Tous Les Jours Korean Bakery in Flushing: Open 7 am Daily

Tous Les Jours, at 39-02 Union St, Flushing, NY 11354, opens at 7 am and closes at 9 pm seven days a week, which makes it one of the easiest Korean bakery stops to fit into a Flushing evening. The name is French for every day, and the brand describes itself as a neighborhood bakery specializing in Korean baked goods, handcrafted drinks, and espresso. Walk in, take a tray and tongs, and fill it yourself.

The bakery is on Union Street a short walk west of Main Street, in the dense commercial blocks where downtown Flushing shifts from the Chinese food courts around Main Street toward the Korean restaurants and grocers that line Union Street and Northern Boulevard. From the Flushing–Main Street station on the 7 line, the terminal stop, walk west along Roosevelt Avenue to Union Street and turn north. The trip from the station takes about five minutes on foot.

The Long Island Rail Road also stops at Flushing–Main Street on the Port Washington Branch, which is handy if you are coming from Penn Station or Grand Central Madison and want to skip the slower 7 train. Driving is less fun. Union Street sees heavy double-parking in the evening, so if you need a car, plan on a municipal lot or a paid garage near Main Street rather than circling for a meter.

Ordering here follows the classic Korean bakery format, and Tous Les Jours has run its US stores this way since the brand launched in the United States in 2004. Breads and buns sit on open shelves, each under a small label, and you load a plastic tray with tongs before carrying it to the register. Whole cakes from the refrigerated case and all drinks are handled by staff at the counter. Pay for the tray and the drinks together, and staff will bag the bread for you.

The bread wall rewards a quick lap before you start grabbing. Sweet and savory items are mixed together rather than grouped, so a Bulgogi Sausage Roll can sit next to a Taro Cream Bread. Read every label on the first pass, then go back for what you want. Regulars tend to grab two savory items for the next morning and one cream bread to eat on the walk back to the train.

Start with the Garlic Cream Cheese Bread, the item most people associate with Korean bakeries in New York. It is a round loaf cut into wedges, soaked in garlic butter, and stuffed with sweetened cream cheese, so it lands somewhere between dinner bread and dessert. It reheats well in a toaster oven the next day. Pair it with a Soboro, the crumbly peanut-streusel bun, or one of its filled cousins, the Custard Cream Soboro and Strawberry Cream Soboro.

For something softer, the Milk Pillow Bread and the Milk Cream Bread lean on fresh dairy rather than sugar. The Taro Cream Bread has a lavender filling that tastes more like sweet potato than candy. Savory fans should look for the Bulgogi Sausage Roll, the Spicy Sausage Bread, and the Croque Monsieur. If you want a loaf for the week, the Purple Sweet Potato Loaf and the Pure Whole Milk Loaf each serve eight and slice cleanly for toast.

The refrigerated case is where Tous Les Jours separates itself from a bread-only bakery. Its signature is the Cloud Cake, a light sponge layered with whipped cream rather than heavy buttercream. The current menu lists the classic Cloud Cake #2 for eight people, a Strawberry Cloud Cake, a Mango Cloud Cake, a Matcha Cloud Cake, and seasonal entries such as the Pumpkin Matcha Cloud Cake #3, which serves ten, and the Ube Cloud Cake #3.

You do not need a party to use the case. Single pieces are sold by the slice, including the Cloud Cake Piece, the Matcha Cloud Piece, the Sweet Potato Mousse Piece, and the Petite Tiramisu. A slice is the smarter order if you are eating in Flushing and heading home on the 7, because whipped-cream cakes do not love a crowded rush-hour car. Save a whole cake for a day when you can carry it level and get it straight into a fridge.

An honest judgment on the case: skip the heavier Chocolate Gateau if this is your first visit. You can find a dense chocolate cake at almost any New York bakery. The reason to come here is the airy cream style, and the Cloud Cake Piece or the Sweet Potato Mousse Piece shows that off far better. Families shopping for a birthday will notice the Pinkfong and Baby Shark cakes, which are the kid-party options on the menu.

The beverage side is bigger than many visitors expect. The fall menu includes a 12oz Pumpkin Cheesecake Matcha Latte and a Pumpkin Cheesecake Hojicha Latte, both also sold iced in 16oz. The year-round list runs through a Hojicha Latte, an Ube Latte, an Iced Strawberry Ube Latte, a 16oz Iced Pistachio Cloud Matcha, an Iced Matcha Lavender Lemonade, an Assam Milk Tea, and an Orchid Oolong Tea Latte. Espresso drinks and blended drinks round out the board.

The roasted, low-bitterness hojicha works especially well with the garlic bread because it cuts through the butter without fighting the cream cheese. Matcha drinks pair better with the plain Cloud Cake, where the green tea bitterness balances the whipped cream. If you only want coffee, order a plain latte and spend your attention on the bread wall instead, since the tea list is where this counter stands out from a regular Flushing coffee shop.

Because the doors stay open until 9 pm every night, including Sunday, this is a practical late stop after dinner in downtown Flushing. The tradeoff is selection. Popular breads are baked in the morning, so by the last hour the shelves can look thin and a favorite like the garlic bread may already be gone. Come before the evening dinner crowd if a specific bread matters to you, and save the late slot for cake slices and drinks.

Weekend afternoons bring families shopping for birthday cakes alongside shoppers loading trays with sausage rolls for the week, so the register line grows. If the line runs out the door and you only want a whole cake, use the Order Online link on the store page and pick it up later. If the garlic bread is sold out, the Garlic Stick, which serves two, gives you a similar flavor in a smaller shape.

Turn the bakery into a short loop. Walk south on Union Street toward Roosevelt Avenue and you will pass Korean barbecue spots, banchan shops, and cosmetics stores. Continue east to Main Street, where the Queens Public Library at Flushing anchors the corner at Kissena Boulevard and the food courts stay busy into the night. If the weather is good, a bus or a longer walk west takes you to Flushing Meadows Corona Park and the Unisphere.

A good order for the loop is dinner first on Main Street, then this bakery for dessert and tomorrow's breakfast, then back to the 7 train. Eating a cake slice on the go is awkward because of the whipped cream, so ask for a fork and find a spot to sit before you open the box. The bread, by contrast, travels well in its paper bag and holds up for a morning reheat.

Tous Les Jours, at 39-02 Union St, Flushing, NY 11354, is open Monday through Sunday from 7 am to 9 pm. The closest train is the Flushing–Main Street station on the 7 line, with Long Island Rail Road service at the same stop. The bakery runs a rewards program, and the Order Online link on the store page handles pickup orders.

Bring a sturdy bag if you plan to buy a loaf and a cake together, since the cake box needs to stay flat. Bread is self-serve with trays and tongs, while whole cakes and drinks are ordered from staff at the counter. If you want help choosing a Flushing dinner spot to pair with dessert, or a route that ties this bakery to the park and the library, ask Karpo in the Karpo APP.