Donut Petit, the Alameda doughnut shop known for its handcrafted gourmet pastries and espresso drinks, is planning to open a new location at 100 First Street in San Francisco's Yerba Buena neighborhood, near the Salesforce Transit Center. The shop has not announced an opening date, and it has not shared additional details about the planned menu or operating hours for the San Francisco spot.
Donut Petit announced the upcoming location through its social media channels, according to WhatNow. The company was founded in Alameda in February 2020 by executive chef Joann Guitarte and co-owner Bobeck Parandian, who also run the neighboring French bistro Cafe Jolie, according to the East Bay Express. Guitarte reportedly spent three years researching artisanal doughnut crafting before opening the storefront at 711 Santa Clara Avenue in Alameda, per the same outlet.
The Alameda shop's menu includes classic and seasonal doughnuts, mochi doughnuts, and cronut creations, alongside drinks like ube lattes, London Fog lattes, mocha, hot chocolate, and drip coffee. The company also provides catering for events and celebrations, and it has participated in food events and pop-ups around the Bay Area, including a listed vendor spot at a Presidio pop-up. Whether any of that lineup will carry over to the San Francisco location has not been disclosed.
A Tower Built for the Commute Crowd
The 100 First Street building is a 27-story, 467,000-square-foot Class-A office tower completed in 1988 and designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, according to GlobeSt. It's owned by Kilroy Realty Corporation, whose on-site retail roster already includes Starbucks, La Fromagerie Cheese Shop, Proper Food, Chalos, Whole Cakes, Ebiko Sushi, and Oasis Grill, per Kilroy Realty's own building listings. The tower also features an upper-level public garden terrace and fountain, recognized as one of the city's top privately owned public open spaces, which draws daily lunch crowds according to the East Cut Community Benefit District.
Sitting directly across from the Salesforce Transit Center, the building connects to transbay bus routes, MUNI, and a five-acre rooftop park, per CBRE's property listing, putting a future Donut Petit counter squarely in the path of East Bay commuters pouring into downtown San Francisco each morning. Identity management software company Okta has also anchored its corporate headquarters in the tower since signing a 10-year lease for 207,000 square feet across nine floors in late 2017, according to an SEC filing, meaning a sizable office workforce sits directly above the planned shop.
Why Landlords Are Chasing Doughnuts
Commercial real estate data from late 2025 showed top-tier Class A trophy office towers in downtown San Francisco holding vacancy rates near 3.1% and asking rents of $134.77 per square foot, a trend Kilroy Realty has tied to landlords upgrading ground-floor food and retail offerings to attract tenants. Retail leasing listings at 100 First Street have included ground-floor spaces as small as 376 square feet, according to Cushman & Wakefield, a footprint size that would suit a grab-and-go coffee and pastry counter aimed at morning transit traffic.
Donut Petit already has a track record of testing new corridors before committing. In November 2025, the brand opened a pop-up counter in the Terminal 2 baggage claim area at Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport, operating daily from 8 AM to 2 PM, according to the airport. Back home, Donut Petit also co-hosts the annual Donut Fun Run and Festival at Alameda Point's Seaplane Lagoon Promenade, an event Guitarte created featuring live entertainment, food booths, and custom doughnut creations, per the Port of Oakland.
What's Still Unknown
The Alameda location will keep operating as the company prepares for its San Francisco expansion, but plenty remains unconfirmed. Donut Petit hasn't said when the 100 First Street shop will open, whether it will run a full kitchen or rely on daily deliveries from Alameda, or how its hours might be structured to match downtown's hybrid office schedules.
San Francisco's doughnut landscape has seen turnover in recent years. The closure of the decades-old Silver Crest Donut Shop in 2024 marked the end of an era for one of the city's longtime favorites, while other regional gourmet brands like Johnny Doughnuts have opened San Francisco outposts in recent years. Whether Donut Petit's move into a Financial District tower signals a lasting shift for the neighborhood's food scene will likely depend on details the company has yet to share.
