Los Angeles has no shortage of excellent bakeries, but a newcomer near the Santa Monica Airport has managed to turn a morning pastry run into one of the city’s most talked-about food outings. Matilda’s Bakery opened in fall 2026, and within weeks, customers were lining up outside for its slow-fermented croissants, fresh baguettes, and unusual butter tasting menu.
The excitement isn’t just social media hype. Early visitors reported waits stretching to 45 minutes, while the bakery produced and sold more than 3,000 breads and pastries in a single week.
Behind the crowds is a small team with serious baking credentials and an approach that gives dough the one ingredient most commercial bakeries can’t spare: time.
A New Bakery With a Personal Story
Matilda’s isn’t named after a French village or a particular style of pastry. The bakery takes its name from owner Sean Martin’s daughter, giving the ambitious new business a personal connection from the beginning.
Martin opened the Santa Monica bakery with founding baker François Pied and lead baker Abel Pulsifer, two pastry professionals whose backgrounds helped shape its European-meets-California identity. Their goal was to create a neighborhood bakery where traditional techniques could work alongside local ingredients and a contemporary approach to food.
The result is a place that feels rooted in classic French baking without trying to reproduce a Parisian pâtisserie exactly. Fresh bread, laminated pastries, sandwiches, and specialty coffee all share the spotlight, making Matilda’s more than a destination for an occasional croissant.
The Crowds Arrived Almost Immediately
A 45-minute wait might seem excessive for breakfast, but that’s exactly the kind of attention Matilda’s attracted during its first weeks. After an initial soft opening on September 26, 2026, word spread quickly, and customers began gathering outside the bakery before opening time.
Demand soon outpaced what the small team could produce. In one week, Matilda’s made and sold approximately 3,190 breads and pastries, an impressive figure for a newly opened independent business.
Popular items disappeared so quickly that some customers reached the counter only to discover their first choices were gone.
The bakery responded by limiting purchases of certain products, including its Passion Guava Danish, to give more visitors a chance to try them. Pied also publicly acknowledged the frustration caused by sellouts.
The early rush has made one thing clear: Matilda’s has become a major draw in Santa Monica’s competitive bakery scene.
These Croissants Take Four Days to Make
There’s a reason Matilda’s croissants aren’t something the bakers can simply whip up another batch of when the display case empties. The dough goes through a four-day process involving mixing, fermentation, lamination, shaping, and a final rest before baking.
Rather than rushing the process, the team allows the dough to ferment slowly, helping develop flavor before layers of butter are folded into it by hand. The bakery uses imported French flour and butter alongside grains sourced closer to home, bringing together traditional pastry methods and American ingredients.
The selection includes classic butter croissants, pain au chocolat, almond croissants, and savory ham-and-cheese versions. Each starts with the same attention to fermentation and careful lamination, turning an everyday breakfast pastry into one of the bakery’s main attractions.
The Butter Tasting Menu Is a Standout Attraction
Most bakeries treat butter as something that comes with the bread. At Matilda’s, it’s practically a menu category of its own.
Customers can pair fresh baguettes and other breads with a selection of eight butters, including varieties sourced from France and Pennsylvania. The lineup extends beyond conventional cow’s milk butter, with goat butter and plant-based alternatives offering different flavors and textures.
It’s an unusual concept for an American neighborhood bakery, and one that encourages visitors to pay attention to the bread itself rather than treating it as a vehicle for sandwich fillings. A crusty baguette with a selection of butters can become a tasting experience, giving Matilda’s a distinctive offering that sets it apart from the typical pastry counter.
The Pastry Case Goes Well Beyond Plain Croissants
Croissants may have helped attract the crowds, but the rest of the menu gives visitors plenty of reasons to explore. Sweet pastries include a Passion Guava Danish, which brings a tropical fruit combination to the bakery’s European-inspired selection.
Savory options are equally interesting. A shakshuka-inspired Danish features an egg at its center, bringing the flavors of the popular tomato-and-egg dish into a flaky pastry format.
Sausage rolls made with pasture-raised pork and house-made puff pastry provide another substantial option for breakfast or lunch.
Then there’s the oversized chocolate chip cookie, which has attracted attention for its generous size and chewy center. Honey butter toast made with brioche and local honey offers something simpler but equally rooted in the bakery’s appreciation for good bread and carefully chosen ingredients.
The Bread Program Deserves Just as Much Attention
Behind the elaborate pastries is a serious commitment to bread. Matilda’s works with organic grains from Hayden Flour Mills in Arizona, including heritage varieties such as White Sonora wheat, alongside imported French flours.
Its baguettes follow a traditional approach using French flour, fresh yeast, and sea salt from Brittany. The result is a bread program shaped by the bakers’ European backgrounds but open to the flavors and agricultural traditions of the American Southwest.
Beyond baguettes, the bakery offers brioche and sourdough, giving customers options for everything from breakfast toast to sandwiches at home. The same focus on fermentation that defines the croissants carries through to the bread, with doughs given at least 18 hours to develop before baking.
A Historic Airport Building Gets a Second Life
An old airport administration building might not sound like the obvious setting for a fashionable bakery, but Matilda’s makes the location part of its appeal. The business occupies a renovated 1940s structure near the Santa Monica Airport, at 3200 Airport Avenue.
Rather than hiding the building’s industrial character, the design embraces its generous proportions and airy atmosphere. The spacious interior features an open kitchen, allowing customers to see the bakers at work, while an outdoor patio provides room to sit with coffee and pastries.
The setting gives Matilda’s a different personality from the compact storefront bakeries found throughout Los Angeles. It feels open and contemporary while retaining a connection to the building’s history, making the space itself part of the experience.
Coffee Gets the Same Care as the Pastries
A bakery with this much attention to bread needs coffee that can keep up. Matilda’s partnered with Los Angeles-based Caffè Luxxe to develop its coffee program, using beans roasted only a few miles from the shop.
The collaboration includes coffee sourcing and staff training, helping the café deliver a consistent espresso experience alongside its baked goods. The menu also includes house-made almond milk, giving customers an alternative to traditional dairy.
Coffee may not be the reason most people first hear about Matilda’s, but it helps turn a pastry pickup into a proper café visit. A cappuccino and a freshly baked croissant are an obvious pairing, while a more leisurely morning might call for coffee alongside honey butter toast or a savory pastry.
What to Know Before Visiting Matilda’s
Anyone planning a visit should start with the location: 3200 Airport Avenue in Santa Monica, near the airport and the border with Mar Vista. The bakery has offered both indoor and outdoor seating, although its early popularity has made takeaway an attractive option.
During its initial opening period, Matilda’s operated on a limited morning schedule, and popular pastries regularly sold out. Early arrivals have had the best chance of finding the widest selection, especially when looking for croissants or seasonal specialties.
Opening hours have varied between published reports, so checking the bakery’s latest schedule before heading over is worthwhile.
What makes Matilda’s exciting isn’t simply the long line outside. It’s the combination of patient baking techniques, unusual menu ideas, and a team willing to devote several days to something customers might finish in minutes.
In a city already celebrated for its food scene, this new Santa Monica bakery has found a way to stand out.
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