A French dessert cafe chain in downtown Sacramento is closing its doors after just over a year in operation.
Le Macaron French Pastries, at 1011 Seventh St., will be shuttering Tuesday — 15 months after launching — the business posted on Instagram.
Emily and Jeffrey Gramse opened their macaron shop in March 2024, hoping to fill a “void” of late-night desserts downtown while sharing their love of European delicacies. However, getting the cafe started was a steep financial struggle for the husband-and-wife duo.
“I think we were behind before we even opened the doors,” Emily said. “We just couldn’t quite overcome that.”
According to Emily Gramse, Le Macaron faced common challenges that many downtown businesses have grappled with since the COVID-19 pandemic reshaped the district’s retail landscape.
“The lack of foot traffic overall downtown is really tough to overcome, and parking.” she said. “There’s nowhere to park, you know, we can’t validate parking … those were tough.”
The cafe featured the famous delicate French sandwich cookie in a variety of flavors — from classic red velvet to liqueur-inspired cassis — and seasonal coffee and tea drinks.
Le Macaron is running a half-off deal through Saturday on its specialty drinks, which include a range of flavored coffees like a pistachio-mint latte, peanut butter mocha and more.
The Sacramento outpost is the only Le Macaron French Pastries location in Northern California. As of Friday, there were four locations across Los Angeles and San Diego, with another two slated to open in Thousand Oaks and Laguna Beach.
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Camila Pedrosa
The Sacramento Bee
Camila Pedrosa is a service journalism reporter at The Sacramento Bee. She previously worked as a summer reporting intern for The Bee and reported in Phoenix and Washington, D.C. She graduated from Arizona State University with a master’s degree in mass communication.
Dining and Cooking