Chicago in Croissants

I moved to Chicago recently and have been eating a lot of croissants for some reason. So I'm gonna rank them and stuff.

Olor Coffee Bar:

1013 W Webster Avenue

• Item: almond croissant
• Date eaten: 11/23/2024
• Really the best croissant I’ve had so far. It wasn’t very big, but I didn’t feel cheated by the price and size. It was split in half, which was a nice touch. It was topped with powdered sugar and some kind of cream with almonds on top. The top half was good, very flakey and buttery with a nice touch of sweetness from the almonds and powdered sugar. But the bottom half was the best. The middle part was very soft and perhaps brushed with sugar water or something, but it had a delightful sweetness. And the softness of the inner part went so well with the crunch from outside crust. And like I said, it wasn’t very big, so the texture or flavor never got repetitive. Yeah, super good.

Publican Quality Bread:

1759 W Grand Avenue

• Item: almond croissant
• Date eaten: 11/25/2024
• A pretty good croissant. It was really big, substantially bigger than Olor’s. And flakier too with more powdered sugar. It wasn’t cut in half. It also seemed to be… maybe filled with some kinda jam? Or maybe the dough they used was flavored more almondy than Olor’s. Either way, it was definitely sweeter. But because it was so big by the time I got to the middle, where it was spongey and soft, it did get a little repetitive. Like I had a few bites that all seemed the same and it was this borderline mushy but not quite texture. It was good, don’t get me wrong, just big and that sorta worked against it. It was more expensive than Olor’s but again, bigger.

Letizia's Bakery

2144 W Division Street

• Item: chocolate croissant
• Date eaten: 11/26/2024
• Been a big fan of Letizia’s since I moved. All the pastries I’ve had have been really splendid. Good balances of sweetness and nice textures all around. The chocolate croissant, however, was only pretty alright. Like I liked it! But it was really decadent, more of a true dessert, which isn’t exactly what I want from a breakfast pastry. The croissant itself was pretty one note, it was flakey but didn’t have much of a buttery taste. The chocolate filling was delicious. Not overly sweet but had a strong chocolatey flavor, it was filled but not a gratuitous amount. It was just super rich. As an actual dessert, it was solid. As a breakfast snack food item, not my first pick.

La Boulangerie

936 N California Avenue

• Item: chocolate croissant
• Date eaten: 12/4/2024
• I do believe this was a more traditional pain au chocolat, because this was from, specifically, a French bakery. And I think those are more likely to have like, a little sliver of chocolate running through them, rather than a whole filling like the one from Letizia’s. Sometimes those are a little disappointing but only when the croissant itself doesn’t make up for it. And mama. This croissant more than made up for it. I’ve decided to start incorporating pictures into my reviews cuz fucking look at this thing. It looks fake! It looks like toy food! With how shiny and fucking huge it is! But it was real, and edible, and delicious. So damn buttery and flakey as hell but in a good way. Like, look at this cross section? It looks like the cross section of the city in Blame! Really, really good croissant.


Colectivo

1211 North Damen Avenue

• Item: almond croissant
• Date eaten: 12/15/2024
• Back with an almond croissant from a coffee shop that I like to go to do write and hang out in. This croissant was like a combination of Publican and Olor. Big like Publican, had the same kinda icing thing and shaved almonds like Olor. Again, split, and brushed with some kind of syrup. This one though. This one was SOAKED in the syrup, it came pre-mushy. Which isn’t a great texture, especially in a croissant. The taste was actually really pleasant, but the bottom part was not super great texture wise. The top half was better, much more balanced between the soft and the crispy, flaky shell. And the almond flavor was pretty strong, in a good way. Not a bad croissant, but I’ll probably stick to their other pastries in the future.