NASHVILLE 🥐 This daytime spot in Nashville serves a gravity-defying BEC made with a square croissant and onion jalapeno jam, but your visit would be incomplete without a stop over at the pastry case. Here, you’ll find Cinnamon Toast Crunch snickerdoodles that could eclipse the sun, churro croissants made with dulce de leche cream and Mexican hot chocolate, and oatmeal cookie sandwiches stuffed with brown butter frosting.

NYC 🥐 There are almost always weekend lines at Radio Bakery, but it moves fast (and the wait is worth it). The menu has an entire section dedicated to laminated pastries like twice baked pistachio or triple chocolate croissants with chocolate dough, interior bits and glaze. But savory stuff isn’t overlooked here, either—mushroom croissants, scallion sesame twists, and roasted asparagus sandwiches made with their focaccia or stirato bread are great to bring for a picnic at Transmitter Park.

NEW ORLEANS 🥐 It’s easy to get hyped about the creative treats at this bakery in New Orleans, like the coconutty kaya buns, cheesy crawfish croissant sandwiches, and muffuletta breadsticks. Our advice: Go early, try whatever special they’re doing, and order as many pastries that are socially acceptable to eat at a time. They have a couple of tables outside that are ideal for snacking, drinking one of their amazing lattes, and gazing out on to Washington Square.

SAN FRANCISCO 🥐 Butter & Crumble in San Francisco is a palace of all things pastry. And everyone knows it—the block-long lines of butter enthusiasts gather daily for impeccable croissants. The ones here are light and crackly, with inner layers so thin they’re transparent. Know that a visit here is null and void if you don’t order the pistachio cardamom croissant: It’s dusted with sugar and piped full of velvety pistachio cream you’ll want to eat by the scoop.

HOUSTON 🥐 If you distilled Houston down into a bakery, it would probably look a little like Koffeteria. There’s an infusion of Cambodian flavors, but other quintessential Houston cultures are represented, too, like Vietnamese, Mexican, Chinese, and Thai. The front counter is always crammed with people craning their necks toward the pastry case filled with croissants and buns that smell of lemongrass or anise. The food is whimsical, and unpredictable, but somehow it always works.

CHICAGO 🥐 The line for this Friday-to-Sunday Logan Square bakery starts forming well before they open at 9am, and by 8:50, there will be no less than 30 people happily waiting, rain or shine. But it’s worth spending a precious weekend morning standing on a sidewalk to get curried cauliflower croissants, nutella-pear brioche buns, or crunchy and not-too-sweet espresso cornflake cookies. There’s no seating in the shop, so be prepared to eat straight out of the box on the sidewalk.

At the very literally named Baker and Barista in Miami, you will be served by a baker and a barista, who are both very good at their jobs. The coffee here—Italian drinks like cappuccino and shakerato—is great. And the baked goods are excellent, too. Options rotate often, but if you see the sourdough cinnamon roll, point to it like you just found Waldo on a particularly difficult page.

This tiny bakery in Downtown Bothell serves pastries that would crush the competition in a reality baking series. There are hazelnut praline-bottomed tarts that are almost too beautiful to destroy with a fork. The basque cheesecake has an ideal balance of burnt edge and custardy middle, and airy choux stuffed with berry compote is a decadent breakfast we could eat on repeat for weeks. But the savory stuff is impressive, too.

Petitgrain Boulangerie bakes French pastries like Jimi Hendrix rips guitar solos: flawlessly. The Santa Monica pastry shop, run by the co-owner of LA’s best-known baking school, is big on traditional techniques and locally sourced flour. Those simple little details are what make Petitgrain's croissants stand out: the slightly salty, not-too-buttery pastries have lacy and delicate layers that’ll elicit squeals from dough nerds.

We fell in love with Comadre Panaderia as an online popup, and their new brick-and-mortar space in East Austin has a greater selection than a candy store. The broad menu of stunning, modern pan-Latinx baked goods like conchas, puerquitos, breakfast empanadas, diablitos, kolaches, and pan de elote almost always sells out. But thankfully, you can drop everything and place an online pre-order when it opens mid-week, or head there on the earlier side for the extras available on the weekends.

PHILADELPHIA 🥐 South Philly’s Machine Shop Boulangerie is easy to find—just peep the line forming on the first floor of the Bok Building. This French-leaning bakery is only open Thursday through Sunday, and the apple and oat danishes, crispy-edged lemon tarts, and everything croissants stuffed with pistachio cream cheese are all perfect snacks to get you through the day. Their strong suit is laminated viennoiserie, and they have one of the most stacked lineups when it comes to savory bites.

Evergreen in Atlanta has some famous burgers that are only sold on Sundays. But on other days of the week, this Kirkwood spot is our pastry go-to—the Oma’s apple cake is in a league of its own. This muffin-shaped pastry has a sugary crumble on the outside and is filled with sweet apple slices. Savory options like the sharp tomato, basil, and goat cheese danish or sourdough bagels slathered with cream cheese ensure there’s something for everyone, even those who can’t stand sugar in the wee hours.