Well, yesterday was Macaron Day in NYC…pretty magical, huh? It was. A number of participating bakeries and macaron shops were handing out free macarons, while supplies lasted. And no surprise, many of the stores started running out by early afternoon. But, I was able to make it to nine locations and scoop up some delicious macarons.

Here are The Shorts for each place I visited, in the order that I visited them. This is not the ranking order, each macaron has it’s own comments. 

What I had: Hazelnut Orange
Name: Epicerie Boulud
Location: 1900 Broadway, NYC
Would I recommend it? Maybe. Great consistency to the macaron, the orange filling is very light and pleasant. However, I wasn’t able to get the hazelnut flavor, it tasted more like espresso, which was a little disappointing. 

What I had: Nutella
Name: Bouchon Bakery
Location: 10 Columbus Circle, 3rd Floor, NYC
Would I recommend it? Definitely! This was a really good one, perfectly chewy and has a rich and luscious flavor and cream. It was almost like taking a bite out of a gooey brownie. 

What I had: Salted Caramel
Name: François Payard Bakery
Location: 1775 Broadway, NYC
Would I recommend it? Holy hell, yes. This was a really legit macaron. Excellent texture, and has the silkiest, richest, flavorful salted caramel center. This one was amazing. 

What I had: Coffee
Name: FP Patisserie
Location: 1 West 58th Street, NYC
Would I recommend it? For sure. This one was super delicious and has an incredible coffee flavor. It’s like sipping the most amazing, creamy latte, but, in cookie form. 

What I had: Peanut Butter and Jelly 
Name: Macaron Cafe
Location: 625 Madison Ave, NYC
Would I recommend it? Absolutely. This one was like biting into a legit PB&J sandwich. I almost felt like I was in kindergarden all over again…now I’m just looking for my mat for nap time and thinking about those weird little OJ cartons. Super delicious. 

What I had: Pistachio 
Name: MadMac 
Location: Pop-up location, can be found online here
Would I recommend it? Maybe. It was tasty, but maybe not at the top of my list. The rest of these are some strong competitors, and without a ton of remarkable pistachio flavor, it’s hard to keep up. 

What I had: Caramel 
Name: Eclair Bakery
Location: 305 East 53rd Street, NYC
Would I recommend it? Oh. My. Goodness. Yes. This one was so decadent, rich, has a warm caramel flavor, and creamy. It was almost like a dulce de leche cake. Yum. 

What I had: S’Mores
Name: Macaron Parlour
Location: 111 St. Marks Place, NYC
Would I recommend it? Yes. This one was unique, but also not one of my top pics. The consistency and texture of this one was a little on the firmer side. Personally, I love a chewier macaron. I definitely got the s’mores flavor of graham, chocolate and marshmallow, but it didn’t bowl me over. 

What I had: Blood Orange
Name: François Payard Bakery
Location: 116 W Houston Street, NYC
Would I recommend it? Whoa. Yeah. This was a very pleasant surprise. I’m not usually one for fruity flavored baked goods, but, since this was the second location of this bakery that I visited, I figured, no loss. In fact, this was a huge gain. The blood orange flavor is so pleasant and delicate, and you get a little vanilla in there as well. This was really a treat.