This local Filipino bakery chain's trademark offering is señorita bread, a kind of cross between a dinner roll and a sweet, buttery pastry. Crucially, the bread is served piping hot out of the oven all day, and you can buy a considerable boxful for about $10. It makes the most welcome addition to any potluck or barbecue.

European Delights sells a number of, well, European delights, such as apple strudels, cannoli, and coffee cake. The brioche is what to try here, which includes both savory and sweet options. If you’re looking for a small-but-mighty showstopper dessert, get the pavlova tart topped with berries.

Plan ahead before making a trip to this buzzy French bakery, which, despite its tiny, anonymous-looking storefront, draws some of the East Bay’s longest lines every weekend — to the point that if you arrive more than an hour after it opens for the day, you may find that everything in the display case has sold out. Buttery croissants are the biggest draw here, but the kouign amann, canelés, and Portuguese egg tarts all also have faithful followings.

Some say this low-key Berkeley bakery has the best croissants in the Bay Area, rivaling even those of much-loved Tartine Bakery. The ham-and-cheese croissant is renowned for its flaky, buttery exterior and savory insides, while the pain au chocolate is unrivaled in the area. There's usually a line but it moves quickly, due to an efficient staff and customer base who knows what to order.

Berkeley's Crixa Cakes has a wide array of specialty cakes and baked goods, with an emphasis on Hungarian, Russian, Central European, and American treats. That means cakes like amaretti cream cake and black forest cakes sit side-by-side with pavé vergiate, a flourless chocolate cake. And the bakery’s generous deep-dish fruit pies are second to none — whether it’s peak summer pitted fruit season or during the throes of your holiday-driven pumpkin pie cravings.

Starter Bakery built its name and reputation as a wholesale business and farmers market staple, but now owner Brian Wood is fulfilling his dream of opening a cafe and retail shop for his baked goods after 13 years in business. The croissant and brioche recipes are new and improved, so linger over the viennoiserie section and don’t skip the cardamom pistachio bun and kouign amann, or the pecan sticky buns with its brioche base.

In case six different kinds of baklava aren’t enough to lure you to this Turkish bakery, there are a number of other dishes and sweets that might do the trick. Simurgh Bakery also makes Turkish-style rice puddings, honey cake, madeleines, and simit, a round, bagel-ish bread with sesame seeds. The non-baked goods are also worth looking at, including dolmas, lahmacun, kebabs, and eggs in a hole, made with simit.

Firebrand has a treasure trove of unique pastries, including pretzel buns stuffed with gruyere and dusted with pimentón pepper, mini apple pies, and pretzel sticky buns, but their breads aren't to be ignored. In particular, the savory scone is a treat of bacon, cheddar, mozzarella, and chives; the croissant Pullman loaf is a must for sandwiches at home.

Literally an underground bakery, located in a little basement on an Uptown Oakland side street with barely any exterior signage, Gregory’s has nevertheless long been a local cult favorite for cheesecakes and pies. Try any of the most popular offerings — say, the lemon bars, the snickerdoodles, or the peach cobbler — and you’ll become a believer too.

For the most flaky, layered, and buttery egg tarts in the East Bay, there is only one place to go: Ruby King. The old-school, no-frills spot in Oakland Chinatown does brisk to-go business, serving a variety of Chinese buns for about a buck. But those egg tarts, with their quivering, still-warm centers? Just $1.25 apiece.

Gaby Lubaba’s breads and pastries are a draw on their own including the trendy croffle, a croissant-waffle hybrid pastry; seasonal fruit galettes; and sourdough bread. But what gives East Bay Bakery some extra oomph are the baked goods inflected with Indonesian and Asian flavors, which Lubaba makes and sells on the weekends, such as a recent beef rendang hand pie or a banh mi danish.

Alameda’s best bakery comes from pastry chef Beth Woulfe and baker Christian Fidelis de Goes, industry vets who met while working at Bouchon Bakery in New York. Breakfast pastries particularly sing here, but the breads, cookies, and French-style desserts all measure up, too.

Glistening challah, pointy baguettes, and custardy porridge loaves greet customers at As Kneaded Bakery, arguably the most serious bread bakery in the East Bay. The naturally leavened miche is extra tangy, the baguettes caramelized and crunchy, and the challah unusually eggy. You can find As Kneaded’s breads at some farmers markets and grocery stores across the Bay Area throughout the week, but head to the San Leandro HQ on weekends for treats.