Mr. Holmes Bakehouse
Mr. Holmes Bakehouse is a bakery known for their cruffins. The hugely popular bakery started in San Francisco but recently expanded into Southern California, opening a store in Los Angeles a few months ago and a small outpost in Orange County just a few weeks ago.
Recently, IÂ was finally able to taste their signature cruffins along with some croissants and filled donuts, thanks to my little brother. We were visiting LA, but there was no way we’d be able to get to the bakery early enough to get the cruffins before they sold out. So my brother and his girlfriend got up early and went, took photos, and brought me a whole box of goodies.
In addition to the cruffins, they also sell filled donuts, croissants and cookies.
Thanks to social media, everyone who visits tries to take a photo with this sign. In San Francisco, it’s neon pink instead of white.
The boxes that the pastries come in (complimentary if you buy 6 items) is quite impressive looking. It’s thick, sturdy, with gold lettering.
Cruffins are croissants baked in muffin tins and filled with pastry cream. The flavor changes daily, with one flavor offered each day. You can find the schedule of flavors on their social media accounts. During this visit, it was salted caramel.
I was worried that I wouldn’t like the cruffins after all the hype, but I really enjoyed them. They weren’t too sweet, even with the sugar dusting and cream filling and the croissant layers were very crispy and flaky.
I was also really excited to try the chocolate and matcha dipped croissants. While not quite as buttery as I’d like, they were still pretty good.
The donuts were fun as well. They were light and airy, with a pastry cream filling. However, my favorite thing from the box was definitely the cruffin.
Overall, I really enjoyed the cruffins here. It’s been a few months since the LA store opened, so it wasn’t too hard to get them. My brother arrived right when the store opened. There is a 2 per person limit for the cruffins though. Hopefully I’ll get to visit the store next time.
Mr. Holmes Bakehouse
111 S Ave 59, Los Angeles, CA 90042
The day of our visit a few months ago, the flavor of the cruffins was pumpkin (not a flavor that I remotely like), but we bought one anyways, along with a few croissants and donuts. It was crowded even at 930 am. I still haven’t done my post, haha. I really enjoyed their croissants.
Trivial note – the bakery is located across a former warehouse where “Reservoir Dogs” was filmed (most of the movie was filmed in and around Highland Park).
My brother said it wasn’t too bad when they got there, but when they left there was a line. So i guess the best time to go is right when they open! Aww, that’s too bad about pumpkin. I know how you feel about pumpkin. Hopefully you’ll get to try another flavor next time. Thanks for the trivia!