San Diego, CA (The Joy of Food) — If there is a part of San Diego that I only drive into on pain of death, it would be Bird Rock, a sleepy little seaside neighborhood sandwiched between the tony shops of downtown La Jolla and the laid-back hippie vibes of Pacific Beach.
There is next to no public transit in the area, of the convenient and efficient type at least, and considering the 281 roundabouts that stop traffic every 10 feet, a drive down the coast will take you a hot minute. Or let’s call it a hot hour if you’re crazy enough to visit on a weekend.
And it is for the pastries of Wayfarer Bread that I make the trek, a place that will remind you that money can’t buy happiness, but it can buy lots of good croissants, and that’s practically the same thing.
The bread and viennoiseries you will find at Wayfarer are the closest to those of the great boulangeries of Paris, at least in San Diego, which explains the perpetual long line out the door and down the block, despite the location (see above) and a super-easy online option for ordering ahead.
But yes, the croissants. There are the classic ones made of butter, flakey on the outside and appropriately fluffy on the inside, though sometimes a tad overdone, and others filled with stuff like strawberry or chocolate and dusted with pistacchio. If you like your pastries on the savory side, there are those too, filled with ham or jalapeño and different types of cheeses.
The kouign-amann here is special, though nothing like the actual kouign-amann you’d eat in Brittany or Montreal, but the very best of the americanized version anywhere. Think round bundles of soft, flakey croissant dough amped up with a crispy top layer of shiny, caramelized sugar.
Here you can also get to know a Wayfarer specialty all their own called tiles, tasty boat-shaped vessels with a thick, heaping base of croissant dough and topped with things like cherry tomatoes, asparagus, and various cheeses.
The sandwich menu changes every week and brings together their bread as a canvas with different fillings, such as the meat sandwich with stuff like roast beef, pastrami, or mortadella, or the vegetarian sandwich, slicked with hummus, cream cheese, or avocado and stuffed with roasted eggplant, bell pepper in frittata form, or whatever is in season.
And about the bread, it is top-notch. I always pick up a baguette, something I like to slice at home and use as the crackling base for bruschetta or cubed and dunked into some twirling cheese.
The nightly pop-ups make use of the oven for foods we’d normally associate with dinner, like tacos (available Tuesdays and Wednesdays) and pizza (available Thursday through Saturday), all requiring pre-order at least 24 hours in advance.
For anything and everything here, I suggest pre-ordering the day before to avoid disappointment and then queueing up for a sandwich. Bring your patience and either cash or credit card. Closed Mondays.
Written by Joy
Thanks for reading. The Joy of Food blog celebrates eating well, traveling often, and living la dolce vita. San Diego, California is home base, but thoughts are from all over. Reviews and photos help to highlight wonderful (or not) food experiences from around the world.
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This is such a vivid and hilarious ode to pastries — I’m simultaneously laughing and craving a kouign-amann now! 😂 Bird Rock sounds like a logistical nightmare, but for Wayfarer’s croissants? Totally worth it. “Money can’t buy happiness, but it can buy croissants” might just be my new life motto.
I love the croissants there. The last time I visited some flies were sampling the goodies too. I’m guessing they have gotten rid of the flies when you visited?
No flies that I’ve seen when I’ve gone, inside or outside, though I do miss the pre-COVID days when there were tables on the patio. Eating my food in my lap isn’t my favorite thing to do.