San Francisco Bread Review Reviews
 
Home      Reviews      Hit-Parade      Categories      Bakeries      Links      Forum      Contact
 
Grading system
 
A+, A
Superb - king of bread
 
A-
Worthy of notice
 
B+, B
Above average
 
B-, C+
Average
 
C, C-
Boring
 
D+, D, D-
Not good at all
 
F
I'm going to barf
  
Date Bread name Baker Overall grade Conclusion
May 04, 2005 Henry's Harvest Rustic Multigrain Grace Baking, Richmond A- Grace does not hold back on the grains, and it really pays off
May 04, 2005 Brown Rice bread Grace Baking, Richmond B Not bad, but where is the rice?
May 29, 2003 Sourdough Walnut Grace Baking, Richmond A- An excellent walnut bread, tasty and very enjoyable
May 29, 2003 Sun Dried Tomato Alfaro's, Vernon B-, C+ This bread is an excellent demonstration of the fact that you cannot have good bread sitting on a shelf for days in a plastic bag
May 28, 2003 Spinach Feta bread Great Harvest Bread Co., Oakland A- I applaud Great Harvest for not skimping on the spinach and the feta
May 28, 2003 Honey Whole Wheat Great Harvest Bread Co., Oakland B+, B Very good bread overall, I think the texture could be improved a tad
May 27, 2003 Four Grain bread La Baguette, Sunnyvale B+, B The smell of the bottom is definitely a bit earthy, which I don't mind but could be a turnoff for some people
May 27, 2003 Sourdough bread La Baguette, Sunnyvale B+, B As sourdoughs go, this is not bad at all
May 27, 2003 Whole wheat bread Prolific Ovens, Palo Alto A- I really enjoyed the feel of the crumb, it's about as good as it gets
May 27, 2003 Baguette Le Boulanger, Sunnyvale B+, B very decent baguette
May 27, 2003 Dutch Crunch bread Palo Alto Baking Company, Palo Alto B+, B a good general-purpose bread
May 27, 2003 Sour French bread Palo Alto Baking Company, Palo Alto A- a very good sourdough
May 26, 2003 Afghan bread Aria, Alameda B+, B I am giving this bread an extra credit for the obvious artisanship that goes into its making
May 25, 2003 Rustic Sour Semifreddi's, Emeryville B+, B this bread advertizes itself as sour, and it delivers on that promise
May 25, 2003 Pane di Altamura Metropolis Baking, Berkeley B-, C+ Appearances can be deceiving. This is a very nice-looking loaf, which turns out to be a rather pedestrian bread
May 25, 2003 Sesame Breadstick Lovesticks, Mill Valley B+, B I wish the presentation was more attractive, but other than that this turns out to be a fairly decent bread
May 25, 2003 French Village Baguette Trader Joe's D+, D, D- This is baguette at its worst
May 24, 2003 Sour Batard Acme Bread, Berkeley A- This bread stands very well on its own
May 24, 2003 Multi Grain Pure Grain German Bakery, Vacaville C, C- The appearance is good, but this is ultimately a mild disappointment
May 22, 2003 Pain Rustique La Brea Bakery, Van Nuys B+, B a pretty honest bread, which would probably be good dipped in olive oil, or in soup
May 22, 2003 Sourdough French bread Albertson's, San Leandro D+, D, D- This is the worst sourdough bread I have ever tasted
May 19, 2003 Crusty baguette Grace Baking, Richmond B-, C+ This is not a crusty baguette -- the crust is just not where it needs to be
May 19, 2003 Sourdough bread Parisian Bakeries, San Francisco B-, C+ Whenever someone feels it necessary to use the word authentic, one of course wonders why
May 19, 2003 Garlic bread Albertson's, Oakland F I find no redeeming qualities in this bread whatsoever
May 19, 2003 French Baguette Albertson's, Oakland C, C- The crust makes up a bit for the crumb, but the list of ingredients (although not horrifying) puts this bread at a C-
May 16, 2003 Ciabatta Semifreddi's, Emeryville B+, B fresh, with little ambition, other than as a support for other things. It does its job quite well
May 15, 2003 Moroccan Olive Pugliese Trader Joe's, Emeryville B+, B This would be a very good olive bread if the olives were better
May 15, 2003 Rustic Country Loaf Il Fornaio, Corte Madera B+, B Except for the fact that I don't really see anything rustic about it, this is a pretty good bread
May 15, 2003 Potato Rosemary Bread Trader Joe's, Emeryville B+, B I liked the bits of potato skin in the crumb
May 15, 2003 Sourdough Seeded Baguette Semifreddi's, Emeryville B+, B I liked the fennel smell and taste, but the bread itself could use a bit of work
May 14, 2003 Kalamata Olive Boulot Bay Bread, San Francisco A- If it wasn't for the olives (or lack thereof), I would probably have given it an A
May 14, 2003 Walnut Boulot Bay Bread, San Francisco A+, A This is really a good bread, I had no hesitation to award it this grade
May 14, 2003 Olive baguette Bay Bread, San Francisco B+, B It's a good baguette [...] weak in the olive area
May 14, 2003 Garlic Sesame bread Boudin, San Francisco B+, B If I was a garlic fanatic, I would probably rate this a bit higher
May 13, 2003 Olive bread Acme, Berkeley B+, B Fairly good olive bread overall, but could do better
May 13, 2003 Sour Dough bread Safeway, Pleasanton B-, C+ The fairly strong sourdough flavor is the only redeeming point of this bread
May 13, 2003 French bread Safeway, Pleasanton C, C- I guess you get what you pay for
May 13, 2003 Kalamata Olive bread Safeway, Pleasanton B+, B Safeway commits the usual sin of using an insufficient amount of olives
May 9, 2003 Suburban bread Arizmendi, Oakland a good to very good sourdough bread
May 9, 2003 Sourdough Baguette Arizmendi, Oakland the crust has a texture that I wish more baguettes had
May 9, 2003 Grain bread Bakery in a Barn, Rohnert Park a very decent grain bread, if a bit insipid
May 8, 2003 Seven Grain bread Grain d'Or, San Francisco a fairly good bread for people who like lots of grains
May 8, 2003 Pain de Campagne Grain d'Or, San Francisco a relatively average industrial bread
May 7, 2003 Sourdough Walnut Boudin, San Francisco a handsome, tasty bread
May 7, 2003 Sourdough Olive Boudin, San Francisco I love the texture of the crust
May 7, 2003 Honeycorn bread Specialty's, Lafayette I really prefer my breads with flavor
May 6, 2003 Oregon Herb bread Great Harvest Bread Co., Oakland well made and tasting very good
May 6, 2003 French bread Albertson's I could make a better bread
May 6, 2003 Dakota bread Great Harvest Bread Co., Oakland I'm not a big fan of sweet breads, but this one is A-OK by me
May 6, 2003 Potato & rosemary bread Grace Baking, Richmond leaves you wishing for more taste
May 6, 2003 Olive bread Bennett Valley Bread & Pastry, Santa Rosa a good olive bread
May 6, 2003 Olive bread Grace Baking, Richmond It's not bad, but I have higher expectations
May 6, 2003 Filone di Grano Duro (sweet baguette) Metropolis Baking Company, Berkeley as baguettes go, this is perhaps slightly above average
May 6, 2003 Country levain Semifreddi's, Emeryville delivers on its promise of a solid, country feel
May 6, 2003 White bread Dimond bakery, Oakland would do for anyone who doesn't care about bread
May 5, 2003 Wheat French bread Albertson's a disappointment

You can take a look at my methodology if you are curious to know how I test these breads. If you see a word than you are not familiar with, please see the glossary. If you are curious about the many additives commonly found in bread, see our Additives page.
 
Copyright © 2003 Max Tardiveau. All rights reserved.