and apple croissant as well as a walnut loaf of bread. The croissants were delish. I wasn't sure how the banana would play out but it mixes well with the buttery croissant and rich chocolate. Yum!

Most amazing breads we have ever had. Must try their apple walnut bread ,Easter egg basket bread , chocolate croissant and traditional bagguet. The owner is super kind and modest. Must reach this place early in morning ... The breads get sold out very quickly.

The inside is a soft, moist crumb from heaven, surrounded by a crunchy, chewy crust of paradise on the outside, with a sporadic bite of walnut or hazelnut and a slight sourdough after taste equals the Pain Deux Noix. And if the other bread is of similar sorts, this boulangerie will have you coming every day. The croissant was also buttery, flakey, chewy and wonderful.

My wife and I were visiting Quebec on a nostalgic tour because we lived here 15 years ago for a short while. The one thing we were looking forward to most was the sunflower seed bread at Paingruel. They were closed during the first two days of our trip, but I was waiting at 7:30 the day they reopened. I just finished eating a slice of their bread and it is everything I remembered. This is a wonderful small bakery that does only breads, with a friendly Baker who is patient with my French and delightful to talk with. A true neighborhood gem. I wish I had more than five stars to give it!

Address Alert! This great bakery has moved to 478 Rue St Jean. We went there every day we were in Quebec, often for breakfast pastries as well as their baguettes and a range of whole-grain breads. The baguettes are crunchy, chewy and just light enough, retaining the character to last overnight. Unlike many spots, they are dedicated only to producing the best baked goods, leaving the deli approach to others. They were quite friendly and welcoming, even when my sister poked at them.