Arizmendi Valencia Bakery — Restaurant in San Francisco

For today’s breakfast my friend took my girlfriend and I to Arizmendi Bakery since it’s her go-to spot with her dad. Right off the bat, you get the smell of fresh baked bread coming from the displays of sweet and savory pastries. Today was fairly empty with not a long wait line. Per usual, I was very indecisive on what to choose. I knew I wanted to get something sweet and something savory. The savory choice was pretty easy; I like mushrooms, onions, and spinach and the focaccia satisfies that. The sweet stuff on the other hand was a bit tricky; there are scones, muffins, cookies, and more. I was leaning toward the molasses ginger cookie but ultimately chose the chocolate thing since it seemed more appetizing to my girlfriend. First off, the focaccia is delicious. There savory-saltiness of the mushrooms really stands out and I’m a big fan of that personally. The focaccia is great and chewy, perfect to get in a quick jaw workout. I usually prefer focaccias warmed/toasted but even at ambient temperature it was so good. The chocolate thing was also good but not as good as the focaccia. I know we’re comparing apples and oranges here but still. The Chocolate Thing’s texture is soft and fluffy, a nice contrast with the focaccia chewiness. The only “issue” I have with the Chocolate Thing is the amount of chocolate. There were only a few chocolate chips sparse throughout the bread. It didn’t seem enough to warrant the name “Chocolate Thing”. The bread overall was really good though. If it didn’t have any chocolate it’d be great for a sweet marmalade spread or even a savory sandwich. I likely wouldn’t choose this particular pastry again. I think I’d go with a cookie next time I’m here. On individual baked good basis, I’d rate the focaccia 5/5 and the chocolate thing 4/5 I think. This is probably one of the few times I shouldn’t have listened to my girlfriend and should’ve gone with my gut and gotten the molasses ginger cookie. This review’s obviously only for these two pastries; your mileage may vary with other choices but I assume everything else is up to par. Great place overall, I can see why it’s my...

I tried several things, so I’ll break it down by item and give individual ratings. The 4/5 stars is overall but the true rating is 3.7/5.

Pizza slice: (2.5/5) nothing exceptional about it. Weird paring of what looked like pickles and cheese. Bold but not my taste.

Iced Mexican Mocha: (1/5) this just comes down to personal taste. I could tell I would like their regular coffee but they put cayenne or some other chili powder in this. Another bold choice that just didn’t work for me. Too much pepper overrode any other taste in the drink.

Peanut butter cookie (4/5): not overly thick or peanut buttery. You can still tell you’re eating a cookie and the salt adds a nice balance to the sweet and richness.

Chocolate chip cookie: (4.5/5) damn good cookie. Great crunchy texture on the outside, chewy on the inside. The salt again adds nice balance to the sweet and richness of the chocolate. If it was fresh out of the oven I could see it being a 5/5.

Will come back again to try a different pizza slice (only one option per day) and a...

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I love everything about Arizmendi. The bread they sell is delicious and they have daily specials that are so creative. It's not cheap but it's the same price you might find for a 'bakery' loaf at a grocery store, so just come here. Everything I've ever bought here was fantastic.

I come here all the time for pizza -- they have a daily special, always vegetarian, and they heat it up right when you order it. They even have salads and a small refrigerator with snacks like olives and drinks.

The best part, though, is how great the customer service is! Every time I go there, no matter who's behind the counter, they seem genuinely excited to see me and to give me whatever I ordered. Like, to the point that I want to work here. It's unbelievable.

I cannot wait for them to get their garden (they're raising money for it...