Artisanal Bread, Croissant, and Brunch at Pain D'Avignon in Hyannis (Cape Cod)

Want to know where to get the best croissant in Massachusetts? Hint: It's not in Boston. Pain D'Avignon in Hyannis in Cape Cod has long since made some of the best pastries and breads in New England. These days, they distribute to various stores - all still freshly made with no preservatives - and one of their co-founders even started another storefront in New York.

The story of Pain D'Avignon is a bit of an unusual one. The bakery was opened back in 1992 by four young friends from Yugoslavia who was committed to making bread the traditional way. While a couple of the co-founders have moved to other places, the bakery that has grown considerably is still maintaining the same standards. I recently came for brunch and enjoyed their flaky, buttery croissant and pain au chocolat.

Love this pain au chocolat!


They use Speedwell for their coffee and Rao's for their espressos and cappuccinos.

On top of the boulangerie goods, Pain D'Avignon serves a full menu of brunch and turns into a white table-cloth bistro in the evening.

The more casual brunch features French classics like this croque madame (Black Forest ham and gruyere baked on country bread, with 2 eggs, $9.75)

Of course, what's a French breakfast without crepes? Galette Complete (savory crepe, spinach, sunny side up farm egg, parmesan cheese, served in a cast iron skillet, $9.50)

Both of the brunch dishes were delicious and generously portioned. They also had great service to top it all off.

After my brunch, I was lucky enough to get a behind-the-scenes tour of the production line. Pain D'Avignon is a pretty big production now, distributing to grocery stores like Star Market, cafes, and other retailers, but they still do everything here by hand in Cape Cod with no preservatives. The general manager also knew the names of every single worker there.

Oh, the smell of freshly baked bread!

Look at those pump blueberries that they were making into scones!

Storing one of my favorite, and their most popular breads: Cranberry Pecan Bread (Cape Cod grows a lot of cranberries).

There were certainly still a lot of wonderful-looking baked goods that I wanted to try, like their scones and other breads.


If you're looking for a great place to eat, or to grab some goodies to take to the beach while you're in the Hyannis or Barnstable area of Cape Cod, Pain D'Avignon is not to be missed. The place gets a good share of locals who just come to buy bread to take home, and you'll see why once you try their fresh bread!

Pain D'Avignon
15 Hinckley Rd
Barnstable, MA 02601
(508) 778-8588