Which deli has fantastic sandwich bread/rolls?

[dogboy]

I am opening up a deli mid-peninsula. The place I am taking over has awful breads which is leading me to look for a new supplier. Which sandwich shops do you frequent that "wow" you with the bread/rolls selection?

[soupnazi]

Pacific coast bakery in ssf.will deliver to your shop 650-588-8400.inventors of calfornia crunch (dutch crunch)

[Melanie Wong]

Pacific Coast's trademark filing has a first use in commerce date of 06.01.1986 for the name California Crunch.
http://trademarks.justia.com/746/53/california-crunch-74653729.html

My first encounter with a Dutch crunch roll was around that time. I worked in San Bruno from 1985 to 1989 and I first tried it at an Italian deli in town.

This article credits Galli's Sanitary Bakery in SSF
https://www.baycitizen.org/data/food/...

[poser]

I also thought Galli's was the inventer (if thats the correct word). I remember Darbey Dans using Dutch Crunch in the 70's.

[Robert Lauriston]

Seems most likely that Dutch Crunch arrived here from the Netherlands in the 1970s. It's not really a kind of bread, it's a topping that bakers add to various kinds of bread.

http://baconpress.blogspot.com/2007_03_01_archive.html

Galli's Sanitary Bakery hasn't been making it for a hundred years, people are just misreading a Chronicle article that says Galli's has been in South SF since 1909:

http://www.sfgate.com/style/article/H...

[Melanie Wong]

Just took the time to open and read the sfgate link that mentions Galli's, and I am so happy to read about the sandwich shop in San Bruno. I had forgotten the name years ago, but that's the place. We knew it as Sandwich Stop, and that's where I had Dutch Crunch for the first time as mentioned above. I remember those sandwiches well, enormous and the crumb of the bread would be pulled out and I always got them with everything. Yes to the garlic sauce, yes to the jalapeño sauce. These were oil-based glazing the lettuce and soaking into the fresh bread, not wet and goopy mayo like Ike's sauces.

[calumin]

The Belfast bap at John Campbell's bakery on Geary in SF is very good.

[mr_darcy]

I've always felt Rhea's (Mission) has a pretty good bread selection - Acme, Tartine, and maybe some others.

Personally, my favorite sandwich bread so far is the Amoroso roll used by Jersey Joe's (though I feel like their meat quality has declined). The problem with a lot of sandwich rolls, is that they're too crunchy and end up scratching up the inside of my mouth. Or even if they're not crunchy per se, they end up being chewy to the point that biting down will squeeze out the sandwich contents. Because of this, I often just end up getting whatever sliced bread is available.

[Melanie Wong]

Pal's Takeaway in the Mission lists Acme, Firebrand and Josey Baker Breads on its website. Wonderful sandwiches, a good place for you to research.
http://palstakeaway.com/

[Keesey]

I love Semifreddi's! Fell in love with them at a small cafe in SF called Wooly Pig.

[macadam]

Raymond's, SSF. All choices are excellent.

[ML8000]

Agree it's hard to beat Acme but there's a few. Semifreddi's ciabatta rolls are excellent for sandwiches and burgers. Ratto's uses it on some sandwiches.

[lakemerritter]

Acme is very hard to beat unless baking it yourself. Their "sweet rustic" rolls are my preferred hamburger bun and when I am making Italian sub sandwiches, I always use this bread. It holds up really well without being too crusty, chewy, overly flavorful, etc. I also like La Farine a lot but that likely does not work for the peninsula (I think they are East Bay only).

[Melanie Wong]

Thanks for paying attention to this basic building block of a good sandwich.

While I'm not a fan of the sandwiches at Ike's, the Dutch crunch roll baked by Raymond's in South San Francisco used there is good. Likewise the gluten-free sliced bread but I don't know the source.
http://www.raysbread.com/index.html

[Glencora]

Could you explain why you don't like Ike's? (In another thread, if necessary. I've looked, but don't find much.) I keep almost trying the place. I've had so much bad food at Stanford, it's getting depressing.

[Robert Lauriston]

Topics on Ike's:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/856294
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/780789

[Glencora]

Thanks very much. Those topics did not come up on my search, but I remembered reading negative things here. The only good thing about the Stanford location is that there's usually not much of a line. Still, the prices and negative associations put me off.

[Melanie Wong]

Well, the first link is on the California board since it is my report on the Salinas location so it wouldn't pop up in a search on this board. I did go back a second time to try another couple of sandwiches during the BOGO and still felt ripped off but didn't take the time to continue the body slam with another post. Previously I'd had sandwiches from the Ike's at Stanford and came to the same conclusion: Quizno's with a line.

I recently met someone who knows the investors behind the franchise locations. Apparently Ike's are huge cash cows. Sad statement about our food culture.

You might post an inquiry about eats near Stanford, maybe there's something new.

[mr_darcy]

I completely agree with you. They make extremely unremarkable sandwiches and mask the mediocrity with some sauce. I think their popularity is just herd mentality.

[Robert Lauriston]

Most of the ones that impressed me have been from Acme. They do custom rolls for some of their commercial customers.

I've had some good ones from Panorama as well.

http://acmebread.com/locations
http://www.panoramabaking.com/wholesale/