The San Francisco bakery, known for its pillowy pineapple buns, plans to open its second Bay Area store, at 46827 Warm Springs Blvd., sometime in mid-September. The San Francisco Chronicle first reported the forthcoming shop. (The Chronicle and SFGATE are both owned by Hearst but have separate newsrooms.)
“We have many customers commuting from East and South Bay to San Francisco Sunset just to get our buns,” head baker Eric Lam told SFGATE via email. “We are hoping that the second location will make it more convenient to them.”
Lam said that the menu at the forthcoming Fremont shop is expected to mirror San Francisco’s flagship store on Irving Street. While the bakery sells a selection of Hong Kong-style pastries, including moon cakes and egg tarts, its top seller remains the pineapple buns. As the Chronicle notes, pineapple buns are not made with pineapple at all, but rather named pineapple buns for the cracked sugar coating that resembles the exterior texture of the fruit. Lam said that customers especially love them served with a thick slab of chilled plain butter or guava butter. The pineapple buns are also available with mango custard or pandan coconut butter filling.
The bakery is also working on a new menu offering called the ajitama pineapple bun, which resembles Craftsman and Wolves’ “Rebel Within” breakfast muffin. At Pineapple King Bakery, the dish will be made with a soy sauce-marinated egg baked inside the pineapple buns, Lam said.
Order kiosks are planned within the new store to reduce long lines, which are typical at the Irving Street outpost. Lam also said Pineapple King Bakery will be available via Uber Eats, DoorDash and Grubhub for delivery around the east and south Bay Area.
Pineapple King Bakery opened its first store in San Francisco in 2015 and has been a hit ever since.