The Best
Dessert Spots in San Francisco

By Laura Kiniry

When you want to get straight to the good stuff, visit these outstanding San Francisco shops and restaurants for incredible desserts.

When it comes to desserts, San Francisco has so many delicious offerings it’s difficult to know where to start. From a 24-hour donut shop to one of the most impressive cheese carts around, not to mention hot cookies, high-tea confectionaries, ice cream, and artisanal Mexican sweet breads to name a few, the city’s sweet treats are as varied as its neighborhoods. We’ve rounded up 12 of our favorite spots, as well as their “must-try” selections, to make finding the perfect dessert a little easier. Get ready to indulge!

1621 Polk Street and 601 Baker Street

Bob's Donuts

Bob’s is a San Francisco institution, one that’s been whipping up deep-fried donuts from scratch since the 1960s, when it opened its first location along Polk Street. Though the identity of “Bob” remains something of a mystery, the shop has been family-owned since the ‘70s. The donuts are soft and airy and come in a variety of flavors and styles, including filled, glazed, twisted, and sugar-coated. Favorites include the apple fritter—a buttery, flaky donut filled with chunks of cinnamon-coated apples—and the cake crumb donut, coated in a sweet, slightly crunchy crumb topping. Bonus: Bob’s Polk Street location is open 24 hours!

Dine At Bob's

2600 16th Street

Dandelion Chocolate

Whether it’s taking a course in truffle making or watching chocolate makers in action while sipping on a frothy cup of Mission Hot Chocolate, there are plenty of ways to experience Dandelion’s bean-to-bar offerings. The popular chocolate maker crafts its single-origin dark chocolate from only two ingredients—ethically sourced cocoa beans and organic sugar—and has been a fixture in the Mission since 2012. Dandelion opened its 16th Street factory in an historic former print shop in 2019, and it's brimming with a selection of chocolates, pastries and drinks to choose from. These include the must-try raspberry brownie, swirled with cream cheese and a 70% Camino Verde, Ecuador ganache, and a delectable house-made s’more, made to order.

Dine At Dandelion

2050 Bryant Street

Florecita Panaderia

Fans of pan dulces (“sweet breads”) flock to this weekend-only hotspot in the Mission for its artisan Mexican pastries. Florecita is especially known for its small-batch conchas, sweetened bread rolls similar in consistency to brioche that get their name from their crunchy, shell-like sugar topping. Baker Ximena Williams, who co-owns the shop with her husband, Jared, incorporates the ingredients of her Mexican heritage into each concha, adding modern twists of her own. The results are fluffy and buttery pastries served up by the half-dozen, dozen, and individually, in mouthwatering flavors like guava, blue corn, churro, and strawberry hibiscus.

Dine At Florecita

800 North Point Street

Gary Danko

When it comes to special occasions, this fine-dining restaurant in Fisherman’s Wharf knows how to draw in the crowds. Gary Danko combines classic French cooking with a bevy of local ingredients in an orchid- and art-filled space, and entices guests with its prix fixe multi-course menus. But what truly wows are their after-dinner offerings, including a legendary cheese cart that features up to 20 different selections (everything from a herbaceous goat cheese to a double cream blue). Old-school desserts such as baked Alaska and warm chocolate soufflé are equally as impressive.

Dine At Gary Danko

407 Castro Street and 1817 Polk Street

Hot Cookie

Located in the heart of the Castro, with a second location on Polk Street, this tiny storefront bakes up a vast selection of cookies and treats like chocolate-dipped brownies and peanut butter and chocolate “Butch Bars” fresh daily. While the shop’s best known for its cheeky, genitalia-inspired offerings, its sex-positive spirit, and a wall of photographs featuring customers posing in Hot Cookie’s signature underwear, beanies, and caps, it also serves plenty of PG-rated confections. These include massive, must-try cookies in flavors like snickerdoodle, cocoa cheyenne (if you like a little heat), and toffee milk chocolate. Be sure and ask for them fresh from the oven!

Dine At Hot Cookie

1351 Church Street

LoveJoy Tea Room

What opened as an antique shop in the early 1990s soon became better known for its tea service, transforming LoveJoy’s into the cozy, quirky tea room that it is today. And let’s face it: there’s nothing more demanding of an afternoon snack break than a warm scone with Devon cream and preserves, paired with a pot of Earl Grey and served on mismatched china. Bring some friends and order the Queen’s Tea, which, in addition to two sandwiches and a scone, includes a toasted crumpet served with Meyer lemon curd, fresh fruit, a bite-sized confectionery, and a tea biscuit. It’s absolutely scrumptious.

Dine At LoveJoy's

688 San Jose Avenue

Mitchell's Ice Cream

Another Bay Area favorite, Mitchell’s has been serving up scoops of ice cream on the streets of San Francisco’s Mission District since 1953. Opened by brothers Larry and John “Jack” Mitchell, this neighborhood staple began with 19 initial flavors. Today, they’re up to 40 flavors daily, including an array of tropical offerings made with fruits imported from Asia. Mango has been one of the shop’s most popular flavors since the 1970s, when it was first introduced. For something light and refreshing, consider a scoop or two of lychee. All of their ice cream is made with 16% butterfat, and Mitchell’s (still family-owned, by the way) serves up vegan and sorbet selections as well.

Dine At Mitchell's

1701 Octavia Street

Octavia

Known for its rotating menu of dishes that are both elegant and creative without being pretentious, as well as ingredients sourced straight from local farms, Octavia is a favorite among dessert aficionados thanks to pastry chef Melissa Loar. Guests pour into this Michelin-starred, lower Pacific Heights eatery for seasonal a la carte dishes and a small selection of ethereal desserts, ranging from a chocolate semifreddo, served with banana ganache and drizzled in barley miso caramel, to a trifle in layers of corn ice cream, angel food cake, and colorful berry compote. While the offerings change frequently, they’re always worthwhile.

Dine At Octavia

1529 Fillmore Street

State Bird Provisions

This James Beard award-winning and Michelin-starred restaurant has been wowing guests with its inventive, dim-sum style of contemporary American dishes since 2012—and its desserts are no exception. Choose from an a la carte menu of creative desserts that change frequently but always includes a rendition of pastry chef and co-owner Nicole Krasinski’s beloved “ice cream” sandwiches. She makes more than a dozen different flavors of them, ranging from gingerbread with brown sugar macaron, lemon curd, and candied cranberries to sweet corn, black lime macaron, and grilled pluot caramel. Add a creamy glass of "world peace" peanut milk for the perfect post-dinner pairing.

Dine At State Bird Provisions

446 Columbus Avenue

Stella Pastry

Nothing completes a night out in San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood like a stop at Stella Pastry, a traditional Italian bakery that’s been welcoming sweet-tooths since the 1940s. Whether it’s a double mocha or a panna cotta paired with a flavored soda, you’ll find plenty of delicious ways to wrap up an evening or enjoy an afternoon at this cozy, Columbus Avenue staple. The shop’s tiramisu—a layered sponge cake soaked in espresso and rum, and layered with mascarpone cream–is a perennial favorite, as is the cannoli, a crisp tube of fried pastry filled with sweetened ricotta cheese and chocolate chips.

Dine At Stella Pastry

1336 Ninth Avenue

Sweet Glory

Opened in 2024 in the city’s Inner Sunset neighborhood, this Asian-influenced dessert cafe wows patrons with its selection of handcrafted mille crêpe cakes: French-inspired cakes that consist of 20 super-thin crêpe layers interspersed with cream. They come in a myriad of flavors, like coconut, matcha, and durian, and are made fresh daily. Don’t miss the Earl Grey tea mille crepe cake, made with milk panna cotta and dried cornflowers, or Sweet Glory’s “ube” Basque burnt cheesecake, a soufflé-like crustless dessert with a caramelized surface. There’s a spacious patio for savoring your choices out back.

Dine At Sweet Glory

1790 Sutter Street

Yasukochi's Sweet Stop

Tucked away inside Super Mira market in Japantown, Yasukochi’s is a family-owned Legacy Business known for its delectable coffee crunch cake, a light and spongy cake layered with whipped cream and covered in handmade, honeycomb-like coffee crumble. You can get it by the slice or as a whole, but it often sells out quickly so get here early (Yasukochi’s opens at 10 a.m., Wednesday through Saturday). This hidden bakery counter also whips up matcha cake rolls and danish pastries in flavors like custard, almond, and blueberry.

Dine At Yasukochi's Sweet Shop

Laura Kiniry

Laura Kiniry is a full-time freelance journalist specializing in travel, food, culture, and the outdoors, as well as a 30-year San Francisco resident. She writes regularly for Smithsonian, Atlas Obscura, BBCTravel, and VIA magazine, among others, and is managing editor for both the 2025 Visit Oakland and Visit Petaluma inspiration guides. When she’s not exploring the Bay Area, she’s out traveling the world. Occasionally, you can find her harvesting olives in southern Italy.