Maison Nico

These croissants are amazing! My coworker brought them to work and I was lucky and very fortunate to try them. These croissants are a work of art and taste so good. It was perfectly crispy and flaky on the outside and soft inside. When cut in half, you can see a beautiful spiral inside. The almond apricot croissant was such a surprise in my mouth (I didn't know what it was when I ate it). It wasn't too sweet. You can taste each component and marvel at the blend of flavors. The apricot within is actually the dried fruit, not a spread or jam.

I am definitely going to visit this bakery when I'm in the area and try their other offerings and seasonal pastries.

We came by around a little late noon.
Been hearing so many good things about this bakery and I just felt it was just okay. For the price you pay it's a lot.

Loved the fact it's an open kitchen. You really get to see they work very clean and organized.
The pastries all looked beautiful and just wanted to order all of it.

My family and I got several items to share.
I don't recommend this place for big tables. It's very limited seating and more of a grab and go place.
The women asked if we were eating for here or to go and we said to go but we're going to eat it for here but just in case we don't finish the pastry we can have the box to put our pastries.
I don't know why she individually bagged all of our pastries instead of using just one box. What a waste of pastry bags... it was also very unnecessary.

Honestly if she offered to heat up some of the savory items we felt it would be a different experience and the pastries would have been better.
The traditional quiche was cold and dense.
The only item that was pretty epic was the terrine. Definitely amazing.
The flan I had high hopes but it was okay.
Very rich and not light. The crust was not buttery but dense.
The chocolate chip cookie was delicious.
The canele was good but so small.
The twice baked croissant was okay.
Seasonal choux was not my favorite. It's very beautiful but the citrus was a little to much:

For being nominated as the best croissant i expected it to have the buttery light crisp texture.
Might be a personal preference.

Definitely would like to come back and maybe hope for a better experience.

When Michelin-starred French bistro Nico closed in 2019 owners Andrea and Nicolas Delaroque pivoted to Pastry, and although $45 for 5 items might seem pricey in most markets the ingredients and execution are every bit on par with what one sees in Lyon or Paris.

Located at 710 Montgomery Street near the Embarcadero, Delaroque's Pâté en Croûte visible from a doorway where diners are forced to wait for indecisive guests and servers lacking a sense of urgency, it is once inside that one can peruse a full selection including imported Jams and Wines plus everything from Viennoiserie to Choux.

Opting to sit outside, all items carefully plated but the server never once cracking a smile, Nico's Canele strikes a good balance of crunch to Custard while the Financier is moist with toasty notes provided by Hazelnuts.

Only offering Pâté en Croûte in portions suited for sharing, eyes instead turning to an Almond Croissant sliced and sandwiched around Blueberries with floral accents, $14 each for the Paris Brest and Fig Tart proves justified as the taste and texture of each are absolutely faultless.

I'm a fan of Arsicault croissants and found this place while walking to Chinatown awhile back.
Their croissants have delicate layers of butter with a lightly crispy exterior-the perfect complement to a Sunday morning coffee.

There can be a line on the weekends, but it moves fairly fast. Service was ok-I asked the cashier a few questions describing a pastry I saw someone eating outside but she kept brushing me off a bit which didn't leave the guest impression.

Closest to perfection I've tasted! This place is a must-visit if you are a croissant lover. The smoked salmon croissant was absolutely delicious. I'm so looking forward to going back to SF just to get another one! It's so fresh and the perfect combination. I really loved it.

I also tried the quiche, which was really good, and one of their seasonal croissants with berry jelly, which was wonderful as well. They have such great options that it's hard to decide. I feel like I needed more time to order because I couldn't see everything that was displayed. The layout of the store is small and doesn't work great, as the people in line obstruct the view of the pastries, pates, and other items. I ended up rushing to order the options that seemed more familiar to me. I'm definitely curious about the other fancier options they offer.

I've heard of this please many times, seen it on social media. Some people would say that it's overly-hyped. As for me, a first timer to try this place out, I'd say that it's worth the try and will definitely come back and try it again and hopefully again and again.

I am on my usual sunday / weekend walk and exploration in the city, nowhere in particular.

I didn't even plan on coming to this place on this day until I passed by it before heading to my favorite boosktore, The Citylights. Well, I gave it a shot and it didn't disappoint.

Located on Jackson Square near the Transamerica Pyramid Building in the city.

I ordered Ham & Cheese Croissant and Hot Cappucino. Their Ham & Cheese Croissant's a top-notch. For someone who loves coffee so much, I'd say that their cappucino passed my coffee palette.

When it comes to how much the prices are, well, for me, it's kind of reasonable as I've paid for the quality. But it's not and won't be my usual every day go-to cafe, I'm kind of in a budget. lol

I'm giving it 5 stars becasue of its vibe, the location, the ambiance, their menu, and their excellent staff - very friendly and professional.

The only thing I wish would be an improvement (hopefully) is for them to expand their on-site location and maybe have an outdoor seating as the place/location isn't spacious enough to accommodate many people for a dine-in setting. Well, just hoping as there are city/district laws and ordinace we have to abide. Maybe, someday. From this, I still enjoyed my capuccino and croissant to go.

In a nutshell, this place is WORTH IT.

Best croissants, pastries, quiche & coffee drinks! This place also has a variety of pate and offers wine and sandwiches. I usually get a variety of baked goodies and I think I may have tried almost everything. The croissants are the best, so buttery & flaky. And the prices are reasonable given the quality of the food. The coffee latte is so good, with the right amount of espresso and creamy milk which I often substitute oak milk. They have a small area with tables to sit inside and some tables outside on the sidewalk. Very French atmosphere. You can see the bakers in the kitchen at the rear of the shop. Conveniently located At Montgomery & Washington Street in the Jackson Square district, at the edge of the financial district, North Beach & at the base of Chinatown. Check store hours before you come.

I'll give it a 3.5. It seemed overhyped (someone had described Maison Nico as having the best pastries in the city and said it was very authentic). Spoiler: I found Maison Nico to be very different from pastries eaten in France.

We tried a pain au chocolat and the seasonal choux. The pain au chocolat was almost all bread (I won't even say "pastry" because it tasted really bread-y, not buttery as you find in France). This needed much more chocolate and butter. The choux was good and I was excited to try the seasonal rhubarb; I found it interesting that the rhubarb was raw rather than cooked into a compote and incorporated that way. It gave the choux more of a floral flavor than the rhubarb flavor I was expecting.

The cafe tables outside are cute and this was okay overall, but I would be very surprised if this is the best SF has to offer!

It's a very small store with very limited seating, so ended up sitting outside under the sun..
Ordered a few iconic dishes but nothing really impressed me. The server also seems to be in a hurry and wanted us to order fast while we had a lot of questions around what each thing is.
Good place to grab quick coffee but probably not suitable for long sit down talks.

We tried a variety of items such as the choux, flan Parisien, pâté en croûte de lapin, croissant, cookie, brioche feuilletée, croissant de saison et amande, pain au chocolat, etc. I liked the specialty choux the most but the gelatin layer was not elegant to eat as it would stick to your chin if you tried to bite the choux in half. The pan au chocolat was not my fav as the layers peeled weirdly instead of coming off in nice sheets. The way they layer the pastry (vertically?) is different from most places. The cross section of the regular croissant is pretty, but it's not one of my favs in the city. I tried the croissant two ways: at room temp and warmed up in the toaster oven and it was just okay. I like my croissants with a longer bake in general.

The pâté en croûte are very impressive looking and would make a great addition to a dinner party or charcuterie board. The one I got with rabbit was a little dry, but if you eat it with some fruit it can be pretty good. I usually find brioche to be dry, but the brioche is one of the better brioche I've eaten.

The young lady who took our order at the counter was nice, but there was another employee with attitude who ruined our experience. There was a sign that said something like, please wait outside until you are called in. The two of us waited outside and we were called in to order by the lady. Then a bunch of random people walked in after us without being called in. The guy assumed we were all together and was super rude and yelled at everyone. The lady later apologized to us and told us that we were fine. It was kind of her to say that, but I still haven't been back here. You don't need to travel to France, just Ignore the sign and walk in to get a taste of French "hospitality."