Paris Baguette

Because of its multi-cultural population, strong talent pool, and proximity to both beaches and the Pacific Ocean, Orange County has become a great place for companies – domestic and foreign alike – to establish headquarters as they plan U.S. expansions. That’s why South Korean bakery chain Paris Baguette set up offices in Costa Mesa (close to Ikea, the South Coast Collection, and Tokyo Central) after launching its first U.S. location in Los Angeles: Today, this French-inspired patisserie with Asian and global trend influences has 16 Orange County bakeries in plazas, malls, and supermarkets, collectively offering consistently good desserts, fine to good savory items, and a nice selection of drinks.

Much like the French-Japanese bakeries that opened in Japan throughout the 1980s, Paris Baguette maintains room temperature display cases full of kind-of-French, kind-of-Asian pastries including bread-wrapped sausages, croissants, donuts, palmiers, croquette buns, and baguette sandwiches. Refrigerators keep milk bread sandwiches, sponge cakes, roll cakes, cheesecakes, and cream puffs at a light chill; staff behind the counter will typically heat up anything benefitting from a brief toasting before service, on requests.

On the beverage front, lattes, hot chocolates, chais, frappes, and smoothies are available – generally from $5 to $6.50, depending on size and ingredients. Paris Baguette also offers seasonal drinks such as pumpkin pie lattes and cold brews, cookie butter macchiatos, and iced matcha fruit lattes at higher $6 to $8.50 price points. Modest seating areas inside and sometimes outside the shops typically have tables for two rather than encouraging larger groups or Wi-Fi-seeking students to hang out.