Cash only! Traditional establishment with large pastries - Muffin : was a blueberry flavor that day, very soda bread scone tasting. Enjoyed the crumb top and plentiful berries! Very moist - Berry danish : the pastry itself was a little chewy for my taste, but overall not bad! read more

Pavel's Backerei - Muffin & berry danish - Bakeries Near Me - Pacific Grove, California

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Pavel's is a Pacific Grove institution! Be prepared to wait in a long line right when they open--it moves fast, but the crowd confirms how fantastic their European-style pastries are. The four of us grabbed croissants and sandwiches, and the quality was superb: flaky, rich, and clearly made with care. The dedication to artistry is evident in every bite. The only real snag is the payment: Pavel's is strictly cash only. While the baked goods are four-star excellent, the need to remember physical currency keeps it from a full five. Come prepared with cash, and you won't be disappointed by the treats! read more

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Ok, found out Pavels can be hit or miss. The berry danish with cream cheese was very delicious the first time I came. For my second visit, I got a box of them to share. Unfortunately, there was too much liquid in the berries which resulted in the pastry dough under our next to the berries, not cooking at all essentially it was raw dough. I wish I took a picture for comparison. The picture attached is the one that was made correctly my first visit. The ones that were not made correctly. were very different in appearance---so if you get the very tart, take a peek at them if you see liquid around the berries don't purchase them. Since they're six dollars each, I ended up returning them and getting my money back. Was disappointed as I had been looking forward to them. read more

Pavel's Backerei - Berry and cream cheese danish - Bakeries Near Me - Pacific Grove, California

Best cheddar sourdough bread! And the cinnamon rolls... absolutely incredible -- definitely a must-stop when you're in Pacific Grove! read more

Pavel's Backerei - Bakeries Near Me - Pacific Grove, California

Open for business on Saturdays only and you need to bring cash. Yet despite those limitations, these guys are doing gangbuster business and after having tasted about four different things in one go, I think I understand why. Stick to the sweet items or the baguettes and loaves. The savory flat bread pizza I tried wasn't worth it. read more

Simply put. This is the best bakery in Pacific Grove. - Saturday only. - There is a line and it's worth the wait, trust me ;). Locals say the baker is a master and it's absolutely true. It would be hard to replace this individual, especially once you try the baked goods he has for sale. The quality of to the baked goods is outstanding and well worth the visit. I would give 6 stars for the level of baked good quality compared to several others i've been too in California. What a hidden gem! read more

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Oh Pavels! How dear you guys are to my heart. If you are in pacific grove on a Saturday do yourself a favor and wake up early and head down to pavels. Open one day a week...sold out by noon. Truly deserving of all its praise. If you want to do Pavel's right, get the berry danish. Yes you can get the cream cheese berry but if you want the true fall in love experience, get the berry danish. Trust me. The sheepherders bread is to die for. I always get a few loaves. Slice it up and put them in the freezer for my avocado toast in the morning. The salami sandwich is also a must. Never have I ever had a sesame seed baguette be so soft. Other than that, you really can't go wrong here... it's a sweet community of people that lineup in the morning. Locals and travelers that have found this hidden gem. Anybody with a negative review about them being open only one day we're having a line in the morning needs to learn how to enjoy the simple things in life. Pavels is an experience. A true joy to get to enjoy. BRING CASH THEY ARE CASH ONLY:) read more

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It's a real shame if this bakery has closed permanently--they were around for a long time, and truly had some of the best pastries in the area. When it was open, my only complaint was that they were only open one day a week. As a local, it would've been nice to stop by more often without having to compete with the long tourist lines. Still, the pastries made it worth the effort. If you were lucky enough to go, you know the drill: go early, bring cash, and KNOW WHAT YOU WANT before getting to the counter. I once waited 30 minutes from arrival to checkout! But the cinnamon rolls and chocolate croissants were always worth it--flaky, flavorful, and not overpriced. This place was a local gem, and if it's truly closed for good, it'll definitely be missed. read more

Pavel's Backerei - 2 chocolate croissants, cinnamon roll, berry cheese danish $20 even! Worth the long wait in line. - Bakeries Near Me - Pacific Grove, California

we stopped in here today because they were open and we'd heard it was a must-try. their pastries are enormous, I'll give them that. they had a blueberry scone, which was burnt along on edges (like not-worth-eating burnt); their cinnamon roll was very good; the peanut butter cookie was very peanut buttery and would definitely recommend; the chocolate chunk cookie was not worth the belly space NOTE: CASH ONLY I don't recall seeing any signs and we got all the way to the register to learn we needed cash, so we had to run over to the grocery store across the street to buy and apple and get cash back. read more

Pavel's Backerei - Bakeries Near Me - Pacific Grove, California

Always soooo good getting pastries (and bread) here! The service is second to none. It's really just a to-go spot. But the best pastries in town! ALWAYS a line. That's how you know it's good. The farmers brochen is the best! The berry cream cheese tart danish is the best sweet pastry, objectively speaking :) This place rocks! read more

Pavel's Backerei - Bakeries Near Me - Pacific Grove, California

Last day for Pavel's Bakerie. So many great flavors. Will miss the kind staff and the beautiful displays of baked goods. read more

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We walked a few blocks to Pavel's so we did not have to find parking. When we arrived, there was a line at 9am. While we waited in line, we got some coffee from a little coffee shop across the street. The line moves fairly quickly and when we were able to go inside it was warm and the smell of bread was wonderful. The staff is friendly. A lot of the items were sold out by the time we placed our order. However, we were still able to order the chocolate croissant, danish, sandwiches, cookie, and bread. Then we moved to the cashier and paid in cash. And waited a few minutes for our order. Once we received our order, we couldn't resist and started eating our sandwiches right away. Everything was delicious. When we go back, we will probably arrive earlier and anything we order will be delicious. read more

Pavel's Backerei - Chocolate croissant, cookie, and danishes - Bakeries Near Me - Pacific Grove, California

Pavel's Bakery is an absolute gem! Everything is incredibly fresh and delicious -- from the pastries to the bread, you can taste the quality in every bite. I love this place! read more

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Long line beginning at least 30 min before opening. A lovely local spot with the hugest, most decadent pastries. Croissants, farmers brotchen for savory, and many different kinds of fruit and cream cheese danishes (plus breads)! Wish they were open more than one day per week! read more

Pavel's Backerei - Pastries - Bakeries Near Me - Pacific Grove, California

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We were leisurely walking around Pacific Grove when we noticed this long line of people waiting to get into this bakery. I said to my husband, we need to stand in line and check it out. As we waited, we started conversing with the couple behind us and they told us that this Czech bakery is the best in town. They only open on Tuesdays and Saturdays and everything is delicious. They only take cash. Finally we got inside the bakery and the smell of the pastries and breads was so sweet smelling that it was almost intoxicating...it was just a cornucopia of deliciousness.....We saw the display and all of the pastries were HUGE !!! My chocolate croissant was filled with lots of bittersweet delicious chocolate.... The filling oozed out off the pastry as I took bites of the buttery dough. We got a few other things to go, but asked them if they could heat up the ham and cheese croissant for us and they gladly did.... It was a great place for breads or pastries....not to be missed if you are in the area. read more

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What is it about a line of people that just beckons you to join? Is it simply what the younger generations call FOMO, a fear of missing out on something exciting or desirable, or does it perhaps touch on something deeper? Could it tap into an innate desire we have as humans to not be alone, drawn to crowds and company like moths to a flame, a haven from the cold and alienating world we inhabit? All that to say, when I was strolling the streets of Pacific Grove on a recent Saturday morning and came upon an unknown line, I decided to get in it without the faintest clue of where it was heading. Fortunately it turned out to be a line to get in to Pavel's Backerei, an iconic bakery with perplexing hours (only open on Tuesday and Saturday, 7am until they sell out), and highly coveted baked goods. Other reviews tend to emphasize their pastries, which seem to be great don't get me wrong as my wife gave rave reviews to her Cheese Danish, but I was more interested in their whole loaves. We decided to try out the Cheddar Sourdough which turned out to be an incredible choice. I thought nothing could be better than a fresh-baked loaf of sourdough but Pavel's appears to have cracked the code and it turns out the answer is a fresh-baked loaf of sourdough with cheese woven throughout. The only thing holding back Pavel's from a perfect rating was our final purchase, the Salami and Cheese sandwich. Basic, overpriced, and a mess to eat given the mountain of sesame seeds that fell off the mediocre roll, I couldn't even choke down the whole thing and I would recommend avoiding this sandwich at all costs. Apart from the that, go wild! read more

Pavel's Backerei - Bakeries Near Me - Pacific Grove, California

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Is it worth waiting in line half an hour? NO The first time we waited 20 minutes and we left we called second time we waited five minutes it was cold. We left. third Saturday. We came to check the bicycle shop next door around lunchtime and we ordered the last butter croissant they had, since the line was only five minutes. It's huge in size. Itis good for two people remind me of the Costco croissant. I have tried croissant in 10 countries including France and I can tell you if you're coming for the size it's worth it four dollars and a half for a huge butter crown not bad. However the Costco croissant after you put it in air fryer for 2 min, it becomes crunchy and may taste better than the croissant we had here. I may have to come back. Try something else in the future just in case the butter croissant was a failure today and something else will taste better. read more

Pavel's Backerei - No line at 12:30 PM.... But many items are finished. - Bakeries Near Me - Pacific Grove, California

We got super lucky with only waiting about 20 mins on a Saturday of a holiday weekend as don't think I would have had a chance to try these delicious pastries if the line was too long. Can't believe they are open only twice a week as there seems to be a huge demand but I guess it's a part of their business model. CASH ONLY. Everything is delicious and pretty cheap so makes sense why it's so popular. read more

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The berry cream cheese tart danish is super delicious!!! So worth the line.... Cash only

Customer service literally closed the door on my face 15 minutes before 4 bummer I just wanted some pasteries

Best bakery ever. Been coming here for over 13 years and employees are the kindest. Best bread and pastries. Only downfall is they are now only open one day a week read more

Pavel's Backerei - Bakeries Near Me - Pacific Grove, California

Double check your box before you leave the store. I wasn't given what I ordered. Very disappointed. My son liked his chocolate croissant though. read more

Have been reading all the reviews. We have a second home in PG and finally made it in. For a business to only be open one day a week and a strong set of followers through the years, we were super curious. The pastries were OK. Not super flavorful. They are huge but the flavors are bland. We ordered a cinnamon roll, fauxnut and macaroon. PG definitely needs a solid bakery with a good selection of sweet and savory items including breads. In a pinch, Pavel's will work on a Saturday but I'd rather travel to old town Monterey to Alta or Parker Lusseau's. read more

I'd heard great things about this place, from local friends. Specifically, they love the chocolate croissants. I'm not a fan of chocolate croissants, but love cinnamon rolls. They are only open on Saturdays and there is a long line for a few hours in the morning. I went in the afternoon and felt like it was meant to be because I got the last cinnamon roll. I was leery to buy it because it looked dry, but no different than every picture I've seen on yelp. Well, the appearance did not lie. It was so dry. More like a cinnamon bread, that needed warming and a lot of butter. I ate about 1/4 of it and threw the rest away. I was really disappointed. The young lady who waited on me was very nice. read more

This is a 3.5 star rating but just couldn't do 4. Went here on a Saturday and it was somewhat busy but wait time was about 20ish minutes with 2 people in front of us. We ordered a variety of items but I'll only provide review on what I bought. Chocolate "eclair" fauxlini/red pool fauxlini- I tried looking up fauxlini but nothing really came up but the biggest grip and main reason for the rating was the pastry on this and the red pool. It was kind of puff pastry but much thicker. Only way I can describe it is that it was almost more artisan bread than puff pastry which was odd for an eclair. The filling and chocolate was good but the bread threw everything off. Chocolate chunk cookies- really good and zero complaints. Would definitely buy these again. Pricing is actually good for the sizes. Friendly service just a bit slow. Even after paying it took 5 mins or so to gather up like 5 things so unsure if they weren't ready or what. I like the aesthetic and the service but I love eclairs and these just felt so off with the bread read more

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The almond bear claw is delicious but I wasn't a big fan of the other items we bought. The chocolate croissant was really big, but I wish it had been warm and more flaky. The farmer's brötchen roll was dry and also would have been better warm. IMPORTANT: The bakery is only open on Saturdays and is CASH ONLY. I didn't see any signs at the storefront or mentions of that in the reviews, I could have missed them, but I did look. There was a long line out the door and down the street so very popular and reasonably priced, but the service felt rushed. I don't think I would return here (not worth the wait). read more

Pavel's Backerei - Pastry selection - Bakeries Near Me - Pacific Grove, California

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This place is amazing! Everything was delicious and so fresh. It was packed and only open on Saturdays, but they say good things come to those who wait. We got a chocolate croissant, cinnamon roll, maple something, chocolate chunk cookie, berry cheese danish, and a peanut butter cookie. The danish was the true star of the show, I usually hate danishes for being too sweet, but the cheese was more of a delicious cream and the pastry was perfectly sweetened. Also recommend the peanut butter cookie. It was pretty much just peanut butter 3 ways and one of the best cookies I've ever had. Note that it's cash only, so get cash back at the grocery store across the street. We will be back! read more

Pavel's Backerei - Chocolate croissant, cinnamon roll, maple something, chocolate chunk cookie, berry cheese danish, and a peanut butter cookie! - Bakeries Near Me - Pacific Grove, California

My partner and I were down the street and saw a long line so we curiously went to look. A man informed us kindly it's the best bread and baked goods. Since we weren't on a strict schedule and curious we got in line. 1. This is a cash only bakery BUT that being said we got all three items for $12 which honestly is the price of a loaf of bread where I live so this was a steal lol 2. I don't know if the food/bakery is worth waiting in line for 1 hour but I did LOVE the croissant. 3. I liked the cookie but like my own recipe more tbh 4. The sourdough was good but I wouldn't say I dream of it (the way I do that croissant) 5. The workers were SO EFFICIENT and kind and this experience was VERY small town I loved it so much I don't regret waiting in line and supporting this business, works can't explain how gem this place was to all the local people in line but it's clear the workers care about their craft and the people that enjoy them. Wish I lived closer to make my partner get me more croissants haha read more

Pavel's Backerei - Sourdough bread - Bakeries Near Me - Pacific Grove, California

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You never know what you are going to get with the place. Today we got their salami and cheese sandwich. In the past the bread had sesame seeds which added great flavor and Swiss cheese. Today No seeds on bread and yellow cheddar cheese which over powered the sandwich. Oh well we always get the chocolate crasant which has been great! read more

The bakery items were delicious! And definitely worth waiting in the long line! The workers were very kind and patient.

This review serves 2 purposes: high praise for this amazing bakery and to thank the very generous couple we met while waiting in line - the best spent 1hr. getting to know this loving couple from Clovis. We ordered the almond bear claw & apple danish (both delicious) as well as the faux donut made with croissant dough - very different/good. The lovely woman we met strongly encouraged us to also get a chocolate croissant - I passed however because my husband and I could only eat so many pastries. When I eventually opened up my pastry box there was the chocolate croissant which she must have discreetely ordered on our behalf. Turns out it was my favorite. This kind and unexpected gesture warms my heart . Thank you read more

We arrived late at 3 PM and thankfully they still and cinnamon raisin pastries. I have to say this were so delicious! OMG! We ended up going across the street to Captain & Stoker to get our Matcha lattes. Perfect afternoon treat! read more

What can I say that hasn't already been said about Pavel's? Hands-down the best bakery I've ever been to. The bread is absolutely amazing and loved by my European in-laws. The pastries are always fresh, thick and melts in your mouth. And the service is always top notch. The only downsides are that they are only open two days a week on Tuesdays and Saturdays and they are cash only. But for this type of small family owned business, that's completely understandable. I feel like if a larger business bought them, they may lose some of the quality and consistency. read more

Cash only. Get there early & be prepared to wait in line. My fave pasties are the chocolate croissant, fauxnut, cinnamon roll & almond bear claw! Keep in mind they're open only 2 days a week. So if you're off Tuesday & Saturday definitely stop by & treat yourself! read more

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Pavel's Backerei; amazing! After getting some coffee to start the morning, my bf and I needed to get some breakfast. Some of the folks at Captain + Stoker recommended Pavel's Backerei. This was one of the best recommendations I've ever had! (The locals know where to send you, always!) There was a HUGE line out the door; a good indicator. I believe at the time they were taking cash only, so I would say take some cash with you, just in case! My partner and I ordered three pastries; one cinnamon roll, one jelly-filled donut, and a berry cream cheese tart danish. To be fair, we wanted to order many, many more. Everything in the cases looked wonderful! The three pastries were delightful! The cinnamon roll was so soft and the icing on it was everything you could desire! The berry cream cheese tart danish was also fantastic! Pavel's Backerei was such a treat; both for the eyes and the taste buds. I wouldn't hesitate to return next time we're in the area. I highly recommend going in- just don't forget the cash in case! 10/10 recommend!!! read more

Pavel's Backerei - Bakeries Near Me - Pacific Grove, California

In line for an hour because we came 10 minutes after opening so come before 7 am, best ham and cheese croissant, giant pastries. The apple tart danish was piled high with apples. The cherry danish was not as full but just as scrumptious. The cinnamon bear claw we could smell while in line so had to get one. All with a nice cup of coffee. read more

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Plan your visit around when Pavel's is open. This is a family run business and has been for many years, I suggest checking their Facebook page for updates/schedule of hours on holiday weekends. An iconic bakery in Pacific Grove, all items are made daily and Pavel's is open until they sell out. The line early in the morning can be quite long, moves quickly and 100% worth the wait. If you purchase your bread early in the morning and want it sliced, you can come back later to pick it up because the bread is often too fresh to slice then. Just a reminder the bakery is cash only so make sure to plan accordingly. read more

Pavel's Backerei - Bakeries Near Me - Pacific Grove, California

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I absolutely LOVE Pavel's! We drive about an hour to get here and it is worth the amazing quality. If you are in town on a Saturday don't miss stopping by for a chocolate croissant (don't forget the cash). read more

I love this place! We try and stop by ever time we visit. Its limited hours and limited days and usually has a line! Today we got lucky, no line! Picked up a beautiful chocolate eclair, peanut butter crunch cookie and a chocolate chunk cookie, threw in a turkey and cheese sandwich on the most beautiful seeded brown bread roll I've had in my life. So fresh and so full of flavor. Delicious! Forgot phots, so you will have to go try it yourself! You wont be sorry! read more

One of THE best bakeries we have ever been to. The German pastries are out of this world and their bread loaves are incredibly delicious. I hope that they're open on the Saturday after Christmas when my wife and I visit Pacific Grove. read more