Where is the Best Bakery in San Francisco, California?
All the Russians know about this place, I’m told it’s the best Russian bakery in the city and I believe it. It’s good AND cheap. The buttercream filled donuts are what donuts should be, not too sweet with a dense yeasty dough. Those of you who are European and miss poppyseed buns can get good ones here. The Potato is wonderful, it’s a rum ball.Pros + food, priceCons – no seating
This bread is fantastic, despite the lines that form outside to buy it and the hassle of having to know what you want by the time you get to the front of the line. (The signs are all on the racks and the pressure to decide is immense. Of course, some discourteous people don’t care and take 10 minutes in the front of the line to choose their breads).The walnut cranberry loaf and sourdough rye are out of this world, crusty, chewy, full of expensive ingredients and a great value. Excellent for toasting. The cinnamon buns are immoral, all gaping and running gooey tangy juice from their deep, heady folds, studded by plump bumpy raisiny goodness. Since I travel from out of town to get this, I buy this bread by the dozens of loaves and bring it home to freeze it. MMMMMmmm. Pros + Bread that is out of this worldCons – Soviet Bread-Line style service. Long waits.
On a whim, decided to try their baked goods. The red velvet cupcake (I guess it would be seasonal because of Valentine’s Day) was delicious, esp, the frosting! Didn’t care for the cheedar chive scone. It was too sweet for a savory scone and lacked the cheesy flavor I prefer. I can make a better one using the SF Chronicle recipe. Very popular place with a line even at the end of the day. Didn’t notice any ill-spirited service.Pros + Red Velvet cupcakes, variety of baked goodsCons – Parking, cheedar scones should be avoided
Two of the nicest guys around run Lotta’s – a strange little half-breed antique store meets bakery (Sing it with me, Cher!), fully equipped to make your most intimate cake wet dream occur, while simultaneously pleasing a person you might have brought along who is diabetic but love LoVe LOVES antiquing. Not only did I find a rare framed print of FANTOMAS (the French robin hood, for those of you wondering) at a meager $45, but I also got my wedding cake – a blackstrap molasses gingerbread with cream cheese frosting, complete with live peonies on top – and it came in under budget. Call ahead and Carl will make you whatever you want… or just show up for his fresh baked Pugliesi bread, with Challah on Fridays. Don’t forget your rare label silver tea set, or a charming little autographed photo of your favorite black and white movie star you never knew you needed, on your way out. This is one odd little business that makes Polk street the mecca it is for food and independently owned thrift
We used to go to mission pies when they first opened. We haven’t been in a while because there are so many places in this city to check out. We went last night & won’t go back. We were the only people in line & we made the mistake of looking at the selection before we ordered. This was an imposition to the guy behind the counter who rolled his eyes and finally dealt with our order so that he could return to his true job which had nothing to do with feeding people. Apparently he was there to drive people out with REALLY LOUD non-descript run-of-the-mill hip hop and his bad singing/whining. 3.50 for a small piece of pie – they have downsized their portions. There was a strange chemical smell in the place…maybe the assault of music was an attempt to divert attention away from it?Pros + mission neighborhood, organicCons – unbearable service, weird chemical smell, not a value
