Acme Bread — Restaurant in Berkeley

Acme Bread participates in Too Good To Go which is an app advertised as a "surplus food marketplace" where food businesses can offer food bargains on a schedule of their choosing to a limited number of customers. These businesses have complete control over their participation and food offerings.

In July of this year I learned that Acme bread was participating in the app, so I started buying a bag from them every couple of weeks. On October 16th I went to pick up a bag and ended up having a conversation with a woman who identified herself as the manager of the bakery ("I'm the manager of this bakery", she pronounced loudly, although I hadn't asked). It wasn't really a conversation - it was more of a lecture on her part about how much Too Good To Go is costing Acme and the generous pay and work benefits package that they offer inexperienced employees they hire off the street. While she was going on and on about this, the line was backing up behind me - but that didn't seem to concern her as she warmed to her subject. She went on to tell me that she didn't know if she would be participating in the Too Good To Go app next year- I gather it's her sole decision - and I couldn't get away fast enough; it was so awkward and uncomfortable.

I didn't go back for a month, until today.

Once again, there she was, but I was fortunate not to have her wait on me this time! However, as I was leaving with my bag of 2G2G goodies, I heard her telling another patron how Acme couldn't afford to put the "really good" items in the Too Good To Go bags and she'd really appreciate any other purchase he might want to make.

Honestly, I wasn't aware that Acme was in such poor financial condition that they needed to resort to high pressure sales tactics, but listening to her they must be!

As their bakery customer, I don't know if I can continue to go in to their shop or buy the Too Good To Go items they offer because this woman makes me feel so incredibly uncomfortable for participating - as if those who buy the Acme offerings on the app are somehow cheating the bakery.

If I owned the business and I heard this message being given to my customers, I'd be mortified.

Fortunately, there are a lot of good bakeries around our area and some of them also participate in the Too Good To Go offerings without guilting their customers for their business's...

Grindstone of the ages, and hearth of local families for decades, this center of breadmaking wizardry, is a virtual Hogwarts academy of bakers who went on to do great things.

Founded in 1983 with money from the Doobie Brothers Guitarist no less, (Now THAT'S "Takin' it to the streets"!) Acme is a Kryptonite factory for gluten-free crusaders, who shrink in terror from such offering as "Pizza Blanca" and "Herb Slab" humongous, wide, flat breads large enough to provide cover from the sun on hot days, rustic old world European treats like Pain Au Levain", several different types of Cinnamon breads, (So Good. OMG), Kaiser rolls, Sweet Batards, Fougasse, and dozens of other "Can't find it anywhere else" offerings. The most amazing thing about this place is the variety and skill of their bakers, and in 30 plus years of eating bread from this place I have never, not once, been unimpressed. A protege, (I hope he would not take unkindly to me referring to him this way) Of Both Alice Waters and Jeremiah Towers, Steve Sullivan, is a hyper creative master of the craft, who has never forgotten his roots, (You can still get enough bread for 6 people for $5 here. AND you can buy fresh baked buns for under $1. No small feat in these high priced times) and this place is quite simply the foundation of the entire Gourmet ghetto here in Berkeley, for without this bread, nothing here would have been the same. It's also one of the things I took for granted in the folly of my youth, and now as an older person, I can stand in awe of this place and truly appreciate what has been done here, and what a part of local culture it is. Long live Acme!

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I’m so tired of having to wait for the Acme truck to show up whenever they want. When I used to live in Berkeley, I would get my fresh pastries every Saturday morning first thing when the Acme bakery opened! Ever since I moved to Richmond, years ago, after having to buy the left over from previous days, I stopped eating Acme pastries because their delivery truck arrives in our neighborhood when I start prepping for lunch! What a joke.

Over the years, the truck keeps getting delayed with no real explanation from the driver. Our little market owners are always really sorry that I came for nothing and don’t even know what to tell me anymore.

This is pure racism and classism. I doubt the Acme rich white customers of SF & the East Bay get their croissants and morning buns delivered after 9am! We don’t get anything before 11am. It’s completely absurd. Really bad practices.

Update after reading ACME’s answer: Such a corporate answer. Basically taking zero responsibility and acting like it’s normal. As another reviewer commented, this is exactly how structural racism is actively normalized.

Update after a few months of receiving an answer from Acme, magically, our delivery truck has now been coming much earlier. We all very much appreciate it in East Richmond Heights! Thank you for including us in your earlier...