Emmer and Ash

I came to try their pistachio croissant and wasn’t disappointed! They aren’t cheap (I bought two and after tax came to $21), but they’re a decent size and are jam packed with pistachio flavour. The croissant is coated with a thick layer of pistachios and is generously filled with pistachio filling. I would say the croissant’s dough is on the crunchier, flakier end so it’s a pretty hefty croissant. Overall I really enjoyed it and one was super filling!

I also tried their plain croissant but wasn’t as light as I would’ve preferred for a plain croissant.

If you can go on a weekday at lunch I’d highly recommend, as there was practically no line both times I visited. They also have a covered patio on the side that you can use after you order if you’re looking to eat there.

I LOVE croissants and pastries. I frequently visit (Le Beau, Circles & Squares, Bakerbots, Gouter, etc). I’m not here to complain about waiting in line, sold out/limit of 2 pistachio croissants. I came on a Friday afternoon an hour before close. Croissants are amazing here. You can really taste the butter content and quality of the hours spent preparing the croissants. Reminds me of the ones in France. However, I find their front end staff absolutely terrible. I tipped, said thank you multiple times with a smile as they packaged and prepared my drinks. No polite responses at all. Just silence and ignored eye contact. I felt unwelcomed (like gtfo asap vibes) and the female server looked combative and unfriendly. I’m not looking for even a conversation/small talk…but please have respect and kindness for others. Whether you spend $5 or more than $40 like I did, it’s completely unacceptable to feel treated with disdain.

The croissants are definitely overrated… Inside layers are too thick, and outside is also too thick. There’s a lot of butter so it still flakes well, and the texture of the inside and outside are compatible with each other. But it’s just unpleasantly thick and it makes your jaws tired. The same problem as le conciliabule lab.
I tried their famous pistachio croissant as well a long time ago and… sorry, it’s just not compatible with my definition of a pistachio croissant. And even though there’s a ton of pistachios, there’s barely any flavor of pistachio. A great pistachio flavor should have a nice roasted flavor in it. It’s really not worth the money.

First time trying Emmer-
My tests are always a pistachio croissant, butter croissant and sourdough.
The pistachio croissant went absolutely crazy. Please note it’s a UNIQUE experience. Personally, I like a SWEET, crunchy chewy pistachio croissant and that’s exactly what you get at Emmer. The croissant is baked twice. It’s crusted in roasted pistachios and has a glorious, almost jam-reminiscent pistachio filling. Very different from Le Beau, for example, which offers a LIGHT, voluminous croissant with pistachio cream/custard inside. The two, in my view, are different pastries, but Emmer’s pistachio offering is especially delicious.

Butter croissant- flaky, crispy, VERY buttery, but a little bit on the heavy side. Still, I thoroughly enjoyed it!

The white sourdough is immaculate. Lovely crust; springy and tart inside. It was still hot! The loaves are also huge.

My friend and I arrived at 8: 45 on a Sunday morning and there were 3 pairs ahead of us. Be prepared to wait. The bakery is very small, and there is a limit of 2 pastries of each kind per party, which is very understandable. I would assume ordering in advance would be smart if you were looking to attain, say, a half dozen pistachio croissants.

We will be back again and again! X

Fell to the Toronto trap of forming a long queue for something underwhelming. First red flag should have been when the pain au chocolat was named a chocolate croissant. And if you're going for the famous pistachio croissant the lady at the counter said they are usually sold out half our into opening and then they have another batch ready around 12 45 if I remember correctly. Had to settle for the next best, the almond croissant. It was crazy greasy. A good croissant has the perfect balance of butter, not, as much butter as you can fit in it. I'm sure their plain croissant is much better but it's as though they make the almond paste with oil or butter and its just too much.
Worth going again to try other items since the breakfast sandwiches looked pretty good but I'll probably only stop by if there is not queue

Such a cute bakery with yummy croissants! I believe it’s the best pistachio croissant in Toronto. There is a limit that each person can only buy at most 2 pistachio croissants & 2 almond croissants. If you love chocolate, they offer two types of chocolate croissants here - one using Soma 70% dark chocolate which is one of their most famous flavours and the other is regular 40% semi-sweet chocolate.

Their croissants are really big and at a higher price range - $9.5 for pistachio and $7.25 for most of the other croissants

The croissants are crispy & flaky - super fresh if you wait there before it opens!

It opens at 9am however I heard from others that you have to come here before 9: 30 to ensure you will get the pistachio one! The line starts even before 9am…I arrived at 8: 40am on Saturday morning (rainy day) and there were already 4 groups before me.

They have a outdoor patio to dine in and they offer other brunch options.

Love this place! Will come back whenever I’m craving for some fresh croissants!

Hit or miss. Sourdough is not great, feels like I just went to the dentist. Lunch menu is generally much better.

I had a scone and flat white. The stuff is friendly and knowledgeable. I waited couple minutes before entering the store. Actually I wanted to try the Pistachio croissants but it was sold out unfortunately. It was around 1pm. I will try it next time!

Waited outside for 30 minutes. When I got in, I was told I was too late to order off of the breakfast menu and too early to order from the lunch menu. Don’t waste you time.

Overhyped and overpriced. They charge between $9 to $9.50 per croissant which is very steep.
Also, they have a 2 pastries per person rule which is fair. However, the cashier said we could only get 2 pistachio croissants for our party of 7. That makes zero sense. They seem to come up with arbitrary rules based on their mood. You can definitely find better croissants and better service elsewhere in Toronto.

Its true: it’s the best croissant in the city. Also the massive loaves of bread are incredible.

Extremely disappointed! The wait was certainly NOT worth the hype and certainly not worth the maltreatment and rudeness of the entire staff! In fact, one star is being overly generous!

It's one thing to not be overly warm and welcoming and a whole other thing to be weirdly rude and combative. Their food might be good but we never got to try it because unfortunately I have some self-respect and don't want to support an establishment that goes out of their way to be obnoxious to a person. Forget being a customer. I will never forget how badly I was treated.

READ BEFORE YOU GO TO EMMER! 0 stars would be too generous. You will never encounter worse customer service. The owner has to be one of the most entitled person I have encountered. Acting as if she is doing you a favour by letting you by their products. Not only have I witnessed staff berate and insult other customers but have experienced it my self. They seem to have a dictator style policy of a "limit of 2 items per customer", which really means that if you are there with other people they will not sell you any more food even on separate transactions. Me and my fiancee met my mother to try a croissant after the three of us waited in line for at least 45 minutes we were told we could only purchase 2 pistachio croissants between the three of us. EVEN THOUGH my mother was a complete separate transaction and customer. We tried explaining that we were separate households and complete separate transactions. The staff was beyond rude and condescending and become very confrontational and did not even allow us to speak when they accused of not abiding by their extremely strict rules. We even offered to show them our ID with DIFFERENT addresses to prove we were purchasing for two separate households. The staff went so far as to say we were being "inconsiderate to their other customers". This is ironic as the inconsideration to their patrons come from directly from themselves. After berating us they had the AUDACITY to swing that tablet around and ask for a minimum of 18% tip. I have genuinely and honestly never experienced such a horrible business. I do not review businesses to tear them down but the treatment we received from the staff their was deplorable and is why I am writing this review.

The croissants here are only for self indulgence. Sooooo buttery. You’ve been warned. I love it Minus one star because of so-so coffee and just generally lack of customer service. This is a more takeout place.

Waited for 20 mins in line to order. Only 2 customers were allowed inside. Had 2 pistachio croissants and cappuccino. The croissant was good, less cream on the inside and more nuts on the outside, very flaky and crunchy. Definitely on the more expensive side. Customer service was okay. You order in the front and you go to the patio. Food was given in take out containers, I guess because we ordered only bakery items not lunch menu. They apparently make approx only 6-7 dozens of pistachio croissants in a day, so if you want to try that definitely go earlier, as we were the last orders.

Very pleasant surprise my darling daughter has given me. Everything from coconut crosant butter crosant and fries awesome.

The $9.50 pistachio croissant was much chewier and crusty-er (?) than I expected. There's a large heated outdoor patio which is nice. My curiosity of the lauded pistachio croissant is complete, now I'll retreat back to Geste's flaky and interesting creations.

Lovely spot, amazing buttery and flakey pastries, wish they’d make more pistachio croissants. The passion fruit croissant was super unique, love the innovation. Extremely pretentious staff.

Finally got to try the butter croissant from Emmer. Very disappointed. Completely drenched in butter (and not in a good way).

I’ve tried Emmer a few times and never been disappointed. They always have lovely pastries, but they sell out of most things pretty early.

I’ve never seemed to make it in time for some of their signature items but when I’m in the area I’m always excited to stop by to see what they have left!

OK - What can I say! This bakery is the best! The sandwiches, bread, desserts, coffee all are amazing. You ever have the opportunity to try go for it!

Ordered the croque which was excellent, highly recommend trying it! It was a great combination of savoury and creamy with the perfectly toasted sourdough. The butter croissant was a bit chewy to my taste, but I look forward going back for the pistachio croissant.

I've gotten croissants and a few deserts and every time they have been amazing. Yes, it's expensive, but it's worth it. The croissants are large and have many flaky layers. I don't go often because you truly do have to wake up early to get a croissant.

Over a month later and I am still thinking about the croissant I had here! Well worth the price. I'll be sure to come back the next time I'm in Toronto.

Absolutely incredible butter croissant and caramelized passionfruit croissant. One of the best I've had in Toronto. Sausage roll was delicious as well for anyone looking for a savoury treat. As some folks have said, prices are a bit high, but they are very fair for this calibre of croissants.

Their croissants are the best my wife and I have had, better than the ones we've had in France. Hits all the points: salty, sweet, chewy, flaky, butter notes, denseness. It is definitely on the pricer end but worth it. Would drive downtown just for their croissants. My daughter had a danish and didn't want to share because it was too good. No line up when I went on Thursday AM, they do have a 2 customer indoor policy currently. The staff were very polite, helpful and pleasant.

Really amazing baked goods. Pistachio croissant was worth the wait in line. Oatmeal sourdough was a favourite. Prices are for sure on the high end.

Is there a lineup? Yes. Good things come to those who wait. Truly the best croissant I've ever had and their selection is simply divine.

I hate waiting but for Emmer it's a 100% worth it.

I tried the sausage roll which was solidly good. Not the best I've ever had, but it was well made with an interesting condiment to go along. I do go out of my way to buy premium quality baked goods, but the prices are unreasonably high and I can't justify a return trip. Comparatively, sausage rolls I've had from other small establishments have measured up in taste and quality, but cost *half* the price (Carnicero's in St. Lawrence Market, Barbershop Patisserie to name a couple). My takeaway: well made products are coming out of Emmer, but the pricing is inaccessible.

Best croissants I've had outside of Paris. Everything else on the menus is great too.especially the pistachio croissant and passion fruit pastry!

This place has a really strong reputation, and I can totally see why. The bread, croissants, and sandwiches are insanely good.

I think the prices are still crazy high though. Hence the 4 stars

If you do chose to stop by just take note of the opening times, as they’re not open earlier in the week

Amazing. The haloumi toast with honey and tahini was an amazing flavour. We also really enjoyed the pastries. Very flaky croissants. Highly reccomend the food from here.

The croissants were excellent! They were the best I’ve ever had. Nothing Else in Toronto comes close to the way they make it. Can easily rack up the bill if you are not careful as they are very expensive, at least for me. I highly recommend this place.

Quality is found in everything they do, the time spent and the attention to detail is worth the visit. I just wish they did dinner!

Tried the porridge sourdough, the Shakshuka brioche bun, and the egg and cheese english muffin sandwich. Everything was delicious and the flavors were well-balanced. 100% would go back and also recommend.

The best brunch/ lunch spot in the area. High quality baked goods, their passionfruit croissant was really nice and light. Some of the reviews say the croissants use oil instead of butter, but thats definitely wrong. These croissants use pure butter and alot of it… The way croissants are meant to be lol.

Sandwiches are fantastic, I get the BLT 1-3 times per week. Big portion and each ingredient is fresh. The side salad is very nicely done. Patty melt is super good as well, full of flavor, and cheesy.
Service is great and friendly, really nice patio too.
Highly recommend this place

Love it. It's a weekend must. Rarely take pics because I forget because everything is so delicious.

Stopped in for a quick lunch on Thursday. Minimal presentation of freshly made sandwiches with freshly made bread. Place smells like heaven. Cashier was very nice as well and answered all out questions.

I had the Mortadella, Stracciatella + Pistachio sandwhich which had soft hand-stretched mozzarella, dressed greens + pistachio pistou. It was delicious, I do wish it had a bit more layers of meet as i can barely taste the deli meat. My friend had the Shaved Celery Root sandwich Which had roasted celery root with urfa biber + mint, olive tapenade, caper, parsley and shallot sauce. My friend said the celery root was pickled.

We sat on the outdoor patio which was nice, it was very spacious and had heat lamps. Note: Parking was hard to find.

Had a dark chocolate croissant and almond croissant: they were bad. Full of oil (i dont think they use 100% butter). I am from france and paying that much (16 cad for these two? !) for such quality is more than disappointing

We tried: croissant, pain au chocolat (Soma), pistachio croissant, sausage roll and egg brioche and paid $40.60 total.

We were really excited to try as we saw a lot of attention for this place.

Considering the very high price point for each item they sell, we were expecting to have the absolute best viennoiserie we ever had.

When you chew you can feel the butter dripping in your mouth, and unfortunately this is not what we like. We felt quite bad actually after we were done. Not a good feeling.
It's also so heavy it takes lots of good chew to be able to swallow.

I can't express how greasy it is. If you like heavy, buttery beyond buttery, and super expensive products, then this is the place for you.

Everything was good, but not to the point where we will line up again way before opening time to make sure to have some supplies. We got there at 8: 40, we were 5th in line and by the time it opened, there was more than 20 people behind us.

So it's a 3 stars for us because it's good, but not good enough to pay $6.95 a pain au chocolat or $4.95 for a croissant and way too greasy for us.

There are other options in Toronto that practice a fair price point with very good quality products.

I was lucky to grab a passionfruit glazed croissant a few weeks ago and it blew me away. I could not believe how incredible this pastry was and went back several times since to grab another few to share the experience with friends and loved ones.

Their other stuff is also quite good, but as a lover of passionfruit that croissant in particular is a dream come true.

Good things come to those who wait. I work in the industry so my palate is tuned for good food. AND THIS IS AMAZING! The croissants are rich, and buttery, the way they should be. Truly so amazing.

Oh my goodness. When I die bury me at Emmer. Today we tried the bacon butty, halloumi tahini toast and pistachio croissant. Win win win! The croissant is so crunchy and loaded with pistachios. Do yourself a favour and go to Emmer

Great new lunch spot on harbord. Croque monsieur and salad with brown butter dressing are definitely my favorites. Cookies are great and interesting combos. Highly recommend.

Intersting concept, but not my favourite for the type of pasteries/baking thats done. Who knew, but there actually can be too much better in laminated dough. Looking forward to seeing this grow

Kind staff, beautiful treats, and love their emphasis on paying their staff living wages!
always happy to pay a bit more in price, in order to support businesses that truly take care of their staff and use quality ingredients!

Unbelievable breakfast. So fresh so tasty. The Halloumi Toast is next level. Best breaky I've had in a lonnnnnggg time. Be back soon!

Tried a variety of items and was not impressed. When I was there, no bread was on display. They make such a fuss about the bread on their website and absolutely no bread was seen at noon. Also, the patty melt and Croq are a joke. For a bakery touting their bread, the sandwiches had thin slices of bread and had a slight bitter taste to the crust, probably burnt. Also, the fries that accompanied the sandwich were way over seasoned and the amount could barely fill a shot glass. Tasty? Sure. Worth the amount they are charging? Hard no. Same goes for the so called Croq Monsieur toast. A single shriveled shaving of Speck is not a Croq. It's barely a snack.

The roast beef slab sandwich was OK. But still a bit pricy and the bread was not the star of the show.

The pastry/ baked good side only faired slightly better. The savory brioche was spongy and tasteless. The chocolate au pain was crispy outside, light and slightly chewy, but generally tasteless. The pencil sized rope of chocolate inside was rather disappointing. The passion fruit glazed croissant (the name as it shows up on my bill) was excellent and the best thing I had. Buttery, crunchy exterior with a sweet and tart passion fruit glaze that cuts through the butter.