Looking for delicious sliced bread in San Francisco's Mission neighborhood.

November 27, 2010 9:04 AM

Where can I find delicious sliced bread in San Francisco's Mission district?

Just moved to the Mission, and at the risk of sounding like a San Francisco foodie, I'm missing the sliced loaves we used to get at La Boulange in Cole Valley. Best I've found so far is a Semifreddi's loaf from Bi-rite, and it's really not that great.

We're near Mission Dolores, and my question is: what's the best loaf of sliced bread near me? I'm hoping for a no preservatives, bakery-baked loaf.

posted by hwickline to Food & Drink (9 answers total)

Best answer: The Arizmendi coop bakery just opened a branch on Valencia off 24th. You can't do a lot better than that!
posted by FLAG (BASTARD WATER.) (Acorus Adulterinus.) at 9:11 AM on November 27, 2010

Slicers are not in vogue these days. It was a standard piece of equipment in all the old school east coast bakeries I've worked at, but uncommon in uppity "artisan" bakeries. Probably because they rarely bake in loaf pans and the customers are too young to remember the question "sliced or unsliced" at the counter. There may well be someplace in the Mission but I have not happened upon it.

You might want to invest in a miter box style slicer. They are cheap and will get you where you want to go.
posted by quarterframer at 10:10 AM on November 27, 2010

Best answer: For this discussion I assume by "sliced bread' you also mean "sandwich bread", as opposed to (say) a rustic loaf that happens to have been sliced. Good sandwich bread is remarkably difficult to find.

If you like La Boulange, it's a bit of a trip over the hill but there's one in Noe Valley at 24th and Sanchez. If you're in the neighbourhood I also like Noe Valley Bakery's sliced sandwich bread, at 24th near Noe. In the Mission, FLAG... mentioned Arizmendi on Valencia near 24th. I haven't tried their bread yet but it looks promising. Tartine is the best bakery in the Mission IMHO, but more for pastry than basic bread.
posted by Nelson at 12:13 PM on November 27, 2010

As a side-note, Tartine is a usually a pain in the ass to deal with unless you have lots of time (their counter service is very leisurely) and I find their bread schedule bizarre.
posted by dolface at 1:27 PM on November 27, 2010

For more not-exactly-answering-the-question local bread goodness, there is Josey Baker Bread. Not sliced, but tasty.
posted by judith at 1:31 PM on November 27, 2010

Response by poster: Thanks very much, everyone! I'll definitely be checking out Arizmendi, and thanks for the roundup of all the great bakeries. I appreciate it.
posted by hwickline at 5:29 PM on November 27, 2010

The Great Harvest stand at Alemany Farmer's Market is my sliced carb of choice.
posted by rdc at 8:47 PM on November 27, 2010

Hi, I work at Arizmendi. We don't have a slicer, sorry. The reason is partially because the bread stays fresher unsliced, but perhaps more so it is because slicers are large and it is not the most efficient use of our space for the variety of products we are making. Oh and like quarterframer said, also because we are very uppity. I enjoyed a good sliced Italian loaf growing up in New York, though. Maybe Lucca on Valencia and 22nd would slice?
posted by ioesf at 10:52 PM on November 27, 2010 [1 favorite]

It's maybe two miles away, but Andersen's white loaf, thick sliced, from their bakery in Japantown, might be what you're looking for.
posted by zippy at 9:19 PM on November 29, 2010