San Francisco sourdough is iconic. The flavor and texture are renowned throughout the world, and most of us swear it’s the absolute best. The makings of it—a unique strain of yeast cultures, lactobacillus sanfrancisco, which are only found in the Bay Area—are in the very air we breathe. The resulting recipes and mother doughs, which have taken generations to perfect, have been passed down and guarded since the Gold Rush days.

Throughout the city you’ll find bakery racks full of deep golden loaves, the unique chemical results of our oldest of yeasty residents. Generations of the city’s babies have teethed on this tangy crust, and it’s become the quintessential companion to all of our local dishes. Here are five of the best bakeries, in no particular order, within half hour of SF State, where you will not only find delicious sourdoughs, and cheerful staff, but creative flavors and individual baking styles to try out and appreciate. After all, this city is all about appreciating the good, local things, and trying out the new ones.

Noe Valley Bakery and Bread Company: Tucked into Noe Valley and protected from the morning fog by Twin Peaks, this bakery is the perfect place for an early cup of coffee and a fresh roll or cinnamon challah. Their signature fruit breads are delicious—and not too sweet—and come highly recommended if you’re looking for the perfect French toast for a romantic Sunday breakfast. Try the organic fig, the cherry chocolate, or the ginger apricot! Or, try them all. You can find them waiting at 4073 24th Street, between Castro and Noe or at the Ferry Plaza Farmer’s Market on Saturday mornings.

Arizmendi Bakery: This worker-owned cooperative on 9th Avenue between Irving and Judah Streets makes amazing breads and pizzas, and clearly holds a special place in the neighborhood’s heart. The line was out the door at five in the afternoon, crammed full of busy home-goers grabbing loaves, buns, sticks, focaccias, and gourmet pizzas after a long day at work. One gentleman patron, in full bicycle-commuter regalia, told me that every two weeks they make the best pizza around—triple mushroom—and that you have to hurry and get there early if you want one. Another said everything was good, but I had to try the scones. Their focaccia breads are creative, hot, and delicious, and the kitchen is constantly trying new combinations. I was lucky enough to snag a piece of walnut, garlic, tomato, spinach, bell pepper, and feta pizza as I squeezed in the door. Check out their bread and pizza schedules online at www.arizmendibakery.org but be careful. They make qpple-sage sourdough every Saturday and are baking some arugula, goat cheese, green and kalamata
olive pizza on the twenty-third. You just might join the following.

West Portal Bakery: On a cool overcast evening, this little bakery is a small island of warmth and freshly made bread for MUNI riders with time to kill waiting in the tunnel or for the fortunate passer-by. The owner and chef comes in every night to get the next day’s breads baking, and they even have gelato. Try the fresh olive bread. Just as Lauren, the cheerful girl behind the counter, will tell you, it tastes like it was made in Italy. Find them at 170 West Portal Avenue. PANoRAMA: You can find these folks behind tables overflowing with every size, shape, and sort of bread: batard, baguette, boule, filone, croissant, pugliese, miche, ciabata, poolish, Danish, challah and brioche. Baked on Potrero Hill, PANoRAMA’s works of yeast art can be found at the Alemany Boulevard Farmer’s Market on the weekends. Ask Ralph for whatever you’re looking for or for a tour of the loaves behind the table, and you will be happily
overwhelmed. As he juggles bustling shoppers’ orders, makes change, and maneuvers around peasant sourdoughs the size of wide-brimmed sun hats, he rattles off enticing flavor combinations while casually dropping extra rolls and buns into customers’ shopping bags. The walnut sourdough is delicious; the
nuts turn the bread that perfect lavender color, the crust is chewy and dusted in flour, and it was even accompanied by a few crunch rolls, just for good measure.

Boudin Bakery: This wouldn’t be a list of great local bakeries if it didn’t include The King. Boudin opened their doors in 1848 and have been the source of ideal San Francisco crust ever since. In 1906, chef Boudin’s wife Louise evacuated their prized mother-dough from the burning city in a bucket by ferryboat. Thick, dark, and crunchy on the outside and light, tangy, cool, and fluffy on the inside, this is the stuff culinary legend is made of. You can find them nearby in the Stonestown Galleria, next to Macy’s.