Restaurant Review: Gateway Croissant in San Francisco, CA

Gateway Croissant
390 Golden Gate Ave.
San Francisco, CA
415-749-0202

* Eat-in or take-out
* Cash only
* Very limited parking on street
* A few blocks from Civic Center BART/MUNI station

Gateway Croissant is located at the corner of Larkin and Golden Gate, right across from towering government buildings packed to the brim (on weekdays at least) with hungry office workers.

I figured I'd try out a croissant as that seems to be the specialty of the house. On feature are ham and cheese, cream cheese, butter, almond filling and chocolate croissants among others. I tried the ham and cheese, which was really pretty good and tasted fairly fresh. I have seen it claimed that they make their own, however I find that questionable. Croissants are one of the most complex pastries to make, and given the high volume of traffic this place has combined with the relatively low price they charge, I would think it safe to assume that they actually use pre-fabricated frozen croissants. Still, they certainly taste alright.

They also have a wide array of donuts, the usual selection available at many hole-in-the-wall donut shops throughout this area. I'm unsure if they make their own, but I suspect they get them from the same generic bakehouse that most of these other places do, as they appear pretty much identical. They're more or less the same quality as any other little donut shop around this way. Same goes for the selection of Peerless drip coffee which is identical to those found at all the other similar shops around here.

The menu also includes smoothies, fresh fruit (apples and bananas), bagels and a cooler full of the usual juices and sodas and such - your Snapples, your Vitamin Waters, your Cokes and Pepsis and Sprites, et cetera.

One area where this place shines is the interior. It's significantly larger than many Civic Center/Tenderloin restaurants and has a good amount of seating. It's also very clean and a nice place to sit, exception of weekday morning right before office hours when the place is jammed with all the workers from across the way.