Where to find the best breads in Houston
It’s gotten much easier to find high quality bread retail in the past decade or so, thankfully. I find that good bread is a necessity, mostly at home but also when dining out. Though many local restaurants bake excellent breads in house, many others source from the bakeries below, so you can occasionally see trucks bearing some of these names plying the city streets. The list below is just for bread, the boulangerie aspect in the French sense. And the French provide the theme, inspiration or model for many of these bakeries, which are listed below in order of preference.
Posted on February 22, 2023.
The Best
Common Bond – Now with a number of disparate location, the baguettes seem to be a little better at the ones with a larger footprint like the Montrose original, but that drive-thru is certainly convenient. There’s also an excellent country sourdough, the earthier sprouted sourdough, multigrain, and on the weekends, challah loaves and rolls. Montrose, Heights (2), Spring Branch, Medical Center, Garden Oaks, Midtown, Energy Corridor, River Oaks, Spring
Also Worth a Pickup
Kraftsmen Baking – A bustling café in the Heights with a big wholesale operation, this has been around longer the others, now over two decade. Just a handful of the numerous breads it makes might be available at the café, but whatever is there will be very good. Heights
Magnol – On Hempstead Highway and North Post Oak, not far west of the Loop, this spot is favored by several top restaurants in town and has baguettes both familiar and seeded. Additionally, there are a number of other French-style breads: Epi, Campagne Batard, Campagne Boule, Spelt Boule, Rye and Semolina Boule, Kalamata Olive, and Cranberry Walnut loaves. All organic, too. Spring Branch
Weights & Measures (Love Croissants) – Not much at all to this, it’s essentially just a counter beyond the hostess stand for Weights & Measures and strictly for pickup. There are several varieties until they run out. The baguettes are smaller than elsewhere and seemingly always pricier, but still worth it, this bakery is primarily a supplier to restaurants and then grocers for bagged bread, there is a retail outlet adjacent to Weights and Measures in Midtown and available at Houston Dairy Maids near the Heights. Midtown
Urban Harvest Farmers Market (Artisana / Cake and Bacon) – The biggest of the local weekly farmers market that’s held on a parking lot of St. John’s School on Westheimer each Saturday has an array of vendors for vegetables, meats, and seafood along with for a number of prepared items including a couple excellent bread bakeries, Artisana and Cake and Bacon. The latter is also found at a few of the other farmers markets. River Oaks
Badolina Bakery & Café – Fine baguettes from a sourdough starter, plain or seeded, are among the enticing take-away options at this slick bake shop and café in the Rice Village that sits next to its buzzy sister concept, Hamsa. It pays to visit even for the other breads, too: Blackberry Poppyseed, Red Fife Sourdough, Smoked Sourdough with Sour Cherry, Blue Pea Flower Sourdough, something called a Nelson Bread, and Challah on Fridays. Rice Village
Whole Foods (Bread Man) – The Bread Man breads are available at the Whole Foods locations in Houston, typically in several varieties. The baguettes are a larger size than elsewhere, stouter and a full two-feet long. Various
Mademoiselle Louise – Primarily a French café with a very strong French pedigree right on Main Street downtown featuring pastries, quiches and sweets, this does make some baguettes each day in a couple of styles and the round, country-style boules. The breads sell out quickly so it is best to order them online. Downtown
For only one or two types of bread
Three Brothers – Only recommended for rye, seeded and otherwise, and the challah bread; possibly the pumpernickel, too. Don’t bother with anything else here. Braes Heights, Washington Corridor, Memorial, Tanglewood
El Bolillo – Primarily known for its cakes, tres leches and Mexican pastries, there’s a reason for its name; the bolillos might be found with some of the finest tortas in the area. Heights, East End, Pasadena
Posted on February 22, 2023.
The Best
Common Bond – Now with a number of disparate location, the baguettes seem to be a little better at the ones with a larger footprint like the Montrose original, but that drive-thru is certainly convenient. There’s also an excellent country sourdough, the earthier sprouted sourdough, multigrain, and on the weekends, challah loaves and rolls. Montrose, Heights (2), Spring Branch, Medical Center, Garden Oaks, Midtown, Energy Corridor, River Oaks, Spring
Also Worth a Pickup
Kraftsmen Baking – A bustling café in the Heights with a big wholesale operation, this has been around longer the others, now over two decade. Just a handful of the numerous breads it makes might be available at the café, but whatever is there will be very good. Heights
Magnol – On Hempstead Highway and North Post Oak, not far west of the Loop, this spot is favored by several top restaurants in town and has baguettes both familiar and seeded. Additionally, there are a number of other French-style breads: Epi, Campagne Batard, Campagne Boule, Spelt Boule, Rye and Semolina Boule, Kalamata Olive, and Cranberry Walnut loaves. All organic, too. Spring Branch
Weights & Measures (Love Croissants) – Not much at all to this, it’s essentially just a counter beyond the hostess stand for Weights & Measures and strictly for pickup. There are several varieties until they run out. The baguettes are smaller than elsewhere and seemingly always pricier, but still worth it, this bakery is primarily a supplier to restaurants and then grocers for bagged bread, there is a retail outlet adjacent to Weights and Measures in Midtown and available at Houston Dairy Maids near the Heights. Midtown
Urban Harvest Farmers Market (Artisana / Cake and Bacon) – The biggest of the local weekly farmers market that’s held on a parking lot of St. John’s School on Westheimer each Saturday has an array of vendors for vegetables, meats, and seafood along with for a number of prepared items including a couple excellent bread bakeries, Artisana and Cake and Bacon. The latter is also found at a few of the other farmers markets. River Oaks
Badolina Bakery & Café – Fine baguettes from a sourdough starter, plain or seeded, are among the enticing take-away options at this slick bake shop and café in the Rice Village that sits next to its buzzy sister concept, Hamsa. It pays to visit even for the other breads, too: Blackberry Poppyseed, Red Fife Sourdough, Smoked Sourdough with Sour Cherry, Blue Pea Flower Sourdough, something called a Nelson Bread, and Challah on Fridays. Rice Village
Whole Foods (Bread Man) – The Bread Man breads are available at the Whole Foods locations in Houston, typically in several varieties. The baguettes are a larger size than elsewhere, stouter and a full two-feet long. Various
Mademoiselle Louise – Primarily a French café with a very strong French pedigree right on Main Street downtown featuring pastries, quiches and sweets, this does make some baguettes each day in a couple of styles and the round, country-style boules. The breads sell out quickly so it is best to order them online. Downtown
For only one or two types of bread
Three Brothers – Only recommended for rye, seeded and otherwise, and the challah bread; possibly the pumpernickel, too. Don’t bother with anything else here. Braes Heights, Washington Corridor, Memorial, Tanglewood
El Bolillo – Primarily known for its cakes, tres leches and Mexican pastries, there’s a reason for its name; the bolillos might be found with some of the finest tortas in the area. Heights, East End, Pasadena