Best Bakery For Bread
Grossman's Bake Shop
READERS' PICK; Dare to walk into Grossman's and walk out empty-handed. Go ahead. Take a taste from the sample plates on top of the counter. One bite leads to another, and you won't be able to resist the fresh seeded rye, or the only dark Russian pumpernickel you're likely ever to find that does simple justice to a shmeer of cream cheese with a few tangy capers. Or the corn rye, dense, still moist from the oven: The sour taste of the bread is the perfect foil for Roumanian pastrami or Italian sopresatta. Of the more than 70 varieties of bread and rolls Grossman's makes fresh daily, you'll find at least three variations of egg bread, a 10-grain, raisin walnut sour dough, raisin pumpernickel, lakke, pletzel, marble onion rye, and sun dried tomato bread. Don't go alone. You'll need someone in the car to keep you from eating the whole loaf on the way home.
3140 E. Fort Lowell Road
6176 E. SpeedwayREADERS' POLL RUNNER-UP AND STAFF PICK: The aroma that grabs you by the nose and pulls you right up to the counter as soon as you step inside La Baguette Parisienne is the first clue you don't have to be a francophile to appreciate the baguettes, epis and other breads baked to perfection at this bona fide French bakery. You know how some French breads are just called French bread, and they taste just like Rainbo? This isn't like that. The crust is crusty, but not hard, and the inside is soft (eating baguettes from the inside out is irresistible to some). Maybe it's that the breads at La Baguette are baked by the French owners and their French staff, or maybe they use different flour--or have some other tricks we don't know about--but this bread at 1797 E. Prince Road tastes like the kind you'll find on the Champs-Elysees. We'd hate to see you disappointed, so a word of advice: Stock up for Sundays and Mondays, when the bakery is closed, and plan to call ahead with any order for parties or other special occasions--other bread lovers may leave you without a crumb.
