Three California bakeries just earned a spot among the 12 best in the world, according to a new ranking from the restaurant app Beli — even as one of them is still fighting local regulators just to expand.
Santa Monica’s Petitgrain Boulangerie, San Francisco’s Arsicault Bakery, and San Francisco’s Butter & Crumble all made Beli’s 2026 global list, built from roughly 140 million ratings submitted by app users. The top spot went to Juno the Bakery in Copenhagen, with Lillebrors Bageri in Stockholm also making the cut. But the California shops held their own against Europe’s best.
Arsicault Bakery was the top California finisher, landing at number three worldwide. The North Beach-area croissant shop has built a reputation for flaky, buttery pastries and long lines, and was previously named the best new bakery in America by Bon Appetit.
Santa Monica’s Petitgrain came in sixth. Owner Clemence de Lutz runs a small storefront that has become one of Los Angeles’s most sought-after pastry stops, known for croissants, cinnamon rolls, sourdough and cookies. Bakers there start work at 1 a.m., staggering production through 6 a.m. so everything stays fresh. Demand has been strong enough that de Lutz recently opened a second location, Petitpain et Chocolat, nearby, with a walk-up window opening at 6:45 a.m. for neighborhood residents and students.
San Francisco’s Butter & Crumble took seventh place. Owner Sophie Smith has drawn crowds with inventive items like cream-filled croissants and rotating seasonal specials. But success on the plate hasn’t translated into success at City Hall. Butter & Crumble recently had to abandon plans for a second location, a cake-focused shop, after running into city regulatory hurdles.
That’s the part worth sitting with. A bakery good enough to rank among the best on Earth couldn’t get past local bureaucracy to open a second storefront in its own city. The international recognition is real. So is the obstacle that kept the business from growing at home.
Beli, the app behind the rankings, has become popular with younger users by letting people rank places they’ve actually visited and compare lists with friends, rather than relying on star ratings alone. The app has drawn celebrity attention too — Tom Holland told Vogue that he and Zendaya use it while traveling.
