I Tried the Croissant From 4 Popular Chains & The Best Was Light, Fluffy, and Delicious

The croissant is as synonymous with France as the Eiffel Tower and berets—but tastier! A perfectly made croissant (which translates to "crescent") takes a true culinary artist to execute. But what about us Americans who want to be transported to the City of Light on our morning commutes or at our home office desks?

Several popular café and bakery chains offer croissants on their menus, so I set out to try them all to determine if any were worth the calories (and let you know if there are any to avoid). The four stops on my croissant journey offered very different iterations of the flaky French-style pastry.

The ideal croissant is a study in fine layers of pastry dough. The best ones are handmade, so right off the bat we can assume that mass-produced ones won't measure up. But any decent croissant should meet some basic requirements. IIt should be golden brown with a slight shine and, of course, crescent-shaped! When done right, this pastry has a mild, buttery sweet taste with a hint of yeast. It must smell wonderful, be flaky on the outside, and light and airy inside with all the layers that somehow come together into one heavenly bite. And there should be crumbs—many flaky, messy delightful crumbs.

At each place, I tried the regular butter croissant, with nothing on it, not warmed up or toasted, as one spot offered. Originally I had intended to include Panera Bread, a popular destination for all kinds of baked goods, but a staffer at the nearest location informed me the chain no longer serves plain croissants, only chocolate.

Read on to see all the croissants I tried, ranked from my least favorite to the overall best. If you can't catch a redeye to Paris, one of these chains just might satisfy your craving.

Dunkin' Croissant

A chain known for watery iced coffee and Munchkins didn't give me high hopes for finding a decent croissant, but I gave it a go. The Dunkin' croissant one was the cheapest one in this survey at $2.39.

The look: When I ordered a croissant, the Dunkin' worker pulled one out from a drawer that looked like a morgue for pastries. What came out was a dry looking pre-sliced round item that appeared more like roll than a croissant. It looked old, and only the top part was sort of crescent shaped.

The taste: Not great. Biting in, this croissant had a thick and chewy texture—a major no-no. The light and flaky pastry layers that are essential to the croissant were nowhere to be found. This roll (going forward, I won't even call it a croissant) had a synthetic butter taste. I said au revoir and spit it into le garbage.

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Starbucks Butter Croissant

The Starbucks Butter Croissant is advertised as having "soft, flaky layers and a golden-brown crust"—a promising description, but would it deliver? This one cost me $4.25.6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e

The look: This croissant came in sealed clear packaging that was an immediate turn-off. Already this pastry was the opposite of homemade in my mind. Discarding the wrapper, I gazed at this golden-brown item and thought, "Hey, at least they got the color right." The shape was hardly crescent-like.

The taste: The Starbucks croissant didn't have a lovely, buttery smell but biting in, it did offer some delicate layers. But the insides here were thick and chewy, not light and airy. The buttery taste also felt a bit synthetic. I would take this one over Dunkin's, but it still tasted like a poor imitation of a pastry that should be sublime.

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Pret Plain Croissant

According to Pret, a "classic French recipe" is used to make this "flaky, buttery, melt in your mouth croissant." The chain's croissants are also freshly baked throughout the day and are priced the highest in this survey at $5 each.

The look: This croissant had a longer, thinner shape than any of the others I tried. There was little to no curve, making it look more like a baguette. It had a pleasing golden-brown color and a slight egg-wash shine. It had a homemade look that made me excited to try it.

The taste: Ooh la la! This croissant was delicate and airy and had many fine layers of pastry dough. Buttery but not synthetic tasting, it was rich and light at the same time. I liked that it was not at all greasy and it went down easily with my morning coffee. Even so, there was one croissant that I liked even better.

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Paris Baguette Plain Croissant

This fast-growing bakery chain just recently opened in my area, and it was my first time trying it. The store was lined with cases full of enticing pastries. Paris Baguette's croissant is made with wheat flour, butter, sugar, milk powder, and egg. It was priced at $3.79.

The look: Huge! It was a little darker in color than I expected, but had a beautiful, classic shine to it, and I could not wait to take a bite.

The taste: Buttery and delicious. Now this was the croissant I had been searching for! The texture was perfectly fluffy and all of the layers of dough came together into one satisfying bite. Light and substantial at the same time, it was tasty on its own but would be even better with some Nutella or chocolate. My only criticism was that it was slightly greasy. But this croissant was the closest thing to a real French croissant that I could find from a local chain. In other words: it had that certain je ne sais quoi.

The croissant isn't an easy pastry to get right, but Paris Baguette made the best approximation, and I'm excited to try the chain's other offerings.