Acme Bread Company in San Francisco runs a Ferry Building counter for Steve Sullivan's 1983 Berkeley bakery, with a pain au levain that defined Bay Area sourdough.
Tip: Get there before noon on Saturday; the levain sells out by 13:00 when the market is in full swing.
Address: 1 Ferry Building, Suite 15, San Francisco, CA 94111
Boudin Bakery in San Francisco is Isidore Boudin's 1849 Gold Rush bakery at Fisherman's Wharf, still running a starter through six generations of bakers.
Tip: The bakery's behind-glass museum at the Wharf is free; the clam chowder bowl is the canonical order.
Worth the queue: Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
Josey Baker Bread in San Francisco is the back-of-house bakery at The Mill on Divisadero, with stone-milled whole-grain loaves and the seedy Adventure Bread.
Tip: The toast counter at The Mill uses these loaves; eat in once before you take a loaf home.
Worth the queue: Adventure Bread (gluten free)
Tartine Bakery in San Francisco is Chad Robertson and Elisabeth Prueitt's Guerrero Street original, redrawing what a country loaf and a morning bun can be.
Tip: Country loaves come out at 16:30; queue from 16:00 to be sure of one.
Worth the queue: Morning bun
b. Patisserie in San Francisco is Belinda Leong and Michel Suas's Pacific Heights cafe with the city's best kouign-amann and a Paris-trained pastry programme.
Tip: The kouign-amann is best within 90 minutes of the bake; ask the counter for the timing on the next tray.
Worth the queue: Kouign-amann
Arsicault Bakery in San Francisco is Armando Lacayo's Inner Richmond counter, named America's best croissant by Bon Appetit and still drawing a 09:30 queue.
Tip: Plain butter croissant, not the almond; the lamination tells the whole story.
Worth the queue: Plain croissant
Jane the Bakery in San Francisco is Amanda Michael's Lower Pac Heights flagship, with a stone-mill grain programme and the city's best whole-grain country loaf.
Tip: The cardamom morning bun is the dark-horse order; ask if they have any left after 11:00.
Worth the queue: Country grain loaf
