San Juan Bakery & Grocery — Restaurant in San Juan Bautista

This is where the Berta Family loved to buy Sourdough French Bread whenever they were near. It is a Soft Crust type, and is most Delicious! Whenever I would come down this way for one of my regular Adventures on the Ranches in Carmel Valley with Real Life (Horse Whisperer) Ray Berta.... I would buy at least 4 Loaves of it for my Aunt Mary, and Uncle Leo Berta, and my Cousins.... but the Loaves would never even last for one Weekend!!!!! Such good Bread!!!! They make so many other good things there as well..... and it is such a Quaint Little Store, I absolutely Love it! Oh man, I want to go drive down there for some Loaves right...

We stopped thru hoping to find some squaw bread (which we could find here years ago). Not even sure the 2 yound ladies there knew what I was talking about. Anyway, decided to get 2 loaves of bread...lemon poppy seed, apple coffee cake and some donut holes. The donut holes were very good. However, when we tried the lemon poppyseed (when we arrived home), it did not taste right. No lemon flavor at all and tasty like mold. The apple coffee cake was better, but just not very tasty. I would think for 16.00 a loaf, it would be good. We threw out the lemon poppyseed and fed the other one to our chickens. Huge...

I am pleased to say that the San Juan Bakery is back, has been back, and will be back for a long time to come. Any old timers familiar with their famous french sourdough from over twenty years ago will also likely know that when the Bakery sold in the late nineties the French bread went to... Toast (no pun intended). Anyways the past is over, and new owners who understand the greatness of what the bakery used to be have bebuilt it to it's former glory. So I say to there. Show up early! While the bread is still warm! Buy two loaves and eat one in the car...